Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday…Goodbye, Pete and Shorty’s…Hello, Floyd’s.

“Les es les bon ton roulette!” or “Let the Good Times Roll!” That’s the motto of Floyd’s Cajun Seafood & Texas Steakhouse, scheduled to open soon – possibly as early as June 18 – in Sugar Land, Texas.

Its not hard to miss the remodeling job being done on the the restaurant located at 16549 Southwest Freeway, adjacent to the grounds of First Colony Mall and Methodist Sugar Land Hospital.

The building stands alone next to Lowery Bank and the Southwest Freeway. Cars whizz by on the feeder on their way to Highway 6 – the nearest stop light – or traveling at speed on the Southwest Freeway towards congested Houston areas including the Galleria, Greenway Plaza and, of course, Downtown Houston.

Glance for a second though and you’ll notice the signs have changed.

The building popped up several years ago as Ruby Tuesday, though it didn’t seem to last long. My wife and I assumed the recession got the best of that establishment as it had so many restaurants that were closing at the time. Shortly thereafter, Pete and Shorty’s took its place. It also closed despite seeming to have a nice family clientelle and entertainment on the weekends.

The location seems so good. Nestled between major corporate developments, medical facilities and hundreds of First Colony area families – not to mention standing beside commuters on their way home to huge subdivisions like Telfair, Greatwood and New Territory – a restaurant would have to do well in a place like that, wouldn’t it?

We may soon find out. Currently, there’s a restaurant boom in Fort Bend County and one of the latest eateries to be opening is Floyd’s Cajun Seafood & Texas Steakhouse.

This will be the fourth Southeast Texas location for Floyd’s after Webster, Beaumont and Pearland. All are owned by Bret Floyd, Floyd “Dawg” Landry and Gary Pearce.

According to Bret Floyd on the Sugar Land location’s Facebook page, the restaurant’s opening is tentatively scheduled for June 18, pending certain permit approvals.

Floyd’s sports a fun, casual atmosphere where friends and neighbors will go to hoist a few beers and get knee deep into Floyd’s specialty – Crawfish – as well as other Louisiana inspired dishes. Floyd’s will be serving up what they call “Great Authentic Cajun Seafood.” I know my wife will want to dive into some Etouffee and check out their Fried Okra. I love all kinds of seafood and enjoy a good blackened dish now and again. Some Red Beans and Rice is sounding good right about now, too.

Currently, the restaurant has most of the windows blacked out by wood frames with round “portholes.” One wonders if this has been done to hide what’s going on with the remodeling inside or if it is, as I suspect, permanent and designed to enhance a nautical theme.

Sugar Land has some pretty distinct laws on signage for retail and dining establishments so, of course, Floyd’s main sign is white. My guess is the restaurant would benefit from an additional, taller sign that would be more clearly visible from the freeway – though that may not be permissable with current regulations.

You can see the Lowery Bank sign – mounted on the two-story building – easily from Highway 59 but Floyd’s is more difficult to view. Its actually invisible from the Southbound side of the freeway – the side most of us are travelling on as we drive home thinking about what to do for dinner.

Floyd’s is certainly easier to find than Rajin’ Cajun though, which is tucked behind Target and seems to do just fine. The Rouxpour, another Cajun concept restaurant, has managed to garner a lot of positive attention with its location in Sugar Land Town Center. Hopefully, Floyd’s loyal following and word of mouth will get this Cajun Seafood & Steakhouse off to a good start. With all the eating establishments that have opened up in the past year and a half, obviously, a lot of business owners expect a lot of people to be out and about, dining in the Sugar Land area.

The area, near First Colony Boulevard and 59 has seen tremendous growth recently. Every restaurant my wife and I go to on Friday and Saturday nights in Sugar Land is packed and we expect Floyd’s will be also. Combine that with the lunch crowd all the corporations and medical facilities in the area could provide and we hope this spells success for Floyd’s.

Some Crawfish Parking Lot Parties, like they’ve had at other locations should do very well attracting attention and drawing new customers to Floyd’s, too.

The Northeast side of the building has patio seating so we’re looking forward to dining al fresco when the weather’s cool enough or just having a few extra cold beverages when Houston’s exhibiting some of the hot, sticky weather its famous for.

We wish Floyd’s Cajun Seafood and Steakhouse much success and look forward to kickin’ back and enjoying some crawfish.

In addition to their dining room, guests will be able to enjoy Floyd’s Take Out and Offsite Catering. View Floyd’s Cajun Seafood & Steakhouse website at: www.floydsseafood.com

Don’t forget to check out their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/FloydsCajunSeafoodAndTexasSteakhouseSugarLand

Editor’s Update, 6/7/12: Some people have been telling me that what Floyd’s means to say is “Laissez le bon temps rouler!” I did a little research and, sure enough, this is the Cajun French expression for “Let the Good Times Roll!”

One person even said that famed Cajun cook and humorist Justin Wilson would be weeping if he had ever seen this. Well, I don’t know about that, but it gives me an idea to do a little story on Mr. Wilson as he certainly was a colorful character. I Gawr-On-Tee!!

Maybe the folks at Floyd’s are more used to saying it rather than spelling it so we’ll give them a break. Perhaps they’ll be able to update their website when the new Sugar Land location opens. GR

Photos Copywrite 2012 Gary Riis/Hospitality Hero