Sam’s Southern Eatery specializes in classically cooked comfort food

Published 6:46 am Thursday, May 12, 2016

Sam’s Southern Eatery is a fried food lover’s dream restaurant. And considering how we live in Louisiana, that means it’s everyone’s dream restaurant.

Just to be honest, the place does have other dishes besides fried foods, but come on. You’re reading a column right now about a seafood restaurant. You and I both know you didn’t sit down with this part of the paper because you were hoping I would talk about the delicious salads at Sam’s.

So I’m going to just cut to the chase and talk about what’s already on all of our minds — deep-fried anything.

First, a little back story about Sam’s. We have Shreveport to thank for this place’s existence. The business opened back in 2008 and quickly became known for its large portion sizes, full flavors and reasonable prices. The franchise is now operating in almost 30 locations spread across four states.

If you know only one thing about this restaurant, just know that Sam’s is simplicity at its best when it comes to cooking. In fact, I like to imagine that the only thing in the back of the kitchen is a giant vat of scalding-hot oil. Each time someone at the register makes an order, the cooks just take a handful of fresh seafood, dump it into the grease and pull it out as soon as it’s golden brown.

In my head, there are no tricks, no special devices in the Sam’s kitchen. They take a hunk of whatever, slap some classically Southern seasoning on it, and fry it until it floats. And that’s fine because somewhere in that one-step process is some culinary magic.

Sam’s has only been open a short time here and it already has a cult following. Maybe it’s because of the reputation the establishment has in north Louisiana, or maybe it’s because you can get a seafood dinner for about $10.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say it’s a mixture of both, but with slightly more of the second reason.

I went by the restaurant on Tuesday while thinking I could pop in and out really quickly for a lunchtime bite. When I walked through the doors, there were easily more than 20 people inside the dining area. Some were already chowing down on something amazing and even more were either waiting to order or waiting on their food. The Sam’s kitchen is still working out the kinks and dealing with the heavy traffic of any new restaurant, so the wait for food took an extra few minutes. That was OK for me. In fact, it was OK for everyone. I know this because there was a sign on the front door of the place that let people know the building’s air conditioning was being worked on. That meant the inside wouldn’t exactly be cool for customers.

Nobody cared. Actually, Sam’s could have posted a sign saying that before customers were able to get a meal, they were going to have to stand on hot coals and the place still would have been packed. Sam’s is that good. And we were all that hungry for something fried.

I ordered a two-fish meal with several large pieces of shrimp. My sides were red beans and rice and green beans.

The fish was your classic white fish like pollack. It’s the familiar staple of any Southern cookout where the chef is trying to make sure everyone gets something to eat. The fish was fried crispy, seasoned to perfection and it flaked apart underneath its crust.

The shrimp was seasoned with a slightly Cajun twist. There was a small amount of heat buried in the soft breading and crisp edges. The shrimp still had every bit of its natural juices making each bite better than the last.

The red beans could have been served as a main dish by themselves. The rice was light and fluffy. The red beans were tender and the gravy was thick, flavorful and somehow not overpowering. The green beans were fresh and had a natural taste only accented by a small dash of salt.

For that one dish, which was more than enough for a lunch order, my bill was just over $10.

So, just to be fair regarding what Sam’s offers, they also have po’ boys, burgers, cheesesteak and sandwiches. But like I said earlier in this article, you’re here because of the fried seafood goodness.

This place is, and will always be, a Southerner’s dream restaurant. So, feel free of guilt as you pass over anything remotely healthy and gun it for the deep-fried treats. You deserve it. Especially now since you sat down and read this entire article. You deserve a reward and we both know there’s nothing better than a heaping pile of golden brown anything.

Follow Justin Phillips on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/JustinAmPress">twitter.com/JustinAmPress</a>

The meal came with two pieces of fried fish and several large fried shrimp. The sides included red beans and rice and green beans. (Justin Phillips/American Press)