Simply delicious

LAFAYETTE -- There is nothing glamorous, high-end or pretentious about Olde Tyme Grocery, and that’s what has helped establish it as an Acadiana landmark.
The barely 1,000 square-foot corner restaurant, in ear shot of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette campus, has built a reputation of making the best poor boys outside of New Orleans, and some say even better than those made down in the city at the mouth of the Mississippi River.
“It is a single thing that we do here but we have that single thing down to perfection,” Vice President of the Company and owner’s son Ross Murphree said.
Olde Tyme Grocery sells between 4,500 to 5,000 poor boys per week, with that number climbing over 6,000 during Lent. Olde Tyme offers customers a choice of deli-style poor boys like roast beef and ham and cheeses such as American to Provolone. There is also the very popular seafood poor boys with shrimp, oysters or catfish.
With that high volume of orders going out every day, Olde Tyme Grocery goes through a number of college-student workers. Murphree estimates that they process about 150 W2 tax forms per year.
“It takes a center work ethic to work here,” said store manager Marianna Piazza, who has worked there for nearly six years while attending UL-L. “There is always something to do. I love coming to a place where you have to come and work. There is no leaning around here.”
“We don’t have to really fire anyone here because the older employees will weed out the ones that don’t make the cut,” Murphree said.
That non-stop, and at times chaotic, work schedule hasn’t stopped Olde Tyme from becoming a family tradition for some its workers.
“We have more than a few legacies here right now,” Murphree said. “Their mom or dad worked here back in college or their parents simply ate here in college and they want to work here.”
The ingredients customers want on Olde Tyme’s poor boys, which are made on fresh bread delivered every morning at 7:30, is pretty standard.
“We keep it simple,” Murphree said. “Mayo, Lettuce, Tomato, Ketchup. That’s it. It hasn’t changed in 30 years.”
Murphree’s father Glenn, who grew up in New Orleans, purchased the old grocery-convience store, which had a deli counter, back in 1982. The space where customers now place their orders, was the original store and the current dining room-rest room area were back then two tiny apartments, one which Glenn briefly lived in.
In those early days, Glenn was making around 10-15 poor-boys per day.
“Early on dad’s customers were the elderly women that lived in the neighborhood and his fraternity brothers,” Murphree said.
The business quickly grew over the next few years as the eatery became a local favorite, eventually seeing Glenn convert the two apartments into dining for his popular restaurant.
It was during this time that Olde Tyme Grocery’s signature sandwich, its shrimp poor-boy, came about almost by accident.
“He wanted to add something new and he had it down between hamburgers or fried shrimp,” Murphree said. “It took less time for him to fry shrimp than it did to grill hamburgers.”
The poor-boy has earned Olde Tyme Grocery regional and national recognition, including helping have the eatery named as the top restaurant in Lafayette on TripAdvisor and is a popular stop on local food tours. Not to mention it is a favorite spot for musicians Wayne Toups and Sammy Kershaw, as well as dozens upon dozens of former UL-L athletes. Even candidate for governor Scott Angelle held a campaign stop at Olde Tyme.
“It is cool that Lafayette is known as one of the best restaurant cities in the South and we are rated No. 1,” Murphree said. “It is pretty humbling.”
As for what is the secret to Olde Tyme Grocery’s success? Murphree says it is all about keeping it simple.
“If you spread yourself too thin you can’t keep the quality for what you are known for,” Murphree said. “We love what we do here and were confident in doing it.”