Bayou to Buckeye bringing authentic Cajun food to the region
Reigh and Scott DePriest stand in the carryout restaurant Bayou to Buckeye which they recently opened with a southern Cajun style menu. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
Bayou to Buckeye is a Cajun style carry out, which was recently opened by Reigh and Scott DePriest at the former location of City Soup at 500 Walnut St., East Liverpool. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
Reigh and Scott DePriest stand in the carryout restaurant Bayou to Buckeye which they recently opened with a southern Cajun style menu. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
Bayou to Buckeye is a Cajun style carry out, which was recently opened by Reigh and Scott DePriest at the former location of City Soup at 500 Walnut St., East Liverpool. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
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EAST LIVERPOOL - The building located at 500 Walnut St. in downtown East Liverpool, which has been home to a beauty school, a diner, several pizza shops and most recently City Soup, is now home to Bayou to Buckeye, a restaurant that serves up authentic southern style Cajun food.
Owner Reigh DePriest and her husband Scott held a soft opening on July 28 and officially opened the restaurant with a ribbon cutting ceremony a few days later.
Reigh said business has had steady business and she has met a lot of really cool people.
"The next thing about here, is the older people they seem really into the town, especially the alumni people who all have something historical to tell me about city, and that is really neat; and the people from the (Museum of Ceramics) with the pictures and stuff and city hall, they have the pictures to share with you and that is really neat because I like nostalgia things," Reigh said.
The DePriests are originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, where the family survived two major hurricanes - Katrina and Ria - and two small ones - Cindy and Dennis - all in 2005.
In 2021, Scott was relocated for work by his company to Newell, West Virginia, while Reigh stayed in New Orleans for a bit, not wanting to come to Ohio because it snows here. When Hurricane Ida was predicted to hit Louisiana as a category four hurricane 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc over the area, Reigh said she got a not-so-good feeling about it and decided at the spur of the moment she wasn't going to go through another hurricane like that, so she rented a U-Haul, loaded up her five kids who are now, 28, 22, 20, 11 and 9, and their belongings and got a friend to drive her to East Liverpool.
Reigh said it took two days to make the drive to Ohio, and they arrived just in time to get the kids registered for school, which started three days after they arrived.
Riegh noted that the anniversary of Katrina was Saturday and that has made a rough week for her because she remembers everything they went through, including what they smelled, heard and saw; the military not letting her back in her home and handing out water, bleach and MREs (Meals ready to eat). She said it took a while to rebuild.
With Scott working and the children in school, the family settled into life in East Liverpool.
Reigh, who loves cooking, has heard for years from family and friends she should start her own restaurant.
When Reigh saw a sign in the window of the building of City Soup advertising pots for sale when they made the decision to close at that location earlier this year in March, she went inside to talk to the owner Dennis Talbot about about buying the pots, which she thought would be an idea for cooking large quantities which she often did to feed her family and then give away to friends.
While talking to Talbot, the topic of her buying the building came up in the conversation and she on the spur of the moment listened to what her friends and family had been telling her for some time and decided to buy the building and open a restaurant.
"I had no game plan, no business plan, no nothing, and we are still just winging it as we go," Reigh said.
Reigh uses heritage recipes passed down for over 100 years through her great-great-grandmother. She also gets some of her recipes from a New Orleans cookbook from 1901.
Bayou to Buckeye has a menu that changes weekly and features authentic Cajun food such a gumbo, jambalaya, shrimp or chicken bordelaise, red beans and rice, shrimp or crawfish etouffee, blackened chicken with dirty rice, Bodine balls and more, with these all items that Reigh cooks at home for family and friends.
The name Bayou to Buckeye, which appropriately describes their journey, was crafted with a little help from ChatGPT. Reigh decided on the name because it just clicked with her and fit the restaurant and menu.
Bayou to Buckeye will be setting up with menu items at Oktoberfest which will be held at the end of September at Thompson Park.
The restaurant is carry out only with the option to call ahead by calling 330-990-0531. Reigh noted if a customer lets her know ahead of time that they might not be in by 4 p.m. she can wait a bit while she cleans up the restaurant for the customer to come.
Bayou to Buckeye is currently open Monday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.