WKU alumnus buys former Mariahs restaurant

While his presence is already well known in Bowling Green, Dale Augenstein is about to have another foothold in the community.

The 1981 WKU graduate is purchasing the former Mariahs restaurant building on State Street. Over the next several months, Augenstein will work to convert the building into a second location for his Steamer Seafood restaurant.

Augenstein has become reattached to WKU and Bowling Green, where he has many friends and family in the surrounding area.

I thought, if Im going to be in Bowling Green this often, I might as well start a business, Augenstein said.

While Augenstein started the first Steamer Seafood in Hilton Head, South Carolina in the early 90s, the opening of the Bowling Green restaurant wont be the first time that Augensteins brand of seafood has been served in town. For the past three years, Augenstein has been serving his food in the Big Red tent at basketball games.

Once we started serving our concession food, people were asking when we would start a restaurant here, Augenstein said.

Over several years, Augenstein began a search for the ideal location to house his restaurant. Finally, once the former Mariahs restaurant building was put up for sale, his idea became much more feasible.

When the Mariahs facility became available, that piqued my interest tremendously, Augenstein said.

Mariahs success in that location, over the past three decades, has provided a wonderful opportunity to showcase our product, he said. After completing an interior redesign and construction, Augenstein hopes to open the Bowling Green Steamer Seafood on Sept. 1, 2015.

At the Hilton Head restaurant, Augenstein said they focus on serving the freshest food possible while providing an fun-filled atmosphere, including acoustic entertainment. He said they will attempt to replicate as much as they can for the Bowling Green location.

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WKU alumnus buys former Mariahs restaurant