ST. MARTIN PARISH — A longtime St. Martinville staple is preparing to welcome customers once again. After closing in 2023, Ole Richie's Drive-Inn has new ownership and plans are underway to restore the restaurant, which has been part of the community for decades.
The business first opened as a Tastee Freeze in the late 1960s before becoming Richie's in 1985. Over the years, it became a familiar gathering place for generations of residents.
Ryan Landry, owner of the neighboring T-shirt printing company Rytech, is leading the effort to bring the restaurant back.
"I don't know if I ever thought about being in the restaurant business, but this place has been a tradition in St. Martinville— a beautiful place to eat for years and years, still some good memories, some fantastic chefs and cooks. The family was cooking for years and years," Landry said.
Landry said watching the building sit vacant after it closed motivated him to explore whether reopening the restaurant was possible.
"Owning Rytech next door, I watched the building go down. I was kind of disappointed. At the time, I probably couldn't do this project on my own. But then, with some fantastic people that know a lot about construction and the ins and outs of stuff, we’re going to put together a fantastic little restaurant. It’s going to be beautiful," Landry said.
He added that support from silent investors and longtime collaborator Jonathan Soileau helped turn the idea into a reality. Soileau, who is serving as lead project manager and contractor, said restoring the building carries personal meaning.
"We saw that it could be resurrected, it could be restored. I did, in the past, come and get a burger from this place not knowing many years down the road— I was 17 years old, I'm 44 years old now— that God would bring me back to this place in a whole different form, shape, fashion," Soileau said.
The project has also generated excitement among residents who have their own memories of the restaurant. Gary Miller said one visit to Richie's years ago left a lasting impression.
"My girlfriend says, 'You know what, let's go get a burger. There's a burger place in St.Martinville called Richie's, best burgers around.' I said, 'Sure'. So we got here and we came right up to this window, bought a burger, and I turned around and there was this building on the side right here— this big red big building— and we bought it a week later," Miller said.
Miller said Richie's has always been more than a place to eat.
"When that left, a little piece of St. Martinville left, and so thanks to Ryan and his investment in this community. Knowing that we are all working really hard to get it done, he's taking it and he's going to do some wonderful things. I know he is," Miller said.
Landry is currently working with contractors to finalize renovation plans for the building. If construction stays on schedule, he hopes to reopen Ole Richie's Drive-Inn by the fall, giving a longtime St. Martinville tradition a new beginning.
