LAPLACE — The Old New Orleans Hamburger and Seafood location will reopen as Louisiana Roadhouse Steak in July, bringing a lagniappe of flavors to fit the tastes of everyone at the dinner table.

Owner Ray Ashour is planning a July 4 grand opening, preceded by a late June soft opening invitation for St. John the Baptist Parish leaders.

Ashour envisions grand opening festivities expanding into the Riverlands Shopping Center parking lot at 1338 W. Airline Highway. With Parish approval, he hopes to incorporate drink specials, community vendors and inflatables for children.

For now, he’s finalizing the menu, which features all of the usual steakhouse selections, fried seafood plates, crawfish, pasta dishes, fajitas, quesadillas and more.

Originally planning to open in June, Ashour chose to extend the hiring process to ensure all employees are trained to provide top-notch service, something he said has been requested by the local community.

“Everyone who walks through these doors, even the mail lady, talks to me about service,” Ashour said. “Usually with restaurants, people come in and ask about food. It looks like quality service is what everyone feels like they’re missing here in LaPlace. We’re taking the time to hire the right people.”

Servers, cooks, dishwashers, bussers and hostesses are being hired, and applications can be completed at 1338 W. Airline Highway.

Through 27 years of experience in the restaurant industry, Ashour has learned servers do their jobs better when earning a livable wage.

“You shouldn’t be cheap if your business is succeeding,” Ashour said.

“When the business grows, I’m passing money down to my workers. If you take care of your worker, they’ll take care of you and the customer.”

In order to keep menu prices affordable, Ashour is researching average wages in St. John the Baptist Parish. While steak prices aren’t as flexible, he’s willing to configure lower costs on other food selections.

According to Robert Bruno, owner of Riverlands Shopping Center, Louisiana Roadhouse Steak brings much-needed variety to LaPlace.

“I think the community needs a nice sit down restaurant so people don’t have to travel to Kenner,” Bruno said. “That’s been the goal of the shopping center, to serve the people of LaPlace. We’re very excited about this because [Ashour] has done a beautiful job of putting a bar in there where people can relax after work.”

Bruno described Ashour as “a very solid guy with a good reputation.”

The original Louisiana Roadhouse Steak operated in Denham Springs from 2000 until 2005, when Hurricane Katrina closed out business.

Ashour has kept busy managing his Greek and Lebanese franchise in the years since but came to miss the people he met while running a restaurant catering to all palates.

The new restaurant has a relaxing, Western atmosphere and a stage open to local musicians.

Opening hours are expected to be from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.