Dennis and June Samples hope visitors to their new Clanton restaurant D&J’s Cafe will enjoy the quality food and family atmosphere.

“We want people to feel like they are part of the family when they come,” June Samples said. “We want this business to grow, and have customers who enjoy coming back.”

D&J’s Café officially opened Oct. 1, and the Chilton County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting for the restaurant Oct. 20.

The restaurant is in the former Lessie’s location and a short distance from Hickory Chip.

D&J’s Cafe offers daily lunch specials including the choice of two meats and six vegetable options.

The restaurant is also open for dinner with a menu of steaks and sides, which Samples said is the restaurant’s specialty.

“People love our steaks,” Samples said. “We don’t offer steaks during the day, but we offer them at night. Dennis cooks the steaks at night, and we hand cut our steaks, we don’t buy them pre-cut.”

Although the most requested item from customers seems to be the steaks, Samples said other popular items include the hot hamburger, fried green BLT, or pork bites which are wrapped in bacon and dipped in the restaurant’s signature sauce.

Diners can call ahead for carry out options and Samples said delivery options are available for orders of 10 or more within a 20-mile radius.

Samples said Thursday nights the restaurant offers steak specials, but the weekend is usually the busiest time.

“We just enjoy seeing people come out and enjoy what they eat,” Samples said. “We try to go around and speak to everyone who comes in here. For the most part, we pretty much know all of our customers, and we like interacting with them.”

Samples also uses social media to update the daily lunch specials available by posting the menu to Facebook.

The restaurant is open every Tuesday-Saturday from 10:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. and Sundays from 10:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. and closed on Mondays.

For more information about D&J’s, call (205) 755-4377 or visit the Facebook page “D&J’s Café.”