Cajun Queen, every day is Mardi Gras with delicious food, great drinks and amazing live jazz | #OuiTalkRaw #Charlotte

Q & A with Tim Freer

Hello everybody and welcome to We Talk Raw. I’m here today with a very special guest, Mr. Tim Freer, who is the managing partner of the Cajun Queen here in Charlotte, North Carolina. Welcome Tim. How are you?

Thank you Jennifer and thanks for having me.

Yes, no problem. So let’s talk about the service industry, the restaurant that you own, and your life that surrounds it.

Sounds good to me.

What is the Cajun Queen?

The Cajun Queen is a 39 year old restaurant, which is kind of a anomaly in Charlotte. 1985, right? 1985, almost 29, it’ll be 29 September, I mean 39 September, but we specialize in New Orleans cuisine and we have live Dixieland jazz every night kind of makes it special.

Yes, and how long have you been working slash a partner at the Cajun Queen?

I’ve only been there for 30 of those years.

Only 30 years.

I don’t know how they did it for the first nine without me, maybe just by the skin of their teeth,

And so I moved to Charlotte in 2000, and the Cajun Queen was, I think, my second job, and I met so many friends, and I still keep in touch with everybody. Everybody’s like family, including you, so that’s why you’re here today, ’cause we’re gonna talk about the restaurant, but mostly your personal journey. How are you surviving in this industry as a husband, a father and a sober person? What do you want to start with?

Let’s start with the restaurant industry is impossible.

It’s just impossible grind man. How are your joints and your bones?

Oh my gosh, I mean I shouldn’t be busing tables at 54 years old, but

Do you get regular massages or acupuncture? Self -care Tim self -care.

Golf is my only self care, once a week. No, it is difficult. It is difficult for all the reasons that we hear, you know, every new restaurant that comes to town, everybody’s gotta try and then they, you know, have to come back to the Cajun Queen and oh yeah, I remember, oh yeah.

I forgot about that place. People always say that, yeah. 

I haven’t been there in 20 years. How do you expect me to stay in business? You come once every 20 years. I mean, it’s not, it’s not gonna work that way. But then, you know, we go through COVID And we go through the price gouging of all the consumer products, especially food. And then we go through not having enough servers. And then we go through having too many servers, and it’s just, it’s hard.

And not to mention how old is the house that the Cajun Queen resides in? So if you are to have a restaurant, I don’t suggest you do it in 100 -year -old house because my electrician, my plumber, and my air conditioning guy are all on speed dial. It’s ridiculous.

So if anybody’s not been to the Cajun Queen, it has delicious New Orleans food, which I love so much. And I didn’t eat meat before I started working at the Cajun Queen, but when the cooks would give us like the sauces, like here’s an extra sauce, you can dip your bread and I’m like, is there chicken stock in here? Everybody’s like, yes. I’m like, I don’t care. This is so good. I have to dip my bread in the barbecue shrimp.

Yes. That is a law.

Yeah. So I definitely started eating meat after working at the Cajun Queen. Yeah, the barbecue shrimp, the crofter’s scamp, the Cajun fight horse, is literally the same menu as when I waited tables there in 1992.

Wild, some things have changed, like the pork loin has changed.

Yeah, we’ve added a few things. There’s some new menu items that have only been around for like 10 years.

Fried green tomatoes, those are new.

But you know, we used to have a specials list that went out on the table every night, and it was the same–

I can memorize that, I can tell you it right now.

It was the same specials every night, so we just changed the name and now it is the specialty items. So they’re no longer special.

Mahi -mahi, tilapia, grouper with the crab, pork chop, the duck is on that, the pasta.

The pasta, number one seller, believe it or not.

Can we cut, I’m hungry. Let’s go. Although you don’t open till what, four p .m. or five?

Five o ‘clock during the week.

And what’s really cool too, I love how the bar is in like the master bedroom. Yeah, The way the house was set up, the bar is in the master bedroom.

And there’s a fireplace in the master bedroom.

There’s a fireplace in three different rooms, actually.

And you’d think, for me, working there for 12 years, I would have lost weight, but I think, in fact, I probably gained it. Because the stairway, you have to walk up the stairs for the bar and half the restaurant. But the food is just so good that we just sit back there and eat.

Yeah, I also have gained a few pounds in the 30 years. I say I only gained two pounds a year for 30 years, but that’s 60 pounds.

