I finally decided to try this place out after passing it dozens of times on my lunch breaks, and went with one of their specials, the baked catfish with etoufee. Not the best etoufee I've ever had but definitely not the worst. Portion seemed a little small, but felt appropriate for lunch. For the sides I got the mashed potatoes and jalapeno cornbread. The cornbread was very dry, but it was hot and fresh when I got it. If it weren't for the gift card, I'm not sure I'd eat here again with my own money, but you'd be hard pressed to find a better cajun place in the tunnels unless it was another Treebeards. Also, since it's in the tunnels, their menu is limited compared to their regular locations, so keep that in mind. As for service, I was in and out within five minutes as long as the line wasn't long. read more

Treebeards is a good place to do lunch downtown. Pretty good resemblance to Louisiana cooking and this location has plenty of space for people. The line gets long at times, but servings are cafeteria style so you get through decently quick. I stick to their red beans and rice with sausage. Ask for only a tiny bit of cheese, otherwise they will give you a whole thick layer. Unless you like that sort of thing. I've tried their gumbo and always found it to be too oily or buttery. Cheap, fast, and fills you up with warm food. read more

Treebeards - mysteriously NOT connected to the Yellow Tunnel system despite what it might appear on tunnel maps. Horrendously busy with a GINORMOUS line at 11:30-noon. As a takeaway, not something that really is as great 15 minutes later when I've finally found a place to sit down. Standard, good Southern comfort food. Was just not a fan of the wait even for take-away. read more

What a great little lunch place. The line gets long and it might be hard to find a seat, but it's worth fighting the crowds. Ordering is cafeteria style, but it's not your gross elementary school cafeteria food. However, I imagine that the mixed reviews are because of that fact. You can't expect that when food is prepared for the masses and served in steam tables, that it's going to be gourmet every time. On my particular visit, I had the meatloaf, greens and red/beans rice. Everything was delicious, good portions and good service. I will definitely return when I'm in town again! read more

I frequent this place many times not only because it is just right across from where I work, but also good food. Lines can be very long, but they take no time to get through. It has a cafeteria style of ordering. You pick up your tray and drink and let the people know what you want as you go through the line. They have two lines one for dine in and one for take out which is convenient for times that you are in a rush. I have had quite a few items here that I have enjoyed. The Rookie which is a plate of rice with two entrees, I normally get the veggie beans and chili combo. They have specials different specials everyday, the ones I have enjoyed are the chicken fried chicken/baked catfish covered with shrimp etouffee which you can only get on Fridays and today I tried the grilled chicken with a lemony vinaigrette...I thoroughly enjoyed it. They also have seasonal items like chicken and dumplings during the winter. The only downfalls that I have seen is sometimes you might feel a little rushed in choosing your order and the lady that is taking your order on carry out's seems a bit rude at times (a lot of times). Maybe I am just catching her on very often bad days. read more

Recommended by a friend who works in the area for some quick and easy Cajun. Took some navigating throughout the tunnels. Buffet style ordered: - meatloaf with tomato sauce was good... nice texture and portion. - red beans and rice with cheese and onions on top had delicious flavor. - fresh fruit cup with wide variety and very fresh indeed. - free bread and butter. Overall, simple concept with simple ingredients makes tree beards a great choice for a warm lunch. read more

Although the line is often long at lunch, it moves quickly - often it's your turn before you've even had a chance to decide what you want. I'm a fan of the red beans and rice - the small size is perfect to pair with a salad from home, and still comes with a sizeable sausage. Other favorites include the shrimp etouffee and the chicken-sausage gumbo. They're all hearty and filling, and are a pretty good deal, ranging from $4 to 8. Overall: delicious, hunger-satisfying food that isn't too expensive. When I don't bring lunch, I invariably end up here. read more

It would be 5 stars if they had not changed the bread recipe. The bread used to be my favorite part, squishy, moist and perfect crust...however, recently they changed the recipe and it's complete different. Please change it back!!!!! read more

Perfect comfort food. The lines are quite long, but don't let that scare you away. They go very fast! I usually order the red beans and rice or the shrimp ettoufee. The shrimp ettoufee has a ton of shrimp in every bite. They don't skimp! The homemade hot sauce gives it that perfect kick. 2 pieces of butter & bread w/ every meal. Only down side, the food is so comforting that you'll end up with a food coma and be useless at work. And the butter cake.... buttery finger licking mess of goodness! Not for anyone who's on a diet but perfect for those who don't care! read more

