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Restaurant Development in NW Arkansas

mcheiss

By mcheiss
in Northwest Arkansas

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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Some more related news from Arkansas Business. Sounds like Hank Broyles is trying to get grubs to move over to the Metro Building, basically across the street, over to the former Lewis & Clark Outfitters location. Which also shows I haven't been paying much attention because I didn't realize Fayetteville had lost it's Lewis & Clark Outfitter. Now their locations are in Springdale, Rogers, and Little Rock. Maybe Fayetteville wasn't big enough for both them and Packrat. Anyway back to the topic at hand. There's been a lot of talk of making a parking structure where Grub's is currently located. Relocating to the Metro Building would seem to be a good move.

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strmchsr77 Burg

strmchsr77

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Some more related news from Arkansas Business. Sounds like Hank Broyles is trying to get grubs to move over to the Metro Building, basically across the street, over to the former Lewis & Clark Outfitters location. Which also shows I haven't been paying much attention because I didn't realize Fayetteville had lost it's Lewis & Clark Outfitter. Now their locations are in Springdale, Rogers, and Little Rock. Maybe Fayetteville wasn't big enough for both them and Packrat. Anyway back to the topic at hand. There's been a lot of talk of making a parking structure where Grub's is currently located. Relocating to the Metro Building would seem to be a good move.

Seems like a good move for Grubs. It is not really any further of Dickson than they currently are. There is plenty of parking still and a ton more to come if the garage ever gets done. I don't have any clue how much space they would be gaining or losing. The current location is pretty big and has 2 levels.

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lynxgirl Crossroads

lynxgirl

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Just tried another new mexican restaurant - El Sol. It's in the strip mall where the Neighborhood Market is at Crossover and Mission. It took over the spot in the corner that used to be China Garden. Bad location for visibility, definitely. The food was quite good and the chips were light and not overly greasy. The salsa and the guacamole also get high marks. I was having lunch with my boss and a couple of co-workers, so unfortunately I wasn't able to try the margaritas. I'll definitely go back - the lunch menu is full of specials that are mostly priced $5.99 - $6.99. They also have a basket of cinnamon covered tortillas by the cash register - wow, those are good!

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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Just tried another new mexican restaurant - El Sol. It's in the strip mall where the Neighborhood Market is at Crossover and Mission. It took over the spot in the corner that used to be China Garden. Bad location for visibility, definitely. The food was quite good and the chips were light and not overly greasy. The salsa and the guacamole also get high marks. I was having lunch with my boss and a couple of co-workers, so unfortunately I wasn't able to try the margaritas. I'll definitely go back - the lunch menu is full of specials that are mostly priced $5.99 - $6.99. They also have a basket of cinnamon covered tortillas by the cash register - wow, those are good!

Thanks for the review. I've driven by it but never actually stopped to try it out yet.

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mzweig Hamlet

mzweig

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So what is happening around here? I knew Charlie's and Smokey Bones were shut down, but I just noticed Fuddruckers is gone too. Is that area of town doing that poorly for those restaurants right now, or are there just too many there with too poor accessibility?

None of the above. It's simply a matter of too many mediocre restaurants that offer nothing unique. For what it's worth, Noodles is doing incredibly well, so is TGI Fridays, Olve Garden, and Logan's. I think we just don't need another restaurant that sells a Sam's Club pre-formed burger dressed up ten different ways.

M

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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So what is happening around here? I knew Charlie's and Smokey Bones were shut down, but I just noticed Fuddruckers is gone too. Is that area of town doing that poorly for those restaurants right now, or are there just too many there with too poor accessibility?

Guess I hadn't noticed Fuddruckers is closed. Usually the chains knock out the local restaurants. But maybe the opposite is happening. Or maybe the mall area isn't doing too great. I think things have slowed down since the Promenade opened.

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zman9810 Burg

zman9810

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Guess I hadn't noticed Fuddruckers is closed. Usually the chains knock out the local restaurants. But maybe the opposite is happening. Or maybe the mall area isn't doing too great. I think things have slowed down since the Promenade opened.

There were two hotels and the new theater planned for CMN II years ago when these restaurants were built and only now is one hotel and the new Malco coming in. I think the developers were expecting a quicker overall buildout of the business park. One Steele Plaza has been finished for months now and doesn't seem to have any tenants yet. I think that unless a restaurant is outstanding they might have trouble. I thought Smoky Bones was great but sounds like that was a corporate move.

Access to that area shold improve when the Van Asche extension is finished. The flyover from N. College connecting to Mall Ave. should help a lot. So if the resturants there can hang on help is on the way.

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OnDickson Whistle-Stop

OnDickson

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Access to that area shold improve when the Van Asche extension is finished. The flyover from N. College connecting to Mall Ave. should help a lot. So if the resturants there can hang on help is on the way.

