ON THE MENU — Newly opened Seafood House serves up family legacy, great dishes
Published 12:24 am Thursday, July 9, 2020
- Brother to John Ghazawenh, owner of Sam’s Southern Eatery, Moe continues the family legacy with a new seafood restaurant in Nederland. (Cassandra Jenkins/The News)
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NEDERLAND — Cooking and owning seafood restaurants runs in the Ghazawenh family.
John and his brother Moe manage and own the Sam’s Southern Eatery franchise location in Beaumont.
Recently deciding to branch out on his own, Moe opened his own southern style seafood restaurant — Nederland Seafood House.
The newest Mid-County restaurant opened June 22 at 111 N. 34th St. off of Nederland Avenue.
Moe Ghazawenh.
“My brother owns this restaurant in Beaumont and I used to work with him,” Ghazawenh said. “We worked together for a couple years, and after that I decided I wanted to do my own restaurant. So that’s what I did.”
The 32-year old discovered the old house for sale on the crook of 34th Street and Nederland Avenue.
He decided to convert the house into a restaurant, keeping the original structure.
“This building used to be an old house. That’s why we changed the theme to make it a seafood ‘house,’” Ghazawenh said. “The name came from that part.”
Sticking to the family legacy, the star of the menu is seafood, from fried fish to grilled shrimp, po-boy’s, oyster’s, crab cakes and more.
Ghazawenh said he decided to stick with the traditional seafood menu because it’s what he has the most experience in.
Nederland Seafood House serves up a fried fish and shrimp platter with hushpuppies, coleslaw and a side of beans. (Courtesy photo)
“We have a good fried shrimp po-boy,” he said. “A lot of people love it. We sell a lot of the fish and shrimp combinations.”
The restaurant’s menu comes from family recipes, including a secret sauce similar to tarter sauce.
The menu also offers non-shellfish options including chicken wings, burgers, salads and a Philly cheesesteak sandwich.
Ghazawenh said despite opening in the middle of a global pandemic, the restaurant is doing well.
“So far it’s been really good,” he said. “We’re getting new customers and we’ve gotten really good comments on people liking the food. With the COVID-19 situation right now, everything isn’t going normally. It’s hit us a little bit, but we are still doing good.”
After leasing the property at the end of January, Ghazawenh decided he didn’t want to wait any longer to open.
Seafood House is located at 111 N. 34th St. off of Nederland Avenue.
“I tried waiting month by month but after that we realized we didn’t know when COVID-19 would be done,” he said. “I couldn’t wait around any longer. I put all my investments into the restaurant and was ready to open. I couldn’t keep skipping, so just decided to open.”
Ghazawenh hopes to transform Seafood House into another successful family franchise.
Nederland Seafood House is open Monday-Wednesday from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Thursday-Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Dine-in is open. To place a to-go order, call 409-344-9799.