Went here for lunch around 11:30 and there was already quite a line. However, it's cafeteria style so the line moves pretty quick. I went with the Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo which was pretty good in my opinion, but I'm definitely not a gumbo expert by any means. I'd go again. read more

Amazingly delicious! I stop here last week during a brief business trip, the place is open from 11-2pm just for lunch, so worth it!! I returned for the 3rd time today to try their gumbo and it is a hit! Food is a little spicy but manageable and enjoyable; super recommended if you like cajun, Creole southern food with a high quality standard. Their salads are super fresh and customer service very friendly, prices are just right read more

Treebeards is a great lunch spot--but get there early because the line can get long! The chicken fried chicken is great, as well as the red beans and rice (with cheese--you must add the cheese!). They typically change out their sides daily, and sometimes even seasonally. My favorites are the gazpacho soup, buttered corn, mashed potatoes, and fruit cup. I also highly recommend their cakes. The yellow butter cake with chocolate icing is hands down by far the best! The Italian cream cake is also delicious. read more

Although expensive, I like it a lot because it has that "home cooked meal" feeling... My favorite plate here is the chicken fried chicken... usually get it mashed potatoes although their red beans and rice are pretty good... I tried the chicken breast and pork chops and wasn't sold, so I stick with what I like... If you don't want to stand in that long line, there is a to go line right through the service elevator, their service is lightning fast! read more

I never really understood the name of this place, but it is really rather good cajun food. I finally went today, not for the red beans and rice which I have heard raves about though. A friend of mine told me of an off-menu item, "The Rookie", it gets you two half portions of whatever for the price of a full portion! so I had the chicken and sausage Gumbo and shrimp etouffee, both were really good so I might have to keep ordering both! Also, get here early! When we left at 11:58 there was a line well out the door. read more

Treebeards in the tunnel at 1100 Louisiana is a convenient place for a quick lunch if you work nearby. Even if the line appears long, they are efficient in moving people through quickly and I've rarely had to wait long. Great value for the price, especially for the daily regular gumbo, shrimp etouffee, jambalaya (more of a creole than a traditional jambalaya), and red beans and rice with sausage. Large chicken and sausage gumbo M to W is just $7.75, and seafood gumbo on Th-F is just $8.75. A local favorite on W & Th is their chicken & dumplings. My favorite dish is one of the Friday specials, baked catfish with shrimp etouffee topping, served on a bed of dirty rice. read more

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Best chicken and sausage gumbo ever. Like the taste of it, not too salty yet still so flavorful. The seafood one is okay... The sausage is definitely the main star of the gumbo. I like how they have so many options and they're all pretty good. read more

Treebeards - Chicken & sausage gumbo and watermelon! :) - Cajun/Creole Near Me - Houston, Texas

Awesome place for lunch if you work in downtown. Conveniently located in the tunnels, a great location with menu choices, friendly staff, and ample seating room. It can be a little hectic once you arrive because there line terms to move really quickly, my recommendation is that you look at the menu before arriving. I had a great chicken breast with white rice and red beans - very filling and awesome prices. read more

So good!! Great Southern food. You can eat healthy here as well. Love the side vegetables. I usually get take-away service.

Treebeards is a fantastic lunch location if you are in the Downtown area. Easy tunnel access, tasty food, reasonable prices. You ought to get out of there for less than $10 if you don't get dessert. It is as good a cajun place as any in downtown. This place fills up quick, but they do have a takeout door on the side if you look hard enough. read more

A lunch staple for anyone on the West side of downtown. Out of town office visitors always request to eat here because the food is just delicious. If you are looking for a hearty meal that fills you up, then this is the place for you. At this point, I have tried almost everything on their menu, so I will break it down for you. I categorize all their meals into two categories: things that come in a bowl of rice and things that come on a plate. Even though the Chicken, Chick-Fried Chicken, Meatloaf, etc. are good, I truly am a fan of the dishes served with rice. Depending on your mood, the gumbo and jambalaya are good on any given day, but the shrimp etoufee leaves me in such a state of ecstasy that a food coma is almost mandatory. The in-house Treebeards hot sauce is amazing and goes with everything! I never cared much for Tabasco because it is too sour, but the Treebeards hot sauce is just the perfect blend of tangy spicy goodness. I love flooding my etoufee or gumbo with this stuff and just dipping my bread into it. There are a number of sides here, and I recommend the corn bread. It's just so tasty! The fruit cup is a deceiving. Even though you see mint, kiwi, and strawberries, those are just the pretty fruits on top. Underneath that top layer it's mainly just apples, pears, grapes, and cantaloupe. TIP - You can actually order something off the menu called a "Rookie Plate" where they put the rice in the bowl down the middle and let you pick two different saucy dishes. Perfect for when you can't make up your mind! TL;DR - There is a long (but quick) line for a reason. It is one of the best places for a quick, satisfying, and savory meal. read more

