By Eason Franklin
The Lowndes Signal

Local Ft. Deposit residents and Interstate 65 commuters now have a new place to gather, chat and eat.

Located at the intersection of Old Fort Road and I-65, across from Priester’s Pecans, the Sunflower Café opened nearly two weeks ago and has shown a promising draw of business reminiscent of the older booming downtown Ft. Deposit.

Owners Leslie Moore and Junior Reeves have partaken in a joint venture that has been a dream of Moore’s for some time, according to Reeves.

“Leslie has been witnessing for years,” said Reeves. “We worked on the building where the restaurant is now for about two months to get it ready.”

Employing only four employees, the café appears somewhat modest from the road, however Moore and Reeves have adorned the interior with a sense of comfort.

Adding to the restaurant’s atmosphere is the names of the various dishes served; names like “The Hammer”, the “Calico Hot Dog” and “The Gobbler.”

“We serve everything from fried cornbread, old fashioned hamburgers, hot wings and homemade pies that vary from day-to-day,” said Reeves. “We’ve got a bunch of cheesecake.”

The restaurant is open Mon.-Fri. and serves breakfast from 7-9 a.m., lunch/diner from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. and has served an average of 55-60 customer per day.

“We had 17 hamburgers on the grill at one time today,” said Reeves.

Sunflower will be open for its second consecutive Saturday, Aug. 28, to serve fresh-cut rib-eye. This will be the first time the café has sold steak, according to Reeves.

As the business continues to grow, the café will be looking to offer catering services to hungry people, added Reeves.