Right. And for anybody out there watching, you don’t have to get things spicy, right? So you can get the fish, not blackened. The Creole, which is not my favorite item, is very mild. Sorry, it’s not your favorite item either.

It is not, no. I mean, we can spice it up, but no. It’s for people that are afraid and that’s fine. I mean, some people don’t want any spice. You gotta have something for them.

Yeah, yes, exactly. There’s chicken. And seafood, all sorts of stuff. All sorts of seafood. We’re gonna get into that, yes. Okay, so you started working there when you were in your 20s?

Early 20s, yeah.

Then you got married, then you had kids. So let’s talk about how you juggle being a daddy.

So when I started, my wife was also in the business. She was the general manager of.

Oh my God.

So we had the same schedule -ish. Actually, she got off a lot later than I did because that was a bar that went to two o ‘clock in the morning. But she would come in at four o ‘clock in the morning. I would get home at like 12 o ‘clock. But when we had a child, she decided that that was not a lifestyle that she could manage any longer. So she started doing, you know part -time work here or there whether it be Starbucks or hair studio or something just to be home with the kids because she could work during the day I worked at night and we never had to use daycare.

Being a service industry kid myself I think it’s really hard when you’re in the industry. Let’s just talk about it to get out right? It can be really comfortable. The money is really good but I was definitely miserable. Not at the Cajun Queen but towards the end of my bartending career, I was just like this is a grind but it’s hard to find that step to get out of it you know what I mean to have that backup plan.

So it is hard, like for me, when the kids were growing up, I got to have the kids all day long while she was at work and she got them at night. But I missed so many, once they started school, I missed so many of the homeworks and so many of the bedtime stories and so many of those evenings. But I will say that my life in particular, both of my kids came to work for me at a very young age, and I got all of those times back in spades. Them working with me, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, it was really special for me to see them in a certain way with their peers and how they work and them to see me in a certain way. Not everybody gets to go to work with their dad and see, you know, what he does and what he’s managing 300 crazy customers and 30 crazy employees at the same time.

But you still managed to have that family effect. I always tell people, I’m like, I could take my shirt off and walk in the kitchen at the Cajun Queen and be like, “Hi guys.” And they’d be like, “What’s up, Busco?” Like, I’m very comfortable there. Like, it has a very big family effect. And like I said, I still keep in touch with so many of the people that I worked with 24 years ago. That is insane. Brian Dowling, I love you, Bryant, I still keep in touch with these people. They’re family.

Pender and Stefan in the other night.

Yep.

It’s just always been a place where people can come back to. It’s always, because it’s always been there for starters, plus it’s meant so much to so many people. It’s always been a place. And everybody does come back and it’s one of the greatest parts about my job. I mean, I love 50 % of my job. That’s the 50 % when we’re open and people are in there and I get to go around and have a dinner party every night. I mean, it’s–

And Shmoos.

And you say Shmoos, it’s not really a job, it’s just genuinely, I wanna hear what these people are doing. People that haven’t worked there have been coming there for 30 years too, and I see their kids. And then 30 years later, I see them bring their kids. It is just a family, you know.

And Oliver is that my kid loves coming. He’s like, “You worked here 25 years ago, mommy?” I’m like, “Yep, I did.” Trapsin’ around. 

But yeah, it is tough to get out of like, so my son, Sully, who was 19, making a lot of money for a 19 -year -old was, I think, thinking, “Okay.” So he decided he wasn’t gonna go to college, and I’m like, “Okay, but this is not what you’re gonna do.”

No, please, no. Especially when you get to our age. I mean, at least you’re not really doing the physical labor as much as the bus boys and going up and down flights. So the beer’s in the basement and the bar’s upstairs, so you got a lot of flights. You have a lot of flights to bring a case of beer.

Or a keg, yeah.

Or a keg of beer, yeah, that’s a lot of work.

But anyway, we kicked him out of the house and made him go away because–

Where’d he go, college?

No, he went to New Hampshire and took a job with a with his cousin. So he’s doing very well but the point is you can’t get too comfortable. It is comfortable.

It is comfortable and it’s fast cash, it’s just easy easy money. I was stuck in that grind. But my body was telling me get out and I was just I got to the point where I was just like, oh god I can’t say “hi, how are you” one more time.