I love the convenience of this place because I work upstairs in the same building. The shrimp etoufee is my favorite. You can not beat the price and you get yummy french bread with it. I also love the cornbread. One slice can be a meal all by itself. And last but not least, they have cake slices that are to die for. The red velvet, the chocolate, the yellow with chocolate icing. They are all so good. Definitely one of my favorite places to eat downtown. read more

I usually do not worry too much to write negative reviews unless there is something egregious that happens. I am (well was) a frequent customer of TreeBeards as I enjoyed the food and quick service. However today I do not think I could have been more upset as I left the location. I go to the to go counter where is the cashier who is generally there, who always tend to be more interested in taking your order and get you out of her way, not exactly the epitome of great or good customer service. Today, I walk up, place my order and hand her my money (I usually use a credit card) and her response to me were these exact words, "I can not take this $50 bill because you gave us a fake bill last time. Do you have a credit card." Me looking perplexed, I told her to get a manager because I have never used cash with them before, and she responds to they will not take my $50 bill. A few minutes later, a manager comes over and tells me "We will not accept the $50 bill because the bank does not take bills from the restaurant." The issues I have with these blatant lies is 1. I worked as a restaurant manager completely through school, and never have I heard through all of the banking systems that a bank will not accept a $50 bill. Considering there was only one skin deep difference between myself and every other customer, I concluded there was a reason that my money was not accepted, but to confirm, I went directly next door and asked the manager at FuddRuckers if they accepted $50 bills to which her response was "yes, is there any reason we shouldn't". It is really sad that I was discriminated against during this time with no apology. I am sure this will not change the scope of the worker/manager at TreeBeards. I am sure it will not effect their business. But i thought I would at least share my final experience with this location. read more

Oh yeah, I work downtown. The first time I went into the tunnels, I was sure that I would never find my way back out. The excellent thing though is even if one does get lost, there are great places to eat. One of my favorites is Treebeards. They've got excellent cajun/southern food. Their side dishes are to die for and they've got great inexpensive daily specials (about $8 for a platter of meat, two sides and a drink). If you're really splurging, get some of their amazing Italian Cream Cake. read more

Had high hopes for this place after reading the reviews, but I'm pretty disappointed for the food at the price listed. Chicken fried chicken's gravy was tasteless, cornbread was cold and hard. Line was pretty long at 11, but it moved pretty fast, so service is very good (the empty plates were taken as soon as I finished with the food too). read more

This has got to be the most blandest southern food Ive ever had in my life. I got the chicken fried chicken with dirty rice and spinach salad sides and my husband got the catfish with cornbread and green beans. Our food had no flavor at all. His green beans oddly enough had mushrooms in it. The food was healthier than its true southern counterpart (no grease, no salt) but healthy does not mean no flavor either. such a disappointment. Yelpers, you guys steered me wrong . read more

Called to ask if they use MSG as an ingredient and was un willing to check if they do and the manager hung up the phone when I asked a follow up question. Not impressed... read more

I am disappointed and finally decided to write a review. I've been coming to Treebeards since 1990 and when Dan owned it it was always superb snd the customer service was outstanding. I stopped coming was Dan sold it because the customer service most certainly is gone. So, I love the food and I have been coming consistently for 2 weeks and I am sitting here today trying this place again for the last time. As I sit in the restaurant someone is vacuuming and has been for the last 20 mins. They close their doors promptly at 1:59 for the last 2 weeks. Bus boys are walking around picking up your tray even before you are finished eating. The Hispanic girl that checks you out in the to go line is rude and treats you like you are bothering her and she is NOT helpful at all. She lacks every customer service skill in the book and I would fire her in a heart beat. The other workers are just as rude and annoyed at every customer too, except the black guy that service you in line he's awesome. The worker seem more interested in closing up the place and getting you out of here than what pays their paycheck. I am sorely disappointed and more importantly feeling sad for Dan that his place has turned out this way. I will never step foot in here again unless I hear there service has improved. Everyone in my office feels the same way. The food is high priced for you to get the poor service received. Good bye Treebeards and another business sucked up by profits over customer service. 1 star for good food 1 star for What Treebeards use to be. read more

