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A new restaurant is moving to downtown Bainbridge: Susie and Sam’s Steakhouse. The restaurant will be in a rather odd location for a restaurant: 200 West Broughton Street, or as most people know it, the old library.

The restaurant owners, Sam and Susan Higdon, spoke to the Post-Searchlight about how they came to the decision to open up shop in Bainbridge. The couple were first introduced to Bainbridge through their initial career in entertainment, with Susan choreographing her first show at the Bainbridge Little Theatre in 1999. She would go on to meet Sam in New York when they wound up performing in the same show. Susan had met local Michael Inlow during her time in Bainbridge, specifically when she had been working as a dance teacher at Andrew College. The couple would reconnect with Inlow years later in Tallahassee, when the couple was working for Susan’s mother at Marie Livingston’s Steakhouse. Inlow would invite them back to work with the Bainbridge Little Theatre, leading to them deepening their relationship with the local community.

“We’ve been back and forth to Bainbridge for about 20 years, easy,” Sam said. “We always loved Bainbridge, and our younger son would say, ‘I wish we lived in Bainbridge because then I could walk to school!’”

The pair had considered opening a restaurant in Bainbridge for some time, and as time passed, began reaching out to Amanda Glover and the Downtown Development Authority to make that happen. “We just always seemed to circle back to the library building,” Sam continued, “because we just thought it was the neatest space, we still think it’s just the neatest space.”

“We just feel like we’re continuing my mom and my family’s tradition,” Susan said. “In Tallahassee, we had Marie Livingston’s Steakhouse for 28 years, and we have great memories.” The couple will be bringing back a lot of recipes and menu items from the old restaurant, though they will also incorporate their own flair to the food. Some specials will be inspired by the couple’s world travels.

Renovations are set to begin soon, with the couple hoping to open their doors by August, if not earlier.

“We’re looking forward to being involved with the community, and collaborating with other businesspeople and collaborating with Downtown, and trying to bring some fun things to Bainbridge,” Susan said.