Authentic Cajun restaurant opens in Kansas City. Owner hopes to fill a void
If you’re asking Dustin Seeser and Jared Kelly, Cajun food is hard to come by in the KC area.
Seeser, who hails from New Orleans, contends that it’s almost impossible.
“To be honest with you, New Orleans food is not that hard to make,” Seeser told The Star on Wednesday, sitting inside his new restaurant. “Nobody (here) knows how to make a roux.”
For those who aren’t familiar, roux is a thickening agent made of flour and oil that’s added to gumbo.
If you’re trying to meet their standards, then, Bayou Box is one of few authentic Cajun restaurants in the KC metro. It just opened in Waldo at 8940 Wornall Road. Friends Seeser and Kelly — along with Kelly’s wife, Faye — opened the spot to give the KC area a “real” taste of New Orleans.
“Over the last 20 years, I’ve been listening to people say they hate seafood,” he said. “I went to the places they tried up here, and when I tasted it, now I know why … that’s not Louisiana food.”
So, what is? Seeser said it’s all in the onions, bell peppers, garlic and celery.
The menu at Bayou Box offers dishes like po’ boys ($12.99). For $15.99: shrimp Creole, shrimp étouffée and crawfish étouffée. (Étouffée is a spice-filled Cajun stew).
Sides include ragin’ Cajun mac salad, corn bread, fried okra, fried oysters and more.
Seeser bragged on the muffuletta ($12.99), an Italian sesame bread sandwich filled with meats, cheeses and olives.
“I’ve had some people say, they ate it, and, ‘I’ve never tasted anything like this,’” Kelly said. “It’s really new flavors.”
Bayou Box offers beignets and bread pudding for desserts.
In the middle of Wednesday’s interview, a customer at the restaurant interjected —“Holy mother of fried carbohydrates!” — with her positive review on the beignets.
Seeser has been in Kansas City since 2005. He moved right after Hurricane Katrina destroyed his home in New Orleans.
Fleeing the storm, he stayed in Baton Rouge with his parents for a few days. His goal was ultimately to make his way to Kansas City, where some of his extended family was.
“I was stuck out there for a week, no power,” he said. “Finally, I got a ride to the airport … I flew up here, and I stayed.”
There’s a lot about Kansas City that’s different from New Orleans. Seeser said he didn’t know what a last call at a bar was until he moved to the area. Nor was he aware the winters could be so brutally cold.
And of course, the food is much different. But he loves the Midwestern city he’s grown to know as home.
“Kansas City has given me a lot,” Seeser said. “This is me wanting to give back to Kansas City.”
In December, the trio also opened a location in Lone Jack at 105 Battlefield Road, Suite B. Stay tuned for more Bayou Box locations, Seeser said.
This story was originally published February 20, 2026 at 7:41 AM.