Sam's Southern Eatery - Joplin

Looking for unique places to eat I found this place through a flyer at work. I have grown up eating Gumbo and love it so much. Now Joplin, Mo is not the place I would expect to get good or decent gumbo…Sam’s is not that place. I ordered fried okra and the Gumbo. The Okra order was huge and I couldn’t finish it all. It tested great. The gumbo on the other hand was not real gumbo. It had noodles in it ? very little meat that I could tell. Maybe some chicken? I did find some rice at the bottom. The roux had a spicy but very light color to it. This place has plenty of fried foods for your tasting tho. I may try something different next time. If your looking for true Cajun Gumbo…don’t order it from here. Total price for the small Gumbo and Okra…over $15! Kinda expensive!!PS: when I go to a restaurant and see teen boys gathering around the young girls behind the counter just being kids, some customers would be highly turned off by it. I can see most being uncomfortable and not wanting to be here because of this. The restaurant itself was a little rough on the inside as well. Torn seats and not really too clean.

Wait time was longer than average but they were steady with customers, fish and shrimp were a little over cooked and very little flavor (if any) to the breading.

Excellent food at a great price- not fancy, but a great place for a delicious southern meal

Delicious! Do not be put off by the simple exterior. The interior reminded me of an eatery you might find in southern Florida or the Keys. We both ordered the fried fish po-boy and seasoned fries. More food than we could eat as they also placed a large fried filet of fish on top of the fries. The seasoning was just enough to enhance, but not overpower. The fries were light and crunchy. An excellent southern style lunch. So happy we found it! Definitely recommend!

In the past this was a favorite for my husband and I. However, over the last year prices rose considerably and good became less edible and service became non- existent! Tonight we ordered to pick up thru the drive thru. We arrived, sat for over 10 minutes , watching a girl at the counter on her phone, even taking selfies and never get up to check with us. When you got our food, we ordered 2 dinners) we were given 1 fork, no napkins. We asked for more forks and got them, still no napkins! I ordered Shrimp, they were good but I didn’t want French fries and asked about other options- did you know that 4 hush puppies is considered a side- every fish place in America adds hush puppies to go with your meal- not here! Green beans right out of the can- gross! When the serve beans and rice they mean just that- as a good cook I certainly know to add at least onions, but garlic and celery would definitely make it more like New Orleans which I thought they mimicked. The prices have become totally unreasonable. This was my last time to visit here! I have you 3 stars because of the past tonight I should have rated you at 1.5! Personally I think you are on your way to closing up! People don’t waste your money!Parking: Parking is poor!