Mr. Soop (Widley Francis Hebert Sr.) hailed from the Breaux Bridge, born July 8, 1928. He tied the knot with Doris Mae Broussard, daughter of Alcee and Beulah Broussard from Maurice. Following their marriage, Soop settled near the village of Maurice. If you happen to be traveling on the east side of Maurice, you will come across Soop Road, named for Soop Hebert.
In his early business career, Soop worked for The Superior Oil Company as a driller on a drilling rig. However, due to allergies or his dislike of the harsh chemicals used in drilling mud, he decided to leverage his oil well drilling experience into drilling water wells. The Hebert Water Well Service didn’t use chemicals to drill drinking water wells. Soop became successful in water well drilling and service.
I wondered how Mr. Soop got his nickname. A story told by one of his family describes how, as a young man, Soop would not shy away from any challenge. While driving along a highway, he came upon a car accident, and he single-handedly moved the car back into position, allowing the crash victim to be saved. Word would get out about his heroic act and the strength it took to free the crash victim, and he picked up the nickname Superman. Over time, it was shortened to just “Soop.”
Soop and Doris welcomed their first child, Wanda, into the world in 1952. From then on, they would welcome another child every year or two. They had 12 kids, and there is about an 18-year difference between Wanda and her younger sister,). There were three boys and nine girls in all. In a small village like Maurice, it was given at the Elementary and High School that if you were born between 1952 and 1970, Amanda (“Mandi” you attended class with one of Soop and Doris’s kids or knew them.
With so many kids, opening a restaurant in town made economic and business sense—lots of kid labor and a place for them to grow up learning about business in action. The Soop’s Seafood and Steakhouse was opened in 1974. Soop started running the restaurant but, after about 6 months, couldn’t handle the confinement of the four walls and opted to remain in the water well business with his son Wayne. The restaurant would be for the kids and their mother, Doris, to manage.
The restaurant is located at the site of the new Classic Cup coffee and deli, which is directly adjacent to Hebert’s Specialty Meats.
According to one of the Hebert kids, Mr. Harold Braquet, the local pharmacist, was the first customer at Soop’s restaurant. From that point forward, Soop’s would become a local favorite. The daily plate lunches were always like the best home-cooked meal. Being located on US Hwy 167 didn’t hurt either.
The kids grew up in the restaurant, doing every job. The restaurant was packed on the weekends, with customers from all over coming to enjoy the best no-frills setting with delicious seafood and steaks. It was expected to see a steady stream of “to-go” orders going out the door.
With this large number of kids, some at driving age and others soon at that age, it made commercial sense to open a used car dealership. This launched the first car lot in Maurice, and one of Soop’s kids took the lead in running that enterprise.
The restaurant business opened the way for a catering business. So Soop had a water well business, a restaurant, a car lot, and a catering business in a village with a population of around 400 citizens. His family and extended family represented an actual percentage of the population.
Ten years after the Soop’s restaurant opened, two of Soop’s sons opened Hebert’s Specialty Meats in 1984. They started the business with used meat processing equipment and freezers and began offering a range of meat cuts and specialty prepared and seasoned meat and poultry products. One of these caught on and caught on big. The deboned chicken was born in Hebert’s Specialty Meats. It’s not sure if it was the first commercial meat market to offer them, but it is undoubtedly the most successful. Having gained valuable business knowledge and hard-working perseverance from their Dad, Widley Jr and Sammy branched into the specialty meat business. (More on Hebert’s Specialty Meats will be coming here later.)
By the early 1990s, the restaurant, still popular with many locals, faced stiff competition from newer establishments nearby. Some of Soop’s children had branched off into their food businesses, leaving the restaurant with higher operating costs. The youngest of Soop and Doris’ kids, Mandi, tried to continue in the restaurant, but it would not happen. So, several months into her venture, the Soop’s restaurant would close.
A few months later, the demo crew hauled off the building in pieces. But as in many things, a new business would be born on the same site. Classic Cup, owned in part by the grandsons of Soop and Doris, continues the Village of Maurice’s Hebert legacy in business.
If you were lucky to enjoy one of the many delicious meals served at Soop’s and are looking for that flavor again, consider Rachael’s Cafe on Republic in Lafayette. Soop’s daughters Rachael and Phyllis, who grew up in the kitchen at Soop’s, offer many of the same delicious meals and some of their improvements.