Yeah, I kind of like it. So I think that’s why I’m still doing it because I light up when I see those people come in. 

Aw, that’s nice.

Even you.

Speaking of light up, so back in my day, at the Cajun Queen, we had the beer box, right? Where after the shift, you put the dollar in the beer box and grab a beer and back in those days, you would drink a Heineken pretty damn fast. I mean like 10 seconds fast. After a long Saturday night, you would just go all behind it.

Back in those days, I wouldn’t even allow you to do a checkout unless you brought me behind it. I remember. And there were eight servers.

I remember that. So eight beers. There you go. And then what happened? Then I had some issues. I had some issues. I knew I was an alcoholic long before any of that. Even before I started at the Cajun Queen, I knew that I was having some problems if we’re just gonna jump right into the alcohol.

Yeah, good, let’s go.

But it’s okay because I was gonna stop drinking when I got married at 30.

That’s what you told yourself, or told your wife?

I did, I told myself that. I don’t think I told her that, I didn’t want her to hold me accountable for that, that would have been too–

That’s a real commitment.

Yeah, exactly, exactly. So Yeah, I was gonna stop when I got married, but I was, I did get married sober for the morning, but as soon as we said the vows, I had a beer. But that’s okay, ’cause I was gonna stop when I had a first kid.

Right, that makes sense, yeah.

So at 32, I remember Audrey being born and Karina was struggling, and I was in the room watching my daughter be born and thinking, “When can I get out of here and get a drink?” And then I knew that this was gonna mess with some very important stuff in my life. But I still didn’t stop, of course. I didn’t want to overreact.

I was gonna say, “A real alcoholic would’ve brought a flask in the hospital and sifted one thing.” Just kidding. Edit that out!

Fast forward, I was going to stop when Sully was born. That didn’t work. But eventually it affected my family to the point where the relationship between me and my wife was deteriorating to a point where I had to stop. And she didn’t want to do it anymore. And she had this idea that we were going to separate for a little while and her idea of separating is, She wanted to separate her stuff from mine her stuff on the inside of the house and my stuff on the outside.

So bye -bye

So bye -bye

Bye -bye Tim.

So that was about a month and If I could backtrack for a second I had tried to stop drinking and I Was dry meaning I hadn’t had a drink in a year but I wasn’t going to Alcoholics Anonymous or getting any help in any other way. I was just a dry drunk is what they call it.

Meaning like you could relapse at any time, is that what you mean?

Meaning I was miserable and I wanted to drink desperately, I just didn’t.

But you weren’t getting to the bottom of the–

I was white knuckling it, I wasn’t getting any relief.

Got it.

And a year in is when we had our problems Your friend how he winter came to me and he said how’s it going? And I said not good My wife just kicked me out of the house. He goes have you tried alcoholics anonymous? I said I haven’t had a drink in a year Like I don’t need it. I don’t need it. He said how’s that working out for you? Not good so next day. I won’t say I went to a meeting, but I definitely saw where they were I did a drive -by, make sure I knew where I could park, wanted to see those kind of people in there, make sure that that was for me. But eventually I had the guts to go in and it changed my life for sure.

And that really sparked like your belief in God and stuff like that, right? Or fostered.

Well, it fostered my belief in a higher power.

Got it.

I have a strong belief that love, love, kindness, and compassion is my higher power.

So is that what you sort of use as a tool when you’re super stressed out and busy at the Cajun Queen?

Oh yeah, they give me lots of tools to use.

What’s your biggest tool to get through a rough challenging day?

This too shall pass.

I love that, everything’s temporary.

Everything’s temporary. The hardest thing to grasp though.

In the very beginning of being in the program, the best tool for me was play the tape out. Like, okay, my disease wants to tell me to have one drink. I can be smart enough to play that tape out too. Okay, one drink leads to 10 drinks leads to, you know, we only stopped when we ran out or passed out. God forbid we ran out ’cause we were running to the store. True story. But with all of my insecurities growing up and all of the feelings that I knew that I had for a long time, I think the biggest tool that I use is you wouldn’t care so much about what people think of you if you knew how little they did.

And that’s from the program? Is that from the 12 –

Well, that’s where I heard it. I’m sure it’s all over, but…

That’s so true.

Yeah, everyone’s thinking about themselves. When I walk into a room and I’m, you know, that guy’s better looking than me and that guy’s smarter than me and that guy’s got more money than me. I think, you know what? That guy’s just thinking about himself.