Place isn't too bad, very convenient location and the food was pretty good. I had the salmon salad and it didn't come with dressing. Not sure if this was something you had to get on the side. The place was packed at 11:30am. Has the vibe of a Luby'a cafeteria. read more

Decent food, but nothing special. Maybe the tunnel location is not as good as the original, or maybe living in New Orleans made me a Cajun food snob, but either way I don't get the hype. Yes it is decent food, there is a big selection, it's good to try if you work downtown...but I'll try new places before I come back here to eat. read more

Came in for lunch to have the chicken and sausage gumbo and some yellow cake. The best cake from a restaurant ever.

Very good food, fast cafeteria style service, nice atmosphere in the tunnels of downtown Houston. will visit again

I LOVE Treebeards, easily my favorite place to eat Downtown. I work in Allen Center and love that it's in the Tunnel. Service is cafeteria-style and all the servers are always really nice. It does get crowded and is packed during peak lunch times. Food is AMAZING everything I've ever had is delicious. They also have daily specials http://www.treebeards.com/locmenus/lm-tunnel.php#specials that I sadly know by heart each day of the week. I love the grilled chicken with basil marinade and chicken fried chicken and shrimp étouffée. All of their desserts are winners but the butter cake, yellow cake, and chocolate cake are especially good. I can't say enough about this place and drag everyone here every chance I get. I love you Treebeards, forever and always x read more

Wow, I wish I could eat here more often. I have been wanting to try the original Treebeards for a while but I am never in the area. Had a recent business meeting and was close to Treebeards in the Tunnel, glad I went...great food at a great price. Red Beans and Rice was awesome, gotta get it with the cheese and green onions on top. Shrimp etouffee was better than the red beans and rice though, etouffee was so good I am craving it right now. Corn bread was good but honestly the free white bread goes better with the red beans and etouffee. Everything I saw looked pretty good, I will find a reason to downtown just so I can eat at Treebeards soon. read more

My go to lunch place. Never had a bad southern meal here. Usually get chicken fried chicken, with gravy. It's delicious...might I recommend a side of mashed potatoes and squash casserole. Haven't gone wrong here yet. Try it out! Service is quick as well...5 stars read more

Have been coming here for years. Food is always excellent. Only negative is that the line is sometimes a bit long. Recommended!

What can I say! The red beans and rice are awesome and I am in LOvE with the cheese and green onions that you can get on top optionally. I have been twice and the second visit was better because they had what I needed. I only gave 4 stars because my first visit, they were out of cornbread and tea and I was really wanting some of both. Second visit, everything I needed was available plus the wonderful BUTTER CAKE (chess pie square) for those unfamiliar. Located In the tunnel downtown, busy but fast and ample space to stand and/or eat. When I need some hearty food, I will hit this quant Cajun spot! read more

Good shrimp etouffee and rice n beans. Wish it was a little quicker when ordering at the restaurant. A little bit of an English barrier but it's ok. read more

Love this place, in the tunnel. The walk makes you feel less guilty about eating tis awesome cuisine. Served cafeteria style. I am not from Houston an I am still in awe of the tunnel and Treebeards. Try it you will love it! read more

Met a friend here for lunch while I was working downtown. It was super-packed with a long line, but the line moved along in no time. Hadn't eaten at a true cafeteria in a long time, so I was actually worried about getting my drink and food laden tray to the table w/out spilling something. But, everything arrived safely. Had the chicken vegetable soup - which unlike someone else reported - on this day it was divine, and took me back to my mother's kitchen - loaded with rich broth, vegies and succulent chicken. Also had the chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravies - all of them also were perfectly made homey food. OK, so maybe I was ready for a big nap after all that - even though I took a bunch of leftovers from it home for dinner. But other than that - this place has great food at a tremendous value. On the downsides, besides being cafeteria style - it has the noise level of a school cafeteria. Kind of had to yell across the table to hear each other, and despite the great food and value, couldn't eat here regularly without gaining 20lbs. But, it'll stay on my list as a place to stop in occassionally for a good homey meal. read more

Lovely food. .. especially the shrimp étouffée is my favorite. They have some nice side dishes. Fridays they serve special fish which is too good to miss. Hidden under the buildings, nice place to keep visiting often read more