I think that access--or lack thereof--more than anything else is the root of the troubles we are now seeing in that area. Simply put it's just not very easy to get there. That area is certainly not somewhere you go out of convenience--and therein lies the problem. The new Malco will help it become more of a destination location once again, but until something major is done to help with access I predict we will see businesses and restaurants continue to struggle in that area (South of the Supercenter).

It's just so frustrating. This area didn't just become Fayetteville's major retail/dining center overnight. It started happening 30+ years ago. And for the last 20+ years we've heard plans, visions, etc about how to improve access to that area. Heck for at least 20 years the city has thrown about the idea of a flyover to help with access from 71B. Sure the Van Asche extension will help, but for this area to continue to grow and prosper something has GOT to be done to improve access from 71B. Unfortunately today the flyover sounds to be exactly what it was more than 20 years ago: nothing more than a pie in the sky. What makes it worse is that some 20 miles up the road, Rogers is completing an overpass over an interstate quality highway for improved access to Pinnacle Hills--so we have proof that these things CAN happen. If it wasn't so sad, it would almost be comical how Fayetteville has continually dropped the ball on this for almost 3 decades now.

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JJL Crossroads

JJL

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There were two hotels and the new theater planned for CMN II years ago when these restaurants were built and only now is one hotel and the new Malco coming in. I think the developers were expecting a quicker overall buildout of the business park. One Steele Plaza has been finished for months now and doesn't seem to have any tenants yet. I think that unless a restaurant is outstanding they might have trouble. I thought Smoky Bones was great but sounds like that was a corporate move.

Access to that area shold improve when the Van Asche extension is finished. The flyover from N. College connecting to Mall Ave. should help a lot. So if the resturants there can hang on help is on the way.

The timing is odd for the closures because that new hotel and theater should both be open very soon. Fuddruckers and Smokey Bones were both across the street from the new hotel so they would have gotten some additioanl business most likely from that (of course all Smokey bones off the east coast did close). I think someone else will find those two abandoned buildings a good location to put a business in.

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thewizard16 Hamlet

thewizard16

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Yeah, I would be very surprised if Smokey Bones didn't fill up with something else. Shame they haven't found a company interested in buying the chain, I was always pretty pleased with the food there. I don't know what they'll do with Fuddruckers, it's very corporate looking, and has the company name branded into everything.

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mzweig Hamlet

mzweig

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The old Sassafras on 71B is being painted bright red. It's going to be a new restaurant with full bar. I'm really glad someone is going in there but would like to have seen more facility improvements beyond a coat of quickly-sprayed, bright red paint.

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strmchsr77 Burg

strmchsr77

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The old Sassafras on 71B is being painted bright red. It's going to be a new restaurant with full bar. I'm really glad someone is going in there but would like to have seen more facility improvements beyond a coat of quickly-sprayed, bright red paint.

It will be called Lu Lu's Fish Shack or something like that and it will be opening soon. I am excited. I love seafood and fish and I don't think that we have enough of that type of restaurant here.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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It will be called Lu Lu's Fish Shack or something like that and it will be opening soon. I am excited. I love seafood and fish and I don't think that we have enough of that type of restaurant here.

Ah, someone with the scoop. I haven't heard anything about this. I've wondered if there's just hasn't been enough support or interest for a lot of seafood restaurants. Just seems like some of them have struggled a bit in the past.

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mzweig Hamlet

mzweig

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Ah, someone with the scoop. I haven't heard anything about this. I've wondered if there's just hasn't been enough support or interest for a lot of seafood restaurants. Just seems like some of them have struggled a bit in the past.

I heard from one source that the owner is the same person who owns Theo's. That would be a very good thing, as Theo's rocks.

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strmchsr77 Burg

strmchsr77

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Any info of what type of restaurant it will be?

The old Sassafras location will be called Lu Lu's Fish Shack, at least that is the last I heard.

The old Chloe restaurant in NE Fayetteville has become Soul. It is sort of a restaurant/lounge/bar. The chefs have been I Food Network in the past but I don't know what they did on there. I will try and provide more info as it opens in about a week.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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The old Sassafras location will be called Lu Lu's Fish Shack, at least that is the last I heard.

The old Chloe restaurant in NE Fayetteville has become Soul. It is sort of a restaurant/lounge/bar. The chefs have been I Food Network in the past but I don't know what they did on there. I will try and provide more info as it opens in about a week.

Sorry, I remember now you already mentioned that. Guess it slipped my mind.

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RAK Whistle-Stop

RAK

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They're starting work on the Texas steakhouse next to Mimi's. And Granite City looks pretty good at this point.

Also, while not quite a restuarant, the Coldstone Creamery is open.

And does anyone know what's going up on the corner by them and Baker Brothers. There are only construction signs, no identification.

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