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Restaurant Development in Little Rock Metro area


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Arkansas Business reports that Panera Bread Company is slated to open its Pleasant Ridge Town Center location, this Wednesday, October 1st. Its Shackleford Crossing location should be open next March or April. The franchiser also plans a location in downtown Little Rock and another in North Little Rock. These should be open by 2010. The spokesperson also said that the company might open another location on the outskirts of Little Rock. I wonder if River Market Place might be the location of the downtown restaurant.

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  • 1 month later...

Taziki's. an upscale casual Greek chain, iopened this week across from Pavillion in the Park on Cantrell. I've heard good things about the place.

Upscale, No, Tasty food, Yes. The ordering and payment setup is like Whole Hog. You order, pay and take a number. You're given an empty cup and serve yourself to your drink. The staff delivers your order to your table. Our food was very good, a lamb sandwich and a chicken gyro. The place was packed at 12:30. It was very clean and the staff was friendly and competent. The owner, former State Senator Jim Keet, was on hand and greeting his customers.

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July's on Shackelford in west Little Rock is closed. I'm not sure if all of the outlets have closed, or just this one location. It had been there a LONG time...surprising really.

The Kettle on Fair Park, which has been empty for I-don't-know-how-many years has one of those Zoning Variance/Conditional Use permit signs in the window. I didn't stop to see which it was, but it was green. I hope this means that someone will finally be taking over this space. Any know details?

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Anybody familiar with a pizza place called Dam Goode Pies? They're apparently opening one in Fayetteville and it sounds like they're based out of Little Rock.

They have locations in Little Rock's Hillcrest neighborhood (the original, in what was once Pie Square Pizza) and just west of the Heights section of the city. A delivery-only location was added along Rodney Parham Rd in West Little Rock.

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Anybody familiar with a pizza place called Dam Goode Pies? They're apparently opening one in Fayetteville and it sounds like they're based out of Little Rock.

Two in LR. One in Hillcrest and another on Cantrell. They are best known for the Stuffy (Chicago Style pizzas). I like it a lot. My wife loves the place.

Dollar PBR all day, everyday.

http://www.damgoodepies.com/

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Upscale, No, Tasty food, Yes. The ordering and payment setup is like Whole Hog. You order, pay and take a number. You're given an empty cup and serve yourself to your drink. The staff delivers your order to your table. Our food was very good, a lamb sandwich and a chicken gyro. The place was packed at 12:30. It was very clean and the staff was friendly and competent. The owner, former State Senator Jim Keet, was on hand and greeting his customers.

Agree with this.

Two in LR. One in Hillcrest and another on Cantrell. They are best known for the Stuffy (Chicago Style pizzas). I like it a lot. My wife loves the place.

Dollar PBR all day, everyday.

http://www.damgoodepies.com/

It's awesome. It would be good pizza in city.

You guys sent Jim's Razorback down here and we sent you Larry's, neither of which are all that great. Damgoode Pies really is.

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Just had to add another note about Damgoode Pies: you have to try the white sauce, especially if you have a penchant for spicy foods (as I do).

Elsewhere in town... The old Fazoli's/Pasta Patch spot is slated for reworking into a Genghis Grill, a regional fast-casual Mongolian grill chain with some offerings that seem promising. It was first noted on this board over at the Chenal/Highway 10 thread.

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  • 2 months later...

We are developing a national (but new to AR) fast causal concept in several locations in Arkansas. We are looking for any general local knowledge/suggestions regarding Little Rock and/or/vs NW AR (including recommended areas for development and working with the juristictions) would be much appreciated.

I'm new to UrbanPanet so let me know if this post belongs somewhere else (I have also posted something similar in the coffeehouse sub-section).

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We are developing a national (but new to AR) fast causal concept in several locations in Arkansas. We are looking for any general local knowledge/suggestions regarding Little Rock and/or/vs NW AR (including recommended areas for development and working with the juristictions) would be much appreciated.

I'm new to UrbanPanet so let me know if this post belongs somewhere else (I have also posted something similar in the coffeehouse sub-section).

Very interesting. I think you'll get lots of input here and on the NWA forum, but before I feel like I can adequately answer your question about suggested developments/areas of town, can you add a little information about the concept (I understand the need to not disclose specifics, such as the name, etc.)?

