Restaurant Development in NW Arkansas

[Mith242]

Rowdy Beaver has opened in the rear of the old Fayetteville train depot that houses Chipotle in front. It's pretty good food--a small chain with additional locations in Eureka Springs and elsewhere.

M

Oh yeah seems like I heard a little bit about that. I don't really know what kind of food the restaurant serves. I think the rest of their locations are up in the Missouri Ozarks.

[mzweig]

Oh yeah seems like I heard a little bit about that. I don't really know what kind of food the restaurant serves. I think the rest of their locations are up in the Missouri Ozarks.

BBQ, Burgers, and a darn good French Dip, among other things.....

[TaylorA1987]

Yeah, five guys isn't close to in-n-out.. braums has just as good a' burger. Are there crazy restrictions in fayetteville?? I see these chains like 5 guys, dd, and panda express, and have no idea why they would pick bentonville and rogers over an initial fayetteville location. Does Walmart really have that much pull up there?? Fayetteville will always be the hub of NWA.

[Julles]

Taylor - Braum's doesn't offer free sauteed mushrooms, onions, peppers and jalapeño as toppings. Braum's doesn't give you a half-gallon of fries as a small order. Since you asked.....Wal-Mart has pull because all the vendors from all over the country have set up shop here, and they all earn good money. However, I think all the new stuff coming here is because of Crystal Bridges. It's already a game-changer.

[TaylorA1987]

Yeah, that's cool and all, but I said burger. Nothing about the fries or super cool "toppings". The Waltons can jazz up benton county all they want to make it more attractive to their vendors, but they are trying to make Rogers/ Bentonville the go to place in NWA, and it just won't ever happen. Sooner rather than later, most likely, the businesses will trickle down to fayetteville, and there will no longer be a reason to drive out of our way.. Well, besides the few times a year we want to see amazing art.

[strmchsr77]

I do believe Fayetteville will be getting a Five Guys. They are opening multiple locations across the state and a few in NW Arkansas. It may just be 2012 or so before that happens.

[TaylorA1987]

Oh, and panda express is better than most Chinese places around here.. just not Hunan Manor.

Another thing, maybe fg's original fries are good, but I got the cajun fries, and they weren't worth all the fuss.

I moved from California 6 months ago, and ate panda, in-n-out, etc and never thought NWA would ever have chains like that. Since moving back home a chipotle, a five guys, and now apparently a panda will be opening. It's good to see us catching up in the world. Now all we need is el pollo loco and jack n the box

[TaylorA1987]

@ strmchsr yeah I would imagine most of the stuff will eventually be in Fayetteville. I know that chipotle is wanting to add another Fayetteville store at some point. It just makes sense that a panda opens in Fayetteville. A college town is perfect for that type of environment.

[comreguy]

@ strmchsr yeah I would imagine most of the stuff will eventually be in Fayetteville. I know that chipotle is wanting to add another Fayetteville store at some point. It just makes sense that a panda opens in Fayetteville. A college town is perfect for that type of environment.

What people tend to forget is that available quality real estate will dictate where new mulitple unit businesses locate. At present, there is more available vacant land in the high traffic anchored retail corridors in Rogers/Bentonville than in Fayetteville. And, I can assure you that Five Guys, Panda and others want to be in Fayetteville, as soon as the right opportunity presents itself.

[Mith242]

I do think overall some Benton County cities do have the demographics to back up why they seem to be getting a lot of these chains over Fayetteville. A lot of these Walmart vendors are pulling in good money and many of them live in Benton County. Then take into account many of these same people are used to seeing these chains in other parts of the country they may be familiar with. Then I think you can also take into account there's a group in Fayetteville that's dead set against national chains. So I can see why some of these chains are choosing Benton County over Fayetteville.

[Julles]

Mith - you're so right. I interact with the vendor crowd quite a bit, and they tell me the house they bought here cost them significantly less than the one they sold elsewhere....they have impressive expendable incomes, and they do like their familiar chains. I have a friend whose husband works for a vendor. They have a huge house, an RV, four kids in private school, three nice vehicles, and seem to have $ left over for big vacations. That story repeats itself all over Bentonville.

[Mith242]

Mith - you're so right. I interact with the vendor crowd quite a bit, and they tell me the house they bought here cost them significantly less than the one they sold elsewhere....they have impressive expendable incomes, and they do like their familiar chains. I have a friend whose husband works for a vendor. They have a huge house, an RV, four kids in private school, three nice vehicles, and seem to have $ left over for big vacations. That story repeats itself all over Bentonville.