It’s like when you look at a group photo, I always look at myself first. I’m like, oh, that’s a good one. And then my friends’ eyes are crossed. (laughing) I wasn’t even looking at you, honey. I was making sure I looked good.

Karina, my wife had a family reunion and they wanted to surprise the guest of honor so one sister from Albany one her aunt came down and they said okay we’re gonna set it up. You could put everybody in the window and this girl’s gonna pop up from outside in the window, we’re gonna take a picture and she’s gonna just be in the picture. So we did it perfectly. The girl pops up perfectly in the picture, I show the picture around. Everybody’s like oh I look awful, oh look at me. Nobody even noticed the girl was in the background.

So true though, or we’re all sort of self -absorbed don’t you think?

I do indeed mm -hmm

Wow, so how is your staff right now? Is everybody happy? Would you say that your staff’s happy like your servers and bartenders?

I would say, Yeah, I do think I mean we have a younger crowd right now. We kind of turn over as the kids go back to college But yeah,

I think they are I think the the atmosphere catches on, and what do you think the stuff was like when you were there?

Well, I met a boyfriend there, my girlfriend met her husband there, and then one day we were just kind of bored, and we were like, “Do you want to “break up with your boyfriends today?” And so I broke up with my boyfriend, and she broke up with hers, and that was not a healthy work environment the next day. But yes, no, and when I’m there, it feels like everybody’s really happy. Good stuff.

Yeah, it’s easy to be happy when everybody there is happy, right? The music makes people happy.

Yes Let’s get into the music shall we let’s get into the okay? So it’s jazz and certain nights have different sort of vibes and others right like some are more Genuine old -school jazz some are more like you said Dixieland poppy jazz. So there’s live music every single night. What’s the um the oldest musician?

Every single night for all 39 years minus COVID. It’s amazing.

Amazing.

The oldest currently, they don’t tell me their age, but I know that they are a little older crowd. They do it kind of after their careers. And I say that we don’t pay him much, but they would be doing it in each other’s garages for free. So they just want to be somewhere doing it.

And have fun.

And have fun. But you remember Skinny Harris who played the banjo. The man carried his banjo up the stairs every night. I couldn’t take it from him. He was 92 years old when he stopped working.

That is insane.

Bill Hanna was 90 years old.

We’ve lost some. Rest in peace, Bill Hanna, Jim Lackey. I think about them often, yeah, such great musicians. Lost too young.

But I started working with Bill Hannah and Gerard, even before Cajun Queen, like 35 years ago.

Insane. And Bill Hannah’s a legend here in Charlotte. They have that Bill Hannah jazz jam. I don’t know if that’s still going on.

And Doug Henry was part of that as well.

Doug Henry, yes. He’s involved in like the high school.

I mean, when he plays saxophone, it is amazing. I go in sometimes for dinner on Sunday night just because that’s his night And that’s my night off.

That’s what I tell people a Sunday, Monday. That’s my all -time favorite. It’s, well back in the day when it was Jim Stack and Jim Lackey. I mean, oh my gosh.

Plus I’m off those days. So a lot of people are attracted to those days.

Oh, right Jim Stack is one of my all -time favorite human beings. I really want to get him on this show How old is he in 90s?

Yeah, I think he’s 92, but he’s like literally a rocket scientist, like worked for—

Best piano player. And I kiss him on the lips. And we say, if only you were 50 years younger or I was 50 years older, we would be together. He’s my soulmate, my music soulmate.

Well, when Jim Stack, Jim Lackey, and Doug Henry played the saxophone, I would go in on Sunday with my little ones at the time, and I’d say, “Can you play, you know, My Favorite Things from Sound of Music?” It’s amazing.

Take Five was my, oh, they’re just giving me the chills. I have the chills when I’m talking about music. Take Five, oh, with Jim Stack, was the best. And Skinny Upstairs, 92 years old, would stand up and just clap, and the whole room would just erupt and start clapping in rhythm with him.

And for anybody out there watching that’s never been. I think you do a really, a good job at not making the music overpowering. You can still have a conversation when you’re in that room and you can also go downstairs where there is no music but you can still sort of hear it. So I think it’s, and sitting at the bar is my favorite because you can sit at the bar and chat here and see the music in the room just across the way and that’s my favorite place to be.