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We are developing a national (but new to AR) fast causal concept in several locations in Arkansas. We are looking for any general local knowledge/suggestions regarding Little Rock and/or/vs NW AR (including recommended areas for development and working with the juristictions) would be much appreciated.

I'm new to UrbanPanet so let me know if this post belongs somewhere else (I have also posted something similar in the coffeehouse sub-section).

I am a Director of Sales for a couple of hotels in Downtown Little Rock and can give you some information if you are interested in the River Market area. My email address is [email protected]

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We are developing a national (but new to AR) fast causal concept in several locations in Arkansas. We are looking for any general local knowledge/suggestions regarding Little Rock and/or/vs NW AR (including recommended areas for development and working with the juristictions) would be much appreciated.

I'm new to UrbanPanet so let me know if this post belongs somewhere else (I have also posted something similar in the coffeehouse sub-section).

Not knowing more about the concept, I'm just going to give some general opinions, but seeing how well Pei Wei has done in the Midtowne center, that might be a good option for a fast-casual restaurant. Especially with Harold's going out of business, but I don't know if the size matches.

West LR is always a given, but the question is where? And it's easy to get lost in the crowd. Shackleford Crossing is better for an outparcel IMHO, but Chenal Parkway has great visibility if you can get the right location - the old Sharper Image has great visibility for those traveling west. I've always wondered if an outparcel could be placed in the shopping center in front of Hobby Lobby/Mardel's, there seems to be room and Bowman is a great thoroughfare.

I do like the River Market idea given above, assuming you can stay in the higher concentrated area along President Clinton.

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We are developing a national (but new to AR) fast causal concept in several locations in Arkansas. We are looking for any general local knowledge/suggestions regarding Little Rock and/or/vs NW AR (including recommended areas for development and working with the juristictions) would be much appreciated.

I'm new to UrbanPanet so let me know if this post belongs somewhere else (I have also posted something similar in the coffeehouse sub-section).

I have significant experience in assisting fast casual restaurant concepts expand throughout Arkansas, working as a tenant representation broker.

If you'd like to discuss your concept with me you can contact me at [email protected]. I've worked with numerous national, regional and local brands.

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We are developing a national (but new to AR) fast causal concept in several locations in Arkansas. We are looking for any general local knowledge/suggestions regarding Little Rock and/or/vs NW AR (including recommended areas for development and working with the juristictions) would be much appreciated.

I'm new to UrbanPanet so let me know if this post belongs somewhere else (I have also posted something similar in the coffeehouse sub-section).

I'm involved with the restaurant scene in Arkansas and can help you out with info on the restaurant scene in Little Rock and the NW Arkansas areas. PM me for more info.

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This is a great encouraging news. here are my 2 cents

Promenade at Chenal will be a good location. I went to Yia Yia (Casual Euro Bistro) and it was packed. It seems the Chenal 9 theater is doing pretty well and so as the Maggi Moose ice-cream shop in this shopping mall. Having a fast-casual restaurants in this shopping complex will be a great hit. I would strongly suggest considering Chipotle and/or Buffalo Wild Wings as they are not in Little Rock area yet. The another cuisine to consider will be Indian or Thai. A Chenal or Midtown location will also be great.

Sorry I have to be so vague for the time being. We will be filling in the blanks in over the next couple of weeks. We took a look at the Harold's location (and another vacant space there next to the Container Store) unfortunately Strode will not allow any additional restaurants in Midtowne Center at this time.

I will post additional information as we get it from our regional folks.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry I have to be so vague for the time being. We will be filling in the blanks in over the next couple of weeks. We took a look at the Harold's location (and another vacant space there next to the Container Store) unfortunately Strode will not allow any additional restaurants in Midtowne Center at this time.

I will post additional information as we get it from our regional folks.

Out of curiosity, is the concept your opening Five Guys? I'm working with a Five Guys franchise that is launching in Omaha and may be of some help.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Ate at Genghis Grill this past weekend. Thought it was very good. Much more variety than typical Mongolian grills. Probably a dozen sauces and as many or more spices. Good variety and very fresh. It's $12.99 for all-you-can-eat or $9.99 for just one trip through. Definitely worth giving it a try. It was crowded Saturday night, but probably just a ten-minute or so wait.

On an unrelated note: Java Roasting nearby has closed. I know of no details, just that the signs down and the place is empty.

Edited by adman0468
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