Tenant opening in old DeFazio’s space next week making an unexpected addition to its menu

When it opens next week in the old DeFazio’s space at 2706 N. Amidon, the new Sam’s Southern Eatery will serve items like crab cakes, fish platters, chicken wings and fried oysters.

But it’ll also have something a little unexpected on its menu:

Pizza.

Emanuel Ashiedu — the second franchisee to give the Louisiana-based Sam’s Southern Eatery chain a go in Wichita — said he plans to open the restaurant on Tuesday, March 5. Starting that day, it’ll be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays.

It’ll serve the same menu of Southern seafood dishes that Wichita got used to when Sam’s — which was previously operated by a different franchisee — was open from January of 2020 to April of 2022 at 6600 W. Central, where Casa Mexicana is now.

But because DeFazio’s owner, Pete DeFazio, left behind a pizza oven when he closed his 39-year-old Italian restaurant in late 2021, Ashiedu decided he may as well put it to good use. Sam’s will serve “all the classic” pizza recipes alongside its fried Southern specialties, he said.

Ashiedu, who also has Sam’s Southern Eatery restaurants in Hutchinson and in Salina, works as a software engineer in Salina. He announced his plans to bring the Sam’s chain back to Wichita early this year.

But opening up a new iteration of a restaurant that once existed at a different address has come with its share of problems, he said.

He’s having trouble getting Google to change the address of the restaurant on its business page, so when customers search for Sam’s Southern Eatery in Wichita, they get the West Central address. Ashiedu said he’s having to submit lots of documentation to prove that the new address on Amidon is correct but says he thinks he’ll have it worked out soon.

He also was unable to get control of the old Sam’s Southern Eatery Facebook page from the previous Wichita owners, so he’s had to create a new one. The correct page for the new restaurant is Sam’s Southern Eatery Wichita (without the KS.)

He said he didn’t have to do much remodeling in the old DeFazio’s space, which has 4,000 square feet and 47 tables. He gave the dining room a coat of paint to match the new restaurant’s colors and made a few building improvements.

Now, he said, all that is left to do is welcome customers in to eat.

“We’re ready to go,” Ashiedu said. “Every day, we keep seeing people drive by, and they say, ‘Is the store open?’ I hope everyone is excited. We are ready to serve.”