From left: Brandon Millen, Kate Wiley, Deanna Wiley and Tim Wiley are the owners of Pops Crawsh.
COOKING CRAWFISH Cooking and soaking crawsh at Pops is a multistep process. Here is what it looks like to cook around 60 pounds of crawsh at one time:
DINING FEATURE
Pops Crawsh sells crawsh shipped in from Southeast Texas and Louisiana.
PHOTOS BY TAYLOR CRIPECOMMUNITY IMPACT
Pops Crawsh Family-owned business brings craw sh boil to Austin’s backyard P ops Crawsh is a family aair: The seasonal trailer is owned and operated by Tim Wiley, his wife, Deanna Wiley; and his daughter, hanging out and drinking cold beer,” she said. “It’s just a social thing.” The crawsh trailer oers shrimp and crawsh by the pound with sides such as potatoes and corn. Pops Crawsh goes through 1,200-1,400 pounds of crawsh, which are shipped from Louisiana and Southeast Texas, every weekend, Tim said. BY TAYLOR CRIPE
1 The crawsh is washed in a large sink to ensure all the mud is washed o the crawsh.
Kate Wiley. The trio decided to open a crawsh business because they did not like the options in Austin, Kate said. They rst opened the crawsh trailer in 2015 for the peak of crawsh season, which runs from late February until the end of May. They have been open every season since, she said. “My dad thought he was going to scare us o [from buying the trailer] by saying, ‘Bring your checkbooks, and we’ll buy it,’” Kate said. “[Deanna] and I showed up with our checkbooks, and here we are.” Pops Crawsh is named after Deanna’s father, Clyde Léger, or “Pops,” a Louisiana native who spent his life around crawsh. “We have [crawsh] recipes from my mom’s side of the family in Mississippi, and my stepmom’s [Deanna’s] side in Louisiana, so we just combined everything,” Kate said. She added eating crawsh is not meant to be a “quick-eating meal.” “You’re sitting around the table with your friends and family for hours eating crawsh,
The secret to making good crawsh is to soak the crawsh instead of shaking them; shaking is the preferred method of many places that sell crawsh because it is quicker, he said. “What [soaking] means is we heavily season the water, and then we cook the crawsh in the cooker for about three to ve minutes,” he said. “And then we let them soak in the water for 25 minutes.” It takes longer, but it allows time for the crawsh to absorb the spices, and it tastes better, Tim said. The Pops Crawsh trailer is a resident of Rock House Bar and Trailer Park, an indoor-outdoor park o RM 620 near Four Points. Pops Crawsh is only open on the weekends during crawsh season. “This is really a second job for most of us,” Tim said. Kate, a high school piano director, said Rock House Bar and Trailer Park is busiest on the weekends, so it makes more sense for them to be out there during that time.
2 The crawsh is cooked, stirred and soaked in spices for 25 minutes.
Pops Crawsh 6900 N. RM 620, Austin 512-688-9917 www.popscrawsh.com Hours: Fri. 4 p.m. until sold out, Sat.-Sun. noon until sold out, Feb. - May
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3 Cooked crawsh is placed into a cooler before being taken to the trailer to serve.
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LAKE TRAVIS WESTLAKE EDITION • APRIL 2023
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