New steakhouse brand on the Carter Street business block
Published at 11:22 am on Thursday, August 25, 2022
VIDALIA, La. – Few restaurants can make their customers think they both have to dress up in their Sunday best or dress up in boots and jeans at the same time.
Leslie and Brenda Floyd are no strangers to the restaurant business, but they are branching out their business ventures on a stretch of Carter Street in Vidalia, Louisiana.
The Floyds owned and operated several Natchez restaurants, including BB’s Kitchen inside the Go-Mart on US 61 South and formerly BB’s Grill, which was located next door.
In 2020, they closed BB’s Grill and opened BB’s Fish Fry and Barbeque in Vidalia, Louisiana, and later bought Craws, Claws and Tails, which is down the highway from there by the Mississippi River Bridge. They renamed the restaurant Crawdaddy’s, updated the menu and plan to expand it to add a ride.
Their latest restaurant venture, Brandin’ Iron Steakhouse, is located next door to BB’s Fish Fry at 1102 Carter Street, where Leslie said he can easily manage both locations.
Brandin’ Iron officially opened on May 17th.
Finding a new restaurant in Vidalia was an easy decision for the Floyds.
“This area has been good to us,” Leslie said. “This building was available, so my thoughts were, why not put one nearby because it’s easy to handle both? Also in Vidalia, as far as I know, there are no other so-called steakhouses. There are other cafes and restaurants, but nothing that is known as a steakhouse.”
The building, which was formerly Sonny’s Pizza, seemed like a good fit.
Leslie said they gutted the building and renovated it from floor to ceiling. All furniture, lighting, appliances and decorations are new.
“We did 100 percent of it. We have not cut any corners,” he said. “Nothing was used when we opened these doors. Not a pot, pan, fork or spoon.”
Hungry customers are greeted by a fireplace in the center of the restaurant. The brick partitions are separated from the ceiling by a wooden structure reminiscent of a patio fence.
Big brown eyes look out from a picture of a longhorn hanging over the mantelpiece as people eat premium steak.
Steak cuts — including sirloin, ribeye, Cowboy ribeye, New York Strip, brisket or Wagyu — are anywhere from 6 to 20 ounces and can be accompanied by a baked potato or sweet potato, truffle fries, mac and cheese or vegetables of choice.
Other options from the menu are hamburgers, grilled pork chops or roast chicken, crab cakes, blackened redfish, seared ahi tuna or creamy pasta alfredo.
Customers can start with delicious appetizers such as scallions, fried green tomatoes, brussels sprouts, shrimp cocktail, pepper jack cheese bites and egg boudin; cool off with a glass of wine, beer, spirits or bourbon; and finish with a delicious bread pudding, cheesecake crème brulee or vanilla ice cream.
“All of our steaks are top quality,” Brenda said. “We also do to-go and Door Dash. Everyone is using Door Dash now. … And we have a great pork bone.”
“The best pork chop you’ll ever eat in your life,” added Leslie. “It’s soft, soft.”
Brandin’ Iron also has a Blue Plate lunch special Tuesday through Friday from 11:00am to 2:00pm and Sunday from 11:00am to 4:00pm with a different home cooking each time, like bacon, chicken or gravy, he said.
“We just aim to please,” he said.
They also have hired at least a dozen employees to run the new restaurant and are always taking applications, Leslie said.
“We have at least 50 people working between our three restaurants,” he said.
Brandin’ Iron is currently open 11am to 2pm and 5pm to 9pm Tuesday to Thursday, 11am to 2pm and 5pm to 10pm on Friday, 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Saturday and 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sunday.
For more information, or to place an order to go, call 318-414-3028.