by Katie Black

In business since 1985, Elizabeth restaurant Cajun Queen celebrates its 40th anniversary this year — a heavy feat for any restaurant, but especially for one in Charlotte. Thanks to its welcoming atmosphere in a historic home, the Cajun restaurant has become a go-to for generations of locals.

Managing partner Tim Freer came to Charlotte from Poughkeepsie, N.Y.,  to attend UNCC in the late 1980s. “It was a Southern bubble; I was in culture shock,” Freer says. 

Along with Freer, Cajun Queen has two other owners: chef William Wessling and Robert Gottfried, whose father, Sid Gottfried, was the original restaurant owner. Gottfried sold the restaurant to his son in 1990. 

During the early 1990s, Freer had a good friend who introduced him to Cajun Queen and its staff. Freer began working at the restaurant as the service bartender. He was quite literally placed in the back of the house, at an auxiliary bar. Right nearby was a cabinet stocked full of liquor. Freer worked as a bartender for only a few months, until he was told he could start serving tables. He did so for the next few years, and during the same timeframe, management changed over to Robert Gottfried and Howard Winter.

“Those two both were back of the house, so eventually a few years later, they needed a front-of-house person and I figured if I didn’t want anyone to tell me what to do, I better do it myself,” he says. “So I said, ‘I can do that.’”

“I was the first front-of-house manager, ever,” Freer says. “But that was a few years after they were open.” As a small family-owned restaurant, there had not yet been anyone in that position.

Since Freer’s time at the restaurant began, the restaurant hasn’t changed much on the inside — but what’s around it has. The building is a two-story house that’s been restored and retrofitted into a restaurant, aged at more than 100 years old.

Construction of Independence Boulevard in the 1950s, expansion of Presbyterian Hospital, and the growth of Central Piedmont Community College spurred the shift of the Elizabeth neighborhood’s character from a strictly residential neighborhood to a mix of non-residential and commercial. 

Freer acknowledges that the growth and evolution of the Elizabeth neighborhood aren’t entirely negative. While one restaurant may close, two more often take its place.

For Freer, looking down 7th Street today, the vista is nothing like what it was when Cajun Queen opened its doors four decades ago. Yet changes happened slowly over a long period of time. “Like a frog in a pot of water that was boiling,” Freer says.

Even after 30 years in the business, Freer, 55, still loves Cajun Queen and the hospitality that has made the restaurant such a treasured Charlotte spot. His children, frequent visitors to the restaurant in their youth, have all worked there at some point. Just like Freer and his own family, the restaurant’s regular patrons have been growing along with the establishment, too. Freer and the other longstanding employees have observed these families evolve from couples to children to sometimes grandchildren. “I’m not an important part (of these families),” Freer shares. “I just get to witness it.” 

One of the favorite attributes Freer has cherished about being part of the Cajun Queen over the years is all of the different types of people who come through the front door. At any moment, one can witness a table of young men, a table of women, a table of couples, and a table of senior citizens who are all celebrating. 

Even as the Elizabeth neighborhood changes around it, that remains the same night after night. Cajun Queen’s legacy endures as a true home for anyone needing hospitality and good food, as long as Freer is there to guide it.

“I’d like to retire — someday,” he says.