Well I will say that it is the most requested room to sit in and it is the most requested room to not sit in. So either you want it or you don’t. Right. But yeah, people say it is music going to be loud? Well, they play to the dining room. So you know, they’re there for you. They don’t want to overpower you. But in the same sense, it’s, it’s music. It’s going to be a little loud.

And they take requests.

They take requests and they take frequent long breaks because they’re on the little older side. So we’re kind of level with that. So yeah. So we get, so we have plenty of time to visit up there as well. But yes, we for the downstairs as well with no music.

Right, because it’s really just a preference for people.

It’s just a preference. And if you take the music out and you just have the house, the food, and the service, it’s still magical. It’s just that you can kind of hear that vibe upstairs. You know, the buzz is the buzz. It’s just like you walk in and it’s like a party.

It’s an experience, right?

People are happy.

Yeah, it’s an experience. I’m always, I feel like the energy of people sitting at It is, it almost feels like you’re on vacation. You know, it’s like a specialty sort of place.

People, you know, we look down the reservations and it’s anniversary birthday, anniversary birthday, anniversary. So it’s a special occasion place for a lot of people, which, you know, it’s, again, going back to multi -generational, I’ve seen people for years and years and years, and then they come to me and like, we have to have our rehearsal dinner. I have to have my son’s blah, blah, blah, blah.

Should I have my rehearsal dinner at the Cajun Queen when I get married?

If ever you do get married. (both laughing)

Time is tickin’, someday will happen.

Yes, I strongly recommend it. No, it’s just, you know, we have been a part of so many things, of so many people’s lives. It’s a privilege for me and an honor, and I don’t take that lightly.

Well, it’s the culinary and the music scene, right? You have people that can come up that knew or know somebody in the band and they step in and they’re playing, right? Or who’s the guy that sings? He’s like the old news anchor, a retired news anchor. He comes up and just like brings his microphone.

Dr. Collins, yeah. Is Dr. Collins playing tonight? He’s not scheduled, but sometimes he sits in. I can’t really speak for him, but yeah.

Was he a news anchor or a doctor? He’s a doctor.

He’s a doctor, but he comes in with Mr. Walker, who was a musician.

Okay, yeah, and then so it’s like I feel like it’s supporting the music scene in Charlotte because like how was the jazz scene in Charlotte? Like I don’t really know other than what’s that jazz bar uptown. Mr. Roy wants to take me there I can’t think of the name. Yeah, there’s one jazz bar uptown. I’m sure y’all know if you’re from Charlotte.

But the other day we had like a high school kid sitting at the bar and he’s like they told me I could sit in with them And he has a little guitar and I’m like, okay, let me go talk to him and they’re like sure. It was a big deal for this kid and he was awesome But so so they foster that and it’s just wonderful to see and of course, you know Like you said, there’s some of them are music teachers and Bill Hannah and Doug Henry taught forever.

Yeah, and they can do I feel like sometimes they do typical like American songs, but in a jazz way, which is cool, too You know for sure like just regular songs if you’re not a fan of jazz It’s still it’s still really cool to be a part of

Yes. I’m very fortunate.

You are, yes.

But still hard work.

Yes, still hard -working you and all those musicians you’re working hard.

Yeah, so the other thing about that is my kids being there, they’ll call me on that. They’re like dad, you didn’t really do anything tonight because you’re—

Cause you’re just hanging out, walking around?

Sitting down, having, you know, sometimes we’ll have dinner with somebody.

I feel like back in my day it was, it seemed a little more stressful when I worked there.

Yeah, kind of.

Were we busier back then?

I don’t think, no, we weren’t busier.

Maybe you were younger and had more rage.

Perhaps. You knew me in my drinking days, didn’t you?

I did, yes. And all your talks in the back about, we won’t talk about politics.  We will not.

Fighting with all the servers about politics.

Still goes on.

You definitely have your points of view.

Yes.

Which we’re all allowed.

Loving, kind, and compassionate.

Yes, that’s it, all the time, all day, every day.

That’s what I’m trying to do.

So, are you gonna retire? Like, is this it? Is this your life?

You know, I don’t, yeah, I’m going to retire someday. I don’t know what will happen at the end. I don’t know, I have two partners, obviously, Robbie and Billy and both of them are getting a little bit older. Billy’s the chef been there since day one.

Is he still there?

