Sam’s Southern Eatery — a new restaurant on West Parrish Avenue that promises to bring some New Orleans flavor with seafood and other southern favorites — finally opened Wednesday, and the owners said word of mouth helped keep a nice stream of customers flowing through their doors.
Co-owners Moe Iweinat and Moses Ibrahim hoped to open by Sept. 1, but plans kept getting delayed.
“It’s a relief to finally open,” Iweinat said. “A couple of times we thought we were going to open but something else would set us back. I’m happy to be open. Everything is working, everything is fine and up and running.”
Iweinat said customers were already spreading positive messages, helping keep business fairly steady on opening day.
“From what we’re hearing, the people really like the food,” he said. “They say it has a kick they don’t really get around here. What I’m hearing from the people is they really like the gumbo, which usually comes with a roll.”
The restaurant will offer a wide variety of menu options including seafood, burgers, chicken and gumbo, as well as Southern sides and appetizers.
Sam’s Southern Eatery took over the former Hardee’s located at 2805 Parrish Ave. The company has two locations in Evansville, with roughly 50 other locations across nine states.
Iweinat and Ibrahim have owned one of the Evansville locations for about a year.
“We didn’t notice any seafood down here, so we wanted to bring some here,” Iweinat said in July when they first began renovations to the building. “We figured everybody likes Cajun food, so why not? The one in Indiana is doing pretty good. We saw how much people liked it. Owensboro is right next door.”
The duo previously said they wanted to bring the New Orleans experience up north.
“Everybody is welcome to come on down and try our food,” Iweinat said. “We’d appreciate it if y’all stop by.”
