Since 1973, at your service
Elouise "Ouisie" Adams Jones
Jan. 10, 1943-Jan. 10, 2022
One of the first things Elouise Adams Jones was likely to tell anyone asking about her restaurant was how to pronounce her nickname. It's Wee-zee. Oui (as in yes) - sie (like in ZZ Top). Ouisie's. Not 'oozy's' or 'owlsy's' or 'queezy's' but Ouisie's, a nickname derived from Elouise, her birth name after an aunt who insisted they share it.
In 1973, she opened Ouisie's Table & The Traveling Brown Bag Lunch Co. on Sunset Boulevard in Houston. Customers described it as their own charming, eclectic and eccentric club. Ouisie went on to be a pioneer restaurateur in Texas and the proprietor of Ouisie's Table for a combined 45-plus years. Her imaginative menu - inspired by the regional cuisines of Texas, Louisiana and the South - reflected the owner's born-in-Texas palate, the Gulf Coast, her grandmother's elegant Louisiana cooking and, of course, her own "Southern foods and eclectic tendencies."
In 2003, a young man named Wafi Dinari joined Ouisie's relocated spot on San Felipe as General Manager and for almost two decades was a driving force in all aspects of the restaurant. Ouisie understood early on she had found someone who shared her vision, so when she made the decision to retire, there was no question who should own and continue the restaurant's journey.
And that journey does indeed continue. We invite everyone to experience Ouisie's legacy and savor the trip.