Still there, still makes the etouffe and the time to make the donuts and he just—

But he has like an art passion too, right?

He does, but that’s a side—

That kind of feeds him a little bit, yeah. Pun intended, it feeds him. I’m hired. (laughing)

So he makes sure that the menu is consistent over the course of the 39 years. And it always is.

And it always is. I mean, the etouffé. Whatever I get, I always get just a side of etouffé. It’s like my ranch dressing of New Orleans, ’cause I always get a side of ranch with everything I eat with American food. But the etouffé, it always tastes the same.

You know, Jennifer, the other day I walked into the kitchen, Billy was in there with Louise and a few other guys, and I said this kitchen right now, there’s 100 years worth of kitchen experience.

That’s insane.

At the Cajun Queen. Not kitchen experience in general. There’s 100 years of Cajun Queen kitchen experience right now.

God, it gave me the chills, Tim. Not to mention that you also see the generations in the back, right? With Luis and Raziel, right? So Luis is the dad, then Raziel comes in, he’s in the dishwasher.

And his 18 -year -old son now makes Caesar salads on Saturdays.

Oh my God, so Luis’s grandson also works at the Cajun Queen.

Correct.

Wow, that is insane.

Mm -hmm.

Wow, so the barbecue shrimp is amazing.

(laughs) So when I first went there, before I even worked there 30 -some on years ago, I remember having the barbecue ramp the Crawford scamp in the Cajun fight. I said, we had six top at the round table, 48.

48, upstairs.

You never forget it. And it was something, it was just taste that I had never had before. I was from New York and never been to New Orleans and it was just amazing.

So let’s sort of quickly go into why, like what the heritage is, like the history on why New Orleans.

So my partner Rob’s dad started it and he had a partner at the time Pat Frida, Frida Rita who had a desire, it was a theme. It was a the house kind of fit perfectly with it. They wanted live music and that was kind of the theme and then Howie who was our partner for the first 20 years with Billy and Robbie. Had just went to school at Johnson and Wells and Rhode Island and you know, Paul Pradone was kind of a big deal back then in the mid -80s doing blackened this and blackened that and it was kind of a big influence I think on Howie and his menu. I mean, Billy keeps it consistent but Howie’s kind of responsible for the genius of the menu, no offense to the other two.

Go Howie! (laughing)

I mean, just simple and good.

Simple and good.

He told me there’s only two ways to make food taste good. Do you know what they are?

No.

Spice and fat.

I don’t disagree, unfortunately.

And we use a little bit of both.

A little bit of both. And I love to see how the house has grown, the renovations that have happened throughout the years. It’s gotten bigger and bigger. The patio on top, the little porch that’s glassed in now. Yeah, the roof top patio overlooking the oldest park in Charlotte. Oldest park in Charlotte. Speaking of old, we’re both old. But also, we will be right back. We’re going to take a short break.

Welcome back to Oui Talk Raw. I am here with Cajun Queen’s managing partner, Mr. Tim Freer. And I would like to close with a game. Do you wanna play a game?

Oh please.

I play this with my son. It’s called Death Row Meal. So you need to, using the Cajun Queen menu, you are on Death Row. So please let us know why you’re on Death Row. What did you do? Then you’re gonna choose one appetizer, one entree, one side, one dessert, and one drink, which can be a full bottle. You ready?

I’m ready.

Okay, so why are you on death row? What’d you do?

I was wrongly convicted.

Of what?

Murder.

Oh, but you’re innocent.

Of course.

Of course you are. (laughing) You can do no wrong. So your very last appetizer on earth in this human body.

Barbecue shrimp.

With bread. You can have bread after ’cause you have to have bread. And the barbecue shrimp’s considered medium spice, correct?

It’s on the upper end. I would say crawfish scampi is the medium spice.

Also, if you have a date later that night, maybe don’t go to the Cajun Queen because I smell like Garlic for days.

Garlic, butter, and scallions are definitely an important part of a week.

That is worth it. Okay, so barbecue shrimp, six piece or 12? 12.

Of course.

Yeah, and you have one entree and one side. Shoot.

The entree is going to be salmon topped with crawfish, artichoke hearts, white wine, lemon, garlic. That’s the topping that we use.

I’m surprised you wouldn’t do the cream sauce. It’s your last thing on earth.

It’s gross for me.

Oh really?

Yeah, I like the light.

