David Cui was born in Shanghai. He spent 28 years cooking Cajun food in New Orleans. Then he moved to Dallas, opened a small restaurant in a north Dallas strip center, and almost lost everything. Then the internet showed up.
The story of a true mom & pop, Swamp Cafe at 17721 Dallas Parkway is the that reminds you why small restaurants matter and how close they always are to disappearing. David and his wife Michelle have been running this place for years, with David doing the cooking and both of them doing everything else. The food is scratch-made Cajun — gumbo, jambalaya, étouffée, po’boys, beignets — and it is the real thing, built from nearly three decades of cooking in Louisiana.
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