TENNERTON – A new southern seafood restaurant opened its doors in Tennerton on Thursday.

Sam’s Southern Eatery officially opened Thursday by inviting customers to dine in or carry out. Ahmed Elfeky, the owner of the Buckhannon Sam’s Southern Eatery, said he owns and operates two other locations of the chain in Oklahoma and Arkansas.

“It’s a big franchise, with locations in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Missouri, Louisiana, Arkansas and more,” Elfeky said. “I know some friends who used to live here, so I came to visit them and I saw the area and thought we could open our restaurant here.”

Elfeky said he enjoys the consistency of the chain, ensuring the flavors are the same in all locations.

“People always like the fish, oysters, and chicken, we have our recipe for our breading and marinade,” Elfeky said. “Our appetizers — like our fried green tomato, fried pickles, very good fried okra — are popular, and our sides are good, like our red beans and rice, green beans and fries.”

He said they will start to advertise more after they are able to train their staff fully.

“It’s going very well,” he said of the opening day. “We didn’t make flyers yet — I have to keep training people and everything is still very new because we have different systems.”

The new restaurant will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. The menu features sections such as seafood, chicken, Po’ Boys and burgers, salads, a kids menu, family meals and desserts.

The restaurant is located at 840 WV Route 20, Buckhannon, WV, or the old location of Alfredo’s. Their full menu can be found on their Facebook page, as well as the contact information for carryout orders.