Reo Palm Isle in Longview expanding with Cajun-themed restaurant
Published 5:41 am Thursday, August 13, 2026
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Reo’s Cajun Kitchen dining room Friday, August 7, 2026, at the Reo Palm Isle. (Les Hassell/News-Journal Photo)
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Reo Palm Isle owner Josh Allen, right, and Kevin Hawkins have announced the opening of Reo’s Cajun Kitchen Friday, August 7, 2026, at the Reo Palm Isle. (Les Hassell/News-Journal Photo)
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Reo Palm Isle owner Josh Allen, right, and Kevin Hawkins have announced the opening of Reo’s Cajun Kitchen Friday, August 7, 2026, at the Reo Palm Isle. (Les Hassell/News-Journal Photo)
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Reo’s Cajun Kitchen dining room Friday, August 7, 2026, at the Reo Palm Isle. (Les Hassell/News-Journal Photo)
Longview’s legendary Reo Palm Isle is giving customers a new reason to visit – a full-service restaurant led by local chef Kevin Hawkins
The new Reo’s Cajun Kitchen and Saloon is set to open Aug. 20, with Hawkins continuing to serve other dishes at the restaurant until then
John Allen renovated and reopened the longtime former dance hall at 4716 W. Loop 281 in 2019. It opened with an event hall for dancing and various performers on one side of the building and a skating rink on the other side that has become a popular spot
“We’ve always served food here,” Allen said, including items such as pizza, cheese sticks and chicken fried chicken
“We decided we wanted to be more of a restaurant,” he said, but he needed more help in the kitchen. The Reo’s bartender, Niki Bodie, recommended her significant other, Kevin Hawkins
Allen didn’t know anything about Hawkins – that he was hiring the man who started local soul food favorite Hawkins Divine Catering and Restaurant on Mobberly Avenue. His family runs the restaurant now, and he still maintains a food truck
“I’m blissfully ignorant of who Kevin was,” Allen said. “He came on board, and then as he produced the quality food that he was bringing out, and then people started telling me who I had in the kitchen, it became clear to me that we needed to expand the opportunity…
“We both saw an opportunity to elevate what we’re doing here at the Reo and put out a good product. It seemed like the right time to do it,” Allen said
Hawkins said he didn’t want to arrive at the restaurant “boasting” about who he is
“I kind of kept that undercover, because I could tell he didn’t know who I was,” he said. “I kind of enjoyed the fact that I came in and worked under the radar.”
Hawkins said he anticipated being able to help the Reo grow, but said he didn’t want to push that himself
He is already operating the kitchen with expanded hours while the new menu is finalized
“It will be Cajun with a little element of soul, along with some of (Hawkins’) staples,” Allen said, including beef tips and rice and grilled pork chops
Hawkins said the restaurant’s new menu also will include such dishes as crawfish egg rolls, Boubin bowls and other cajun-themed dishes
The Reo offers dancing and other events on the weekend, but Allen said he’s trying to make the business more of a six–day-a-week operation. The restaurant will be closed on Mondays but open 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, with extended hours on Friday and Saturday. Dancing and events will continue to be offered
The restaurant will seat at least 150 people
Allen said the restaurant also is working with Skinner’s Grocery and Market in Longview to provide meat for hamburgers and blackened ribeye, for instance
“You always want to keep things local,” he said, adding that working with Skinner’s is “just good business.”
Hawkins’ goal, he said, is to provide “high quality, Cajun dishes that people can’t get anywhere else.”
“It’s going to be something good for the Reo,” Allen said
