A large bucket of adult and children’s menus along with crayons sits at the entrance of new Cajun restaurant REO’s New Orleans Kitchen during their ribbon cutting on Friday.

An authentic taste of New Orleans Cajun and fresh seafood has arrived just outside of Bullard with a new restaurant.

REO’s New Orleans Kitchen quietly opened this week on U.S. Highway 69 North in Mt. Selman and Saturday it was packed with returning customers for the official grand opening.

The most popular starter was the seafood rolls and from there, customers picked from kitchen specials, fried platters, pasta plates, New Orleans-style po’boys, gumbo, a soup and salad bar and more. They also have homemade pound cake and red velvet cake.

Espian Pace said the family owned business is named for family members, as the ‘R’ stands for her brother, Renard, ‘E’ is for Espian and ‘O’ is for her mother, Orita.

The family ran Cafe 51 in Louisiana and had a catering company. Pace moved them to Tyler last year as a business manager for Verizon.

They started a Cajun catering business in Tyler, but it outgrew the home and Pace started looking for a spot to open a restaurant.

“We had to find a place that was large enough to host a multitude of events plus have good dining rooms,” Pace said. “Plus, I’m into sports, so the back bar will be a sports bar with pool tables. And we have a lot of land. I am a risk-taker, so stepping out and doing this is something I’m OK with.”

As for the menu, Pace says, “It’s all authentic Cajun cuisine. I get all of my seafood straight from New Orleans from Jean Lafitte in the gulf and it’s made with love.”

She has been pleased with the initial reaction to the restaurant and said REO’s New Orleans Kitchen fills a need in the area.

“It’s been exciting. Everyone has enjoyed it and we have very few scraps in the trash can, which is a good sign!” she said. “This area has a lot of Tex-Mex, so I decided not to just bring soul food, but Cajun cuisines here. You can go anywhere and get fried fish. However, my battering and my seasonings are homemade, so it’s different from anything you buy on the shelf.”

REO’s New Orleans Kitchen is located at 47170 U.S. Highway 69 North in Mt. Selmen. Their phone number is 903-894-3083. They are open Wednesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.