Hidden Gems: Meet Sam Steger of Mess Hall

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam Steger. 

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve liked to cook for a very long time, and went through the culinary program at CFCC after dropping out of a 4-year university because I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life. I’ve worked mostly in the foodservice industry since I was 16, and have always loved it, and thought that I’d like to have a restaurant of my own. I thought that my own place would be pretty far down the road, so I wasn’t really taking any big steps to pursue it. 

We had a tree fall on our house during hurricane Matthew in 2016, got it fixed, moved back in, and then another tree fell on it during Hurricane Florence in 2018. The first tree started a pretty hectic time in my family’s lives, where we kind of just had to put our heads down, make some hard decisions and work hard to get out of the craziness. We made it out stronger than before, and in a place that me starting my own business started to make sense. 

Originally, I was planning on starting a small rub and sauce company part-time and trying to grow that into something bigger. We figured out that we were going to have more to invest than we originally thought, so we decided it was time for me to do something full-time. I was looking into food trucks, ready to pull the trigger on getting one, when I got in touch with the developer of the Cargo District. We hit it off pretty quickly, and what I was trying to do meshed really well with what they were trying to do out there, so I decided to open up a brick-and-mortar restaurant, and Mess Hall was born. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think I’d say it’s been a smooth road, but at the same time, I think it’s been a lot easier than I had planned for. Me and my wife got accustomed to living in chaos over the last 5 years, so I think the craziness of opening a restaurant didn’t phase us as much as it probably should have. 

We opened our doors in July of 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic, one of the most uncertain times in the world, at least in our lifetime. I had already committed to our space pre-Covid and decided to stick with it in the midst of everything going on. A lot of people thought that I was crazy for still going after it with everything that was happening around, but I knew that I wasn’t going to walk away from my chance. Now I really believe that if we can thrive through this crazy season, we can figure out anything that’s thrown our way. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Mess Hall?
We specialize in burgers and other messy food. We’re not reinventing the wheel, just making things how we think they should be made. Our menu is small and simple, all fresh and made in-house, aside from the tater tots. Keeping the menu small and simple ensures that we can execute each dish with the highest quality. We are equally excited about every item on our menu, so it’s hard to choose a favorite. 

One of the things that I’m most proud of is our team, that can be a cliche thing to say, but I really do feel that way. My goal was to build a restaurant that people want to work at, and can actually make a career out of. I have worked a lot of places that talk about how they value the team because that sounds really good, but then don’t put in the hard work to actually be about the team. Because it is hard, but I think that it’s 100% worth it in the end. 

What was your favorite childhood memory?
I grew up outside of the city, and there was somewhere over 200+ acres of woods in my neighborhood. I grew up exploring all of that with my friends and I wouldn’t trade those times. I loved it so much that me and my wife are building a house in the same neighborhood, and I am so excited that my kids get to have that same experience. 

Contact Info:

• Email: messhall348@gmail.com
• Website: www.messhallilm.com
• Instagram: @mess_hall_ilm

Image Credits:
Logan Tudor