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Cape Town restaurant Sloppy Sam still a success story

by Kim Maxwell
Hooman Saffarian

Meet the well-known face behind Sloppy Sam, the stalwart restaurant that’s been an institution in Cape Town for decades. 

Sloppy Sam is a dining institution. Many have gathered at Hooman Saffarian’s mismatched tables, dipping their flatbread into tasty mezze, ordering another bottle to accompany the olive oil-doused brinjal, while picking at tender grilled baby squid in lemon butter. While Cape Town’s restaurant trends have come and gone, Sloppy Sam has kept an even keel with unfussy food in an unintimidating atmosphere that feels like you’re having supper with a longtime friend. That’s probably why the phrase “making the Persian cave even cosier” seems fitting on the restaurant’s social media.

Since early 2024, Hooman and team have been feeding happy customers at Sloppy Sam in the city’s heart inside the Heritage Square building.

From the courtyard, step past Jerry’s Burger Bar and The Sandwich Revolution to find this downstairs dining space of wooden tables surrounded by a colourful array of chairs on large Persian rugs. There’s a Middle Eastern mood, with kelims hanging over the upstairs railings. Persian nomadic bags and paintings appear in smaller lit alcoves of renovated heritage brick walls. An open kitchen pass has two rows of decorative jugs. The interior feels comfortable, lived in, the music a hybrid mix of Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Greek and modern. A few courtyard tables are another option, shared with neighbouring eateries, if al fresco is more your style.

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Sloppy Sam interior
Persian-inspired décor at Sloppy Sam.

A TRUE ORIGINAL

Sloppy Sam is one of Cape Town’s oldest restaurants. “The original Sloppy Sam was established in 1935 as a milk bar and grill. In 1937 they applied for their signage,” explains Saffarian. He has a document from Cape Town’s archives to prove it.

“I am Persian South African. I grew up in Iran and came to South Africa in 1979. I’m very proud of my heritage, it’s one of the oldest cultures that goes way back. I’ve been living and working in South Africa for over 34 years, mostly on the Atlantic Seaboard.”

Saffarian bought Sloppy Sam restaurant in 1985 as a 25-year-old, with the plan of making wood-fired pizza. “We happened to be at Sloppy Sam, and the owner heard I was looking for premises in the area. In his heavy Greek accent, he said: why don’t you buy this?”

Initially Saffarian wasn’t keen on the pressure to maintain customer expectations of an owner-run establishment, but eventually he took the plunge. The Sloppy Sam name stayed. “I was determined to make it work, and here we are today.”

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Sloppy_Decor
Candles, bric-a-brac and lamps from Persia provide atmosphere at Sloppy Sam.

MEDITERRANEAN WITH A TOUCH OF PERSIA

“The food is a mixture of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern cuisine, a bit of Persian influence. We don’t put a specific label on ourselves. Even if you’re two people, you order a few things and share,” says Saffarian.

Small plates: homemade hummus, or roasted red pepper and walnut muhammara, scooped up with flatbread. Persian dolmeh, pickled octopus, fried halloumi, chicken tikka or beef kebabs with a Persian saffron sauce. Oven-roasted brinjals with yoghurt, a slice of bechamel, brinjal and lamb moussaka. Garlic-heavy cucumber and yoghurt tzatziki is especially good with the fatty richness of oven-roasted lamb riblets, eaten with your fingers. The menu says in brackets: (they helped make us famous).

Then a larger shared plate of roasted lamb shank or neck, perhaps a Greek salad. I can recommend delicious slow-cooked lamb neck, all fall-apart tenderness and lemon and oregano flavour.

“It’s a type of eating that is always fun: sharing and enjoying all different variety,” says Saffarian. “You order as you like, as much or as little as you want.”

Popular baby squid grilled in fresh garlic and chilli, tossed in butter and lemon, served with crunchy tentacles. We shared plates of it a decade ago as Green Point regulars.

Art critic Melvyn Minnaar remembers the place fondly. “We used to go to the original Sloppy Sam in Sea Point in the 1980s; he bought the restaurant from a Greek couple. It was the hot spot, the word just spread … People said it was good value. We loved the buzz.

“They made this basic, tasty Greek-style and other food. It was a small place, and it just drew the crowds from those in-the-know. It attracted people in the creative, film and design industries. Hooman, of course, just brought this personality that people responded to. He came around and chatted to everyone. When it moved to Green Point, we had birthday parties there, sometimes occupying the upstairs area with a long table for the party.”

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Sloppy Sam small plates
A mezze selection including hummus, roasted pepper muhammara, grilled courgettes, beef kebabs, Greek salad and moussaka.

WHERE THE LOCALS GO

Going to “Sloppys” has meant friends congregating, dates blossoming and milestones celebrated.

Did Saffarian have any restaurant experience when he started? His face crinkles into a grin. “Not really. Then again, I was very creative. You grab the horse by the reins and just ride it. What I like about it: in the restaurant business you must be a people’s person, especially in this town. There’re not that many of us who are family owner-chef run any more. There’s Pina and her children at Mario’s in Green Point, there’s Magica Roma in Pinelands, Mamma Roma in Dean Street.

“We’re a local eatery: we’re where the locals go. Where do the tourists go? Where the locals go,” laughs Hooman. “I don’t worry about the season or First Thursdays. My business is throughout the year. We have foreigners who have been coming to us for years, they find us. On Saturday, I had people who’ve been coming to me since 1987.”

•    Find Sloppy Sam inside Heritage Square, 100 Shortmarket Street. Open Tuesday to Saturdays 18h00 – 22h00. Lunch reservations possible only for groups. To book call 082 377 3707 Instagram @sloppysamcapetown or Facebook @Sloppy Sam.

IMAGES: supplied, Kim Maxwell

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