Classic Treebeards recipes at home

Downtown’s Market Square has seen tremendous development in the past several years — only a handful of businesses can claim a longtime association with that historical area of the city center.

One of those old-timers is Treebeards, a Southern-fried CajunCreole restaurant that has been around for 40 years. Though some might argue that four decades can hardly be called old, it’s a milestone for any restaurant, let alone one born when Houston’s downtown was not exactly as glamorous as it is today.

Treebeards opened on Preston in a former pool hall between a peep-show arcade and a rowdy bar in 1978. The 30-seat cafe became so popular it moved into its current, and much larger, space on Travis two years later. That flagship remains there today, and Treebeards has four other downtown locations.

To mark its birthday, Treebeards is offering one of its most popular menu items — red beans and rice — for its original opening price of $1.95. The dish, served on an oval plate as always, comes with a complimentary sausage link and French bread. The special is available only at the Market Square location, 315 Travis, ThursdayMarch 16 (open 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays).

The original owners, Dan Tidwell and Jamie Mize, sold Treebeards to longtime managers Matt Rowden and Jolie Stinneford, along with Stinneford’s husband, Charles, in 2010.

Jolie Stinneford said freshness has been key to Treebeards’ longevity: “We don’t have any kind of commissary where we freeze and heat it back up. Every day we cook fresh product.”

And the staff, many who have been with the restaurant 15, 20 and 25 years, know their repeat customers.

“You develop a relationship with them like a neighborhood kind of thing,” she said. “It’s very familiar.”

Just like Treebeard’s food — think jambalaya, shrimp étouffée and rotating daily specials including meatloaf and fried chicken, blackened catfish and seafood gumbo.

Uniquely Houston touches can be found in several dishes, including mustard greens that incorporate Vietnamese fish sauce. Red beans and rice, though familiar to Southerners, comes with a twist, too: a garnish of grated cheese and onion. The toppings found their way onto the dish back when Treebeards first added beef chili to the menu.

“People from Louisiana look at us like we’re out of our minds when we ask them if they want cheese and onion,” Stinneford said. “But almost everyone from Houston gets it with cheese and onion.”