- December 22, 2021
- Posted by: Stratford Team
- Category: Business
Stephanie Phares, owner and cook at the iconic Zeeland Street Market. (Collin Richie)
Open for 32 years, Zeeland Street Market is a longtime Garden District institution with a local following and steady breakfast and lunch business.
Patrons queue up to place orders, choosing either from the set menu or from chalkboard specials that change daily. Owner Stephanie Phares calls regulars by name, often quipping about the importance of eating home-cooked meals—like the ones served here.
Among the restaurant’s top sellers is Mama’s pot roast. “It’s so significant to me, because my mom made this dish only Sundays. We didn’t have much money for meat and we ate vegetables from the garden the rest of the time,” says Phares, a Mississippi native. “She’d put in a roast at 5:30 am on a Sunday, and it would be ready when we got home from church.”
In the restaurant, Phares cooks about 40 pounds of cubed chuck roast at a time, letting it…