Yeah and perhaps one more thing to consider. We have a rather low cost of living. So some of these people were already making considerable money in other parts of the country and then end up here. They obviously don't take pay decreases just because the cost of living is cheaper here.

In other news, sounds like downtown Fayetteville is getting a new Italian restaurant later this year. Vetro Ristorante will open on the ground floor of the old Cravens Bldg on Center St between the Square and the old Washington County Courthouse. Sounds like the restaurant will specialize in Tuscan cuisine. The owners apparently also run an Italian restaurant in Tulsa. But I don't necessarily think this restaurant will be exactly like the one in Tulsa. For one I don't think the names are even the same.

[TaylorA1987]

That's true. Having lived in California, I grew accustomed to these restaurants as well. No doubt more money is spent there than fayetteville, taking into account all the poor college kids lol. But, panda express is very reasonably priced. And no doubt the "hippies" make it difficult lol

[TaylorA1987]

Awesome I live on center! Always need more good Italian. Giraldis is good for how inexpensive it rly is. Other than that, most of the Italian is on the other side of town.

[countrylivin']

Yeah and perhaps one more thing to consider. We have a rather low cost of living. So some of these people were already making considerable money in other parts of the country and then end up here. They obviously don't take pay decreases just because the cost of living is cheaper here.

In other news, sounds like downtown Fayetteville is getting a new Italian restaurant later this year. Vetro Ristorante will open on the ground floor of the old Cravens Bldg on Center St between the Square and the old Washington County Courthouse. Sounds like the restaurant will specialize in Tuscan cuisine. The owners apparently also run an Italian restaurant in Tulsa. But I don't necessarily think this restaurant will be exactly like the one in Tulsa. For one I don't think the names are even the same.

This is great news! I hope it's "real" Italian, the restaurants in NWA seem to think Italian means pasta and pizza. I don't know about Tulsa but there's a Vetro restaurant out by JFK in Howard Beach, NY that serves wonderful food. Lots of seafood and some of the best veal I've ever had.

[Mith242]

No idea how Vetro Ristorante will compare to other Italian places. I'm not even sure how it will compare to the other Italian restaurant they own over in Tulsa. But here's a link to that restaurant that might at least give some people some ideas of what it might be like.

[countrylivin']

No idea how Vetro Ristorante will compare to other Italian places. I'm not even sure how it will compare to the other Italian restaurant they own over in Tulsa. But here's a link to that restaurant that might at least give some people some ideas of what it might be like.

http://piattotulsa.com/

Thanks for the link. That's one fantastic menu. I hope they don't change it too much for Vetro!

[Hoggy Bear]

Bentonville is getting a Flying Fish restaurant on the Bentonville Square and the owners of Table Mesa are opening an Italian restaurant called Tavola Bistro.

[comreguy]

TCBY will be opening a self serve yogurt store at the Garland Ave Shops on the U of A campus.

[Mith242]

And apparently this new TCBY won't be the same Fayetteville couple who won a franchise a little while back. This one will be run by someone else.

[zman9810]

I thought there was already a yogurt place called Spoons at that location- did it close or just never open?

Nice new look for UP- very clean looking.

[RemusCal]

I saw in the paper today that Ghengis Grill is opening up in Pinnacle Promenade area next to 5 Guys Burgers.  This is a great healthy restaurant with WOK Stir Fry...basically like HuHot in Fayetteville, but better IMO.  They have these everywhere in Dallas.  Great to see a new restaurant location up here and not just a repeat of what is elsewhere in NWA.

I'm still hoping for Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen, and Chuys Tex Mex.  Keeping my fingers crossed!

[thewizard16]

I really like Ghengis Grill. I'd never eaten at one until I moved to Little Rock but the concept is kind of fun and you can make your food as healthy or unhealthy as you want!

[Sequoia Payroll]

I am really happy to see a Panda Express. It's about time.

My main complaint is, it's up in Bentonville and not down here in Fayetteville. A major reason other cities are getting these businesses is the additional tax that Fayetteville adds to restaurants. 2% is a lot of money when you considering adding a "pilot" store to a new area. Eventually, fayetteville will get those chains, but it will take a little time.

Does anyone know what is going on next to Zaxby's on MLK?

[Mith242]

If I remember correctly that location next to Zaxby's is going to be another Taco Bueno. And it looks like Pita’s Mediterranean Grill is going to open in the old Kosmos location on Dickson St. It will have a similar menu of the Tangiers Mediterranean Food & Cafe.