Johnny Cace's Seafood and Steak House
Longview, Gregg County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This east Texas landmark established by John ”Johnny” Cace, Jr. has served the area since 1949. Johnny was the son of a Yugoslav immigrant who grew up on the island village of Prvic Luka and spent his childhood fishing and boating in the Adriatic Sea. John Cace, Sr. arrived in Buras, Louisiana in 1915 where there was a community of Yugoslav fishermen and oystermen. In 1916, Cace married into a family who owned oyster beds and fishing boats. John, Jr., or Johnny, was born in 1917 and learned the way of the sea and bayous at an early age. Johnny graduated second in his high school class and attended Louisiana State University for two years before moving with his parents to Shreveport in 1936. The family sold fresh seafood and oysters from their home and soon opened a restaurant. In 1939, Johnny married Valerie Savony and then joined the U.S. Air Force. Johnny and his family moved to Longview in 1949 and opened Johnny Cace’s Seafood and Steak House. They lived above the restaurant which became noted for quality seafood, fresh shucked oysters and creole recipes. The original location was expanded three times before a New Orleans style building was erected in 1964 at this location. In 1966, Johnny was elected president of both the Texas Restaurant Association and the Longview Chamber of Commerce. Cace was named “Man of the Year” by the Longview Federated Clubs in 1992. He died in November 2000. Johnny Cace established a landmark family business that spans three generations and is known throughout the state, region and nation.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Johnny Cace, son of a Yugoslav immigrant fisherman from the Adriatic island of Prvic Luka, grew up around the seafood trade his family carried from Louisiana's oyster beds to Shreveport. In 1949 he opened Johnny Cace's Seafood and Steak House in Longview, living above the restaurant that became famous for fresh-shucked oysters and Creole cooking. A New Orleans–style building rose here in 1964, and the business grew into a beloved east Texas institution spanning three generations.
Why it matters
It traces an immigrant fishing family's American arc—from Adriatic waters to Gulf oyster beds to a landmark Texas restaurant—one small chapter in the immigrant story behind so much of American food culture.
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Related people
- · John "Johnny" Cace, Jr.
- · John Cace, Sr.
Themes & tags
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