Restaurant Development in NW Arkansas

[mcheiss]

There seems to be a lot of talk about restaurants particularly dealing with Northwest Arkansas Restaurants.

I start off with some news on some restaurants in Fayetteville.

Construction delays at the Fayetteville train depot have pushed the building

[Mith242]

There seems to be a lot of talk about restaurants particularly dealing with Northwest Arkansas Restaurants.

I start off with some news on some restaurants in Fayetteville.

Construction delays at the Fayetteville train depot have pushed the building

[mcheiss]

Yeah I noticed. All those times I took photos there there wasn't anything going on there. Although I have finally started seeing some signs of things going on over there now. It will be nice to have those locations in another area outside the mall. Gloria Jean's isn't really my type of coffeeshop but I am looking forward to having a closer Haagen-Dazs.

It will be the second Haagen-Dazs that I know of in Fayetteville.

I don't think there are any Haagen-Dazs anywhere else in the state.

[Mith242]

It will be the second Haagen-Dazs that I know of in Fayetteville.

I don't think there are any Haagen-Dazs anywhere else in the state.

I guess I hadn't thought about it but I don't recall hearing of any others around. I have noticed northwest Arkansas has some restaurants that aren't found in other areas of the state even Little Rock. Although I would imagine that Little Rock has some that we don't have either. I guess I'm a little surprised we seem to be getting some things before Little Rock does.

[Aporkalypse]

I guess I hadn't thought about it but I don't recall hearing of any others around. I have noticed northwest Arkansas has some restaurants that aren't found in other areas of the state even Little Rock. Although I would imagine that Little Rock has some that we don't have either. I guess I'm a little surprised we seem to be getting some things before Little Rock does.

There are several reasons, probably. One is the competition is much greater in Little Rock and there is a perception that NWA is a great place for chain expansion as there aren't a lot of good quality local restaurants. A lot of times, competition is a factor. Copeland's doesn't want to build in Little Rock because of Cajun's Wharf, the state's top-grossing non-chain restaurant.

Sometimes, availability of space is a factor. There was a big lull in new development in West LR as people waited to see how the Summit Mall thing settled out and where new proposed projects on Hwy 10 (and if they did). Also, new sites in West LR and in the McCain/67-167 area are very limited.

If I were building a new restaurant I would probably look at Rogers and West Little Rock as new sites in that order, for the reasons I described.

[Mith242]

There are several reasons, probably. One is the competition is much greater in Little Rock and there is a perception that NWA is a great place for chain expansion as there aren't a lot of good quality local restaurants. A lot of times, competition is a factor. Copeland's doesn't want to build in Little Rock because of Cajun's Wharf, the state's top-grossing non-chain restaurant.

Sometimes, availability of space is a factor. There was a big lull in new development in West LR as people waited to see how the Summit Mall thing settled out and where new proposed projects on Hwy 10 (and if they did). Also, new sites in West LR and in the McCain/67-167 area are very limited.

If I were building a new restaurant I would probably look at Rogers and West Little Rock as new sites in that order, for the reasons I described.

I can see what you're saying but Fayetteville has quite a number of local restaurants but we also seem to be getting quite a few chains also that are also not found anywhere else in the state.

[Aporkalypse]

I can see what you're saying but Fayetteville has quite a number of local restaurants but we also seem to be getting quite a few chains also that are also not found anywhere else in the state.

For most chain or developer's purposes they make decisions based on MSA first and Fayetteville is the most obvious initial site. That said, of the major chains are there that many that went there first? I can only think of a couple of the nicer places that did.

There are a bunch of new pads that will be opening along the Hwy 10 and Chenal corridors as well as in the Lakewood area near the Bass Pro shops and I expect a few new chain restaurants to go in, though there's not much that the area doesn't have I'd be too stoked on, save the Cheesecake Factory and Arkansas won't be on their agenda for a while.

[mcheiss]

Fuddruckers open up this week in Rogers. The restaurant is inside the Pinnacle Hills area along market street. This is only the second Fuddruckers in Arkansas.

Also, it looks like Zaxby's will be opening very soon in Bentonville.

[Mith242]

Fuddruckers open up this week in Rogers. The restaurant is inside the Pinnacle Hills area along market street. This is only the second Fuddruckers in Arkansas.

Also, it looks like Zaxby's will be opening very soon in Bentonville.

Yep first one is in Fayetteville by the way. I don't remember the exact date but it may be getting close to a year since it's been open.

You know I have considered trying to start a Restaurants of Fayetteville topic. I wouldn't necessarily critique them but I thought a pic or two, an address, and maybe a mentioning of what type of food in general might be nice. But the more I think about it the more of a major undertaking it seems. I've slowly been taking some pics of other restaurants in Fayetteville away from Dickson and the Square. But they're so many, I'm not sure if I have the patience to try to keep going and try to get at least most of the ones in the city.

[mcheiss]

Yep first one is in Fayetteville by the way. I don't remember the exact date but it may be getting close to a year since it's been open.

You know I have considered trying to start a Restaurants of Fayetteville topic.

Go for it!!

I'd like to see more info. on Fayetteville.

[Mith242]

Go for it!!

I'd like to see more info. on Fayetteville.

