OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. (WLOX) — A retired attorney has turned a longtime dream into a multi-location restaurant business stretching from Louisiana to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Sonny Garcia opened the first Fat Spoon Café in Mandeville, Louisiana, in 2011.
Garcia said the café’s growth came from what he described as a made-from-scratch approach that set it apart from competitors.
“They don’t all make their hamburgers from scratch. They don’t all cook their corned beef, they buy deli corned beef. They don’t all cook their pork roast, we do. For that reason, everything became extremely popular,” Garcia said.
That popularity led Garcia to expand. He has since opened additional locations in the Mandeville-Covington area of Louisiana and, most recently, in Ocean Springs alongside his daughter, Lisa.
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“We decided to take a shot at it, and it was very successful,” Garcia said. “So now we have four of them, three in the Mandeville-Covington area and one over here in Ocean Springs,” Garcia said.
Garcia said the Ocean Springs location was a deliberate choice. The restaurant is housed in a building that was home to Henrietta’s for 50 years.
“This location we chose is an iconic location,” Garcia said. “This is the best spot in Ocean Springs.”
Workers described the dining space as seating 50 to 60 people, with a bar also on-site.
Garcia said growing the business has allowed him to provide for his family across generations.
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Fat Spoon Café is located at 1013 Government Street and is open every day from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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