C is for Chez Olga – East Town
Our next adventure was in East Town. I knew it would be an adventure when we parked, walked by my old yoga studio from back in the day and saw a dude standing in the parking lot wearing a g-string. Only a g-string. He was just hanging out (literally) and chatting with another dude. We learned later that his name is Punk Rock Ron when he showed up on my FYP on TikTok. Apparently, he is somewhat of an East Town legend.
I used to live in East Town and never ran into Punk Rock Ron. I rented a flat on Richard Terrace from 1996-2002, then bought my first house around the corner on Giddings where I lived until 2006.
Though I had spent most of my 20’s in East Town, I had never been into the building that Chez Olga was in. It wouldn’t have been Chez Olga then and I have no idea what it used to be, but one thing is for sure I had seen the building and always remembered it. A very distinct Shed style building.
Screenshot from WZZM
It looked like that then, it looks like that now.
As we walked up to the building, we weren’t even sure how to get in. I confidently opened the door on the right and walked into a tattoo parlor. That was not it. Mortified, I quickly retreated and we saw the door on the left and made our way into the right place. Chez Olga.
Chez Olga serves Caribbean/Haitian food. We were really excited to try something new. We were seated right away, but then we waited. And waited… And waited. It took 10-15 minutes to get our order in. While we waited for our food, we looked at the online reviews and any qualms were eased. All the reviews said it took a long time to get the food, but it.was.worth.the.wait. Oh boy.
Ray got the Shrimp Gumbo, and I got the Cajun Pasta with Chicken. Our table neighbor, a single man, got the potato lasagna. Ray and I were in love with the food, couldn’t stop eating it. I didn’t want dinner to end. It was sooooo good. Our table neighbor said his was also good.
During dinner we talked about the upcoming weddings we were invited to, and the new trend to have a website with a QR code, that tells a story about the couple, has information about the wedding, the dress code, and the registry all in one place.
The previous summer the wedding of my nephew Cade also had a QR code, and their story was all about dates. The date they met, had first date, became an official couple, got engaged. The dress code for the wedding was cocktail attire.
This summer, another nephew Nik was having a wedding shower. His and his future wife shared the story of their friendship which started in middle school, and the on and off nature of their relationship until after college, and their love of travel culminating in a destination wedding in Italy in the fall. As it was “just” a shower, there wasn’t a detailed dress code. Turns out the shower was at a horse farm, and was pretty elevated, so I’m glad we did dress for it.
The third wedding was a nephew of Rays whose story was about a lifelong friendship of the couple’s parents, which resulted in an “arranged marriage” between Will and Lucia. This was an inside joke that made it’s way to the actual wedding and reception, which was cute. The dress code was kind of retro/glam.
The stories of these young love affairs is sweet. Maybe I should tell of the love affair of Ray and I. Nah, I’ll just stick to my love affair with Chez Olga!
This was the first of our ABC restaurants that I would definitely go back to. Anytime. Invite me, I’m there.
Created by CRB 