I might consider starting back up again after Thanksgiving. Maybe I could do sections of the city or something.The bad thing is that sometimes things can happen pretty quickly in the restaurant business and it could quickly get outdatted before I can even attempt to finish. I'll try to go back and maybe start off with Dickson St and then maybe move to the Square and then try to go to another big area like around the mall.

[mcheiss]

You could do like a restaurant of the day.

[Mith242]

You could do like a restaurant of the day.

Possible, although I'm more the type do do a huge amount at once. Just look at my picture topics.

I thought maybe I'd go around take photos of restaurants in a general area. Get some info on each one's particular style and get an address and then maybe post a little area at a time. I wonder how restaurants would feel about me trying to take pics inside. I've already 'drawn' some attention to myself with taking pics all over the place. It might be a lot of work but maybe I could even call and ask and see what happens.

[Mith242]

Maybe a bit off topic but one thing I've realized is that in some ways the Square is a bit lacking. There are restaurants along the Square but before the Christmas lights went up I had gone there one night to take some pics. I was a bit surprised how dark most of the Square is at night. It doesn't seem very conducive to having people want to go to the Square at night. I realize restaurants aren't as plentiful as they are along Dickson St but I think the city should at least provide more lighting at night. I didn't feel like I was in any danger. This area has grown a lot but it's still northwest Arkansas which means low crime rate. But I couldn't imagine women feeling comfortable walking around almost pitch black areas of the Square to walk to where some of the restaurants are. I guess I'm a bit surprised that the restaurants on the Square and in that area do as well as they do with the conditions.

[Mith242]

Since I was just mentioning this in the previous post KNWA talked about how the Lights of the Ozarks at the Square was having a big impact on restaurants and businesses around the Square. Jammin Java, a coffeeshop just off the Square next to the Fayetteville Town Center had 900 credit card transactions the night they first turned on the lights. And that doesn't even include customers paying cash. The manager was saying how they had more people there than usual and it was still all they could do just to keep up.

[mcheiss]

Jammin Java, a coffeeshop just off the Square next to the Fayetteville Town Center had 900 credit card transactions the night they first turned on the lights.

We are actually getting a Jammin Java up here.

I didn't realize the lighting of the square was that big of deal down there.

[Mith242]

We are actually getting a Jammin Java up here.

I didn't realize the lighting of the square was that big of deal down there.

I didn't realize it either. But I would say there were probably 2,000 to 3,000 people at least down there when they were turned on. That's certainly not to say it will be like that every night. But I guess for that first night a lot of people thought coffee was a good idea to help warm them up while seeing the lights.

[mcheiss]

^Thank God for the cold weather .

[Mith242]

^Thank God for the cold weather .

Yeah I'm sure that's what all the coffeeshop owners are saying this time of year.

[mcheiss]

It's got to be having an effect on Benton County's Economy.

Here's a list of coffe stores that plan on opening or opened this year:

Starbucks in Rogers Pinnacle Hills (planned)

Starbucks in Tuscany Square (planned)

Java Junction in Bentonville (almost opened)

San Francisco Bread Co. in Bentonville (open)

Starbucks in Bentonville (open)

[Mith242]

It's got to be having an effect on Benton County's Economy.

Here's a list of coffe stores that plan on opening or opened this year:

Starbucks in Rogers Pinnacle Hills (planned)

Starbucks in Tuscany Square (planned)

Java Junction in Bentonville (almost opened)

San Francisco Bread Co. in Bentonville (open)

Starbucks in Bentonville (open)

Yeah I hate it when I get that double post happen to me. Yeah I couldn't remember if they were the same coffeeshops or not. It's Jammin Java here in Fayetteville but it's Java Junction up there. I don't think they're owned by the same people, just similar names.

[mcheiss]

Yeah, I don't know why it did that, but I fixed it.

I just forgot to put Jammin Java in there.

Jammin Java in Bentonville (planned)

And then there's the plenty of developments proposed that haven't announced which one's they are going to build.

[RemusCal]

I wanted to let everyone know in NWA that Taco Bueno has now opening Fayetteville next to Shoe Carnival near the mall. It is excellent and I think it is a step above Taco Bell. It looks like Fuddruckers has now opened in Pinnacle Hills as well. And Red Robin is about to open too in Rogers near the Scottsdale Center.

[Mith242]

I wanted to let everyone know in NWA that Taco Bueno has now opening Fayetteville next to Shoe Carnival near the mall. It is excellent and I think it is a step above Taco Bell. It looks like Fuddruckers has now opened in Pinnacle Hills as well. And Red Robin is about to open too in Rogers near the Scottsdale Center.

Thanks for the update RemusCal. It's been years since I ate at a Taco Bueno. I remember it being quite a bit better than places like Taco Bell but I also had heard that they had gone downhill and it wasn't quite as good. So I was wondering if it would end up just as another Taco Bell.

[mcheiss]

I wanted to let everyone know in NWA that Taco Bueno has now opening Fayetteville next to Shoe Carnival near the mall. It is excellent and I think it is a step above Taco Bell. It looks like Fuddruckers has now opened in Pinnacle Hills as well. And Red Robin is about to open too in Rogers near the Scottsdale Center.

Fuddruckers opened up this week in Rogers and has had thousands of customers already. Red Robin is still a few weeks away. I can't wait for that one to open up.