Phat Sammy's

Huntsville, Alabama, United States

Opened March of 2020.

Phat Sammy's began as a pop-up restaurant in spring of 2017. Co-owner Jeremy Esterly would do them at places like karaoke dive-bar Moody Monday's, cupcakery Sugar Belle and local brewery Yellowhammer. His Asian flavors/American dishes mashups quickly earned a local following.

Esterly was considering pivoting to a food truck for his next step forward, but he quickly found support and with 3 other co-owners was able to make this restaurant a brick-and-mortar reality.

Phat Sammy's has a very low key entrance marked outside by a small neon yellow and green pineapple sign -- located down two flights of stairs in a basement level room that is able to hold that perpetual state of twilight, blocked off from the outside, upon which tiki bars thrive.

With a capacity around 100, Phat Sammy's décor includes a mural, painted by local artist Logan Tanner, a full bar populated by tiki mugs and glassware to showcase signature as well as classic tiki cocktails (and rum flights).

They are a bit light on actual tikis, having a few signature pieces like the large molded Moai in their entryway and a giant filipino ifugao mask in their lounge area, but hopefully they will add more with time.