So typically you get to choose one white wine butter sauce or one cream sauce, which can be Dijon cream, Romano cream, right?

But then we serve it with mashed potatoes and it’s too heavy for me.

So the white wine butter sauce comes with rice.

Really selling our menu on it.

I know it by heart. And just for anybody watching, you don’t have to get a blackened, but you can. Yeah, grilled is just whether a chance to do spicy or not?

Side would definitely be crawfish at touffé.

Oh, God, so good.

And then dessert.

Dessert.

It’s gotta be the Oreo cookie cheesecake.

Oh, caca. It’s gotta be. I’ll choose the pecan pie. Okay, you can have it.

So, there’s only two things that we do not make every single day at the Cajun Queen. –

I know what they are.

Please tell me.

The first one is key lime pie.

That’s correct.

Give me a hint on the second one.

It’s part of the New Orleans barbecue shrimp meal.

Fried something.

No, the bread. We get it delivered fresh every day from the bakery.

Oh, darn it, I failed. Is the bread still from Nova’s bakery?

Well, it’s from Amelies now, ’cause they took over Nova’s place.

Oh, okay, got it. Okay, so dessert, Oreo, cookie cheesecake, and then you get one drink, which can be a bottle. You’re dying, so if you wanna have a relapse, do it.

I don’t ever wanna have a relapse (laughs) Because if I only had one day to live, I’d like to be present in that day as well.

Oh, I love that.

So I’d pick coffee. I’d have a coffee.

A coffee. So then when you transition to wherever we go after we die, you’re gonna be present.

I’m gonna be ready.

That’s wise. You know what? If I ever see Taylor Swift, I don’t think I’m gonna have champagne before because I wanna be present when I see her.

Do you know what I mean?

Yeah, I know exactly what I mean.

Sometimes a couple glasses of champagne and I don’t wanna forget the songs that she plays. That’s my two cents.

I’ve been to Billy Joel concerts both ways and I can guarantee you it’s better sober.

Exactly because you can remember everything they do, you remember it the next day.

Plus you’re not in line in the bathroom the whole time.

Right, breaking the seal. Okay, so our closing conversation topic question. So for anybody out there watching that’s in the industry, this grueling industry, what sort of advice would you give them to maintain longevity, maintain their mental state, their physical state in the industry?

Well, first of all, I think you have to love people. And you know that about yourself. Secondly, I would suggest you don’t take yourself too seriously. You know, we make a lot of dinners and they are well received and they taste excellent, but it’s not, you know, we’re not trying to make a Picasso every single time that the meal goes out. We’re there to make people feel good, taste good food and have fun, you know. But the most important thing for a restaurant tour really is if you want a restaurant, it has to be something, Well, the best thing to do is to own the real estate.

To own the actual building.

Yes, because they’ll just keep, we own 1800 East 7th Street, so that has kept us in business. Otherwise, somebody would have just raised the rate, raised the rate, raised the rate.

Oh, that’s good advice.

Yeah, Michael Keaton said in the founder about McDonald’s, he said, “We thought we were in the restaurant business, but we found out we were in the real estate business.”

So how much do you make? I’m just kidding. (laughing)

We’re just all there for a little paycheck. We’re just hoping the building sells someday. That’s about it.

So is that sort of what you’re like what your exit strategy would be? Yeah, so to own the building and then you can sell it or sell the business?

Or lease it back to yourself or whatever you have to I mean most successful restaurants too not everybody can afford that right off the bat, but as soon as you can try to own the real estate.

Would you recommend that your children do what you do? I know you sort of touched on it earlier.

My daughter just graduated with a master’s in social work and she wants to you she wants to work with young people with addiction.

That’s kind of like a bartender.

Yeah, exactly old people with addiction. So she plans on making no money for a long time and she said dad it’s about the outcome not the income.

Oh my gosh. I’ve never heard that I like it.

So she is set and Sully, I’m trying to keep as far away from this business as possible.

So it’s grueling, it’s grueling, but for anybody watching, come to the Cajun Queen, open seven nights a week, live music, get the Death Row Meal and let your server know that you’re ordering the Death Row Meal and you’ll receive 20 % off.

You will indeed.

All right, Tim Freer, thank you so much for coming on, everybody. Thanks for viewing.

Thanks, Jennifer.

And that’s a wrap with Oui Talk Raw.