Restaurant Development in NW Arkansas

[andrewjensen]

Wow, that sounds like quite a good team. I will have to check it out someday.

They had their dry run last night and my wife and I went with another couple. They are having a "soft" opening on Monday. Everything was very good, although they didn't have bignets last night, which we were looking forward to. The carrot cake was a nice consolation, though.

I had the catfish po boy, my wife had crawfish enchiladas and our guests had seafood gumbo and the skillet jambalaya. everything was very well done, good portions, tasty, homemade sauces. the natchidoces pies were excellent, stuffed with pork or crawfish. They also had creole nachos, which were andouille sausage, crawfish, shrimp, etc., on tortilla chips with melted cheese. A nice combination.

The in-house drinks were pretty good as well, hurricanes and something called the Savage Bliss, which I wouldn't recommend having more than two of (think Powerhouse Kilowats when it comes to alcohol content).

[Mith242]

They had their dry run last night and my wife and I went with another couple. They are having a "soft" opening on Monday. Everything was very good, although they didn't have bignets last night, which we were looking forward to. The carrot cake was a nice consolation, though.

I had the catfish po boy, my wife had crawfish enchiladas and our guests had seafood gumbo and the skillet jambalaya. everything was very well done, good portions, tasty, homemade sauces. the natchidoces pies were excellent, stuffed with pork or crawfish. They also had creole nachos, which were andouille sausage, crawfish, shrimp, etc., on tortilla chips with melted cheese. A nice combination.

The in-house drinks were pretty good as well, hurricanes and something called the Savage Bliss, which I wouldn't recommend having more than two of (think Powerhouse Kilowats when it comes to alcohol content).

Sounds very interesting. Thanks for the review.

[cocothief]

Sounds very interesting. Thanks for the review.

Yeah thanks Andrew. It sounds like they are doing cajun right. I'm hopeful for this one and I can't wait to check it out.

On a side note, I hope the other failures in this area are reincarnated as local joints. It gives our town more personality. Keeps Fayetteville Funky, if you will.

[Mith242]

Forgot to post this yesterday. Two new tenants have been found for the Old Train depot. Wow, will be a Japanese restaurant. Sounds like it's the same owner of the Rice Village. It's supposed to be something somewhat different from the other Japanese restaurants in the city. The second tenant will be Habibi. They will offer Arabic and Southeast Asian food with a bar that will become more of a hookah lounge in the evenings. Also sounds like the new Chick-fil-A on 6th will be opening next week also.

[mzweig]

Forgot to post this yesterday. Two new tenants have been found for the Old Train depot. Wow, will be a Japanese restaurant. Sounds like it's the same owner of the Rice Village. It's supposed to be something somewhat different from the other Japanese restaurants in the city. The second tenant will be Habibi. They will offer Arabic and Southeast Asian food with a bar that will become more of a hookah lounge in the evenings. Also sounds like the new Chick-fil-A on 6th will be opening next week also.

Good news! But can another Japanese restaurant make it on Dickson?? We already have Rice Village and Wasabi--can't anyone come up with a new idea?

[Mith242]

Good news! But can another Japanese restaurant make it on Dickson?? We already have Rice Village and Wasabi--can't anyone come up with a new idea?

Yeah makes you wonder how 'different' can it be. I guess we'll just have to wait and see, but you'd think at least one of them won't be staying around.

[Mith242]

Now that the holidays are over I finally went out and took a few pics. Here's a couple of the new Shogun here in Fayetteville.

[cocothief]

I ate at Meaux Dads the other night. It was excellent.

I was there for their soft-opening on Monday, so the staff was still a little rusty.

We had the crawfish etoufee and the chicken sausage gumbo. It was all delicious. The etoufee came with a cheesy biscuit on the side. Presentation was very nice as well. Relatively expensive for the area. Etoufee was $10.00.

Still, I very much enjoyed it. It reminds me of Pappadeaux somewhat but with less extensive seafood options.

I cleaned my plate and wished there was more, even though I was stuffed!

I highly recommend it and hope it lasts.

[Mith242]

Good to hear another review.

[umpreach]

I noticed recently that they've started to work in the site in front of the Har-Ber Harps store. Anyone know what it might be?

[andrewjensen]

I noticed recently that they've started to work in the site in front of the Har-Ber Harps store. Anyone know what it might be?

It could be the latest Flying Burrito location.

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.as...=Flying+Burrito

[Mith242]

It could be the latest Flying Burrito location.

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.as...=Flying+Burrito

Interesting. I don't know if I'd ever eat at that one since there are already locations in Fayetteville. But I'm glad to see them doing well. I believe they have a location down in Little Rock as well.

[theman]

Interesting. I don't know if I'd ever eat at that one since there are already locations in Fayetteville. But I'm glad to see them doing well. I believe they have a location down in Little Rock as well.

There is a Flying Burrito in the River Market District.

[Mith242]

There is a Flying Burrito in the River Market District.

Thanks, I had no idea where it was down there. I wonder how well it does.

[JimBo]

I ate at Meaux Dads the other night. It was excellent.

I was there for their soft-opening on Monday, so the staff was still a little rusty.

We had the crawfish etoufee and the chicken sausage gumbo. It was all delicious. The etoufee came with a cheesy biscuit on the side. Presentation was very nice as well. Relatively expensive for the area. Etoufee was $10.00.

Still, I very much enjoyed it. It reminds me of Pappadeaux somewhat but with less extensive seafood options.

I cleaned my plate and wished there was more, even though I was stuffed!

I highly recommend it and hope it lasts.

I hope it last too and can't wait to try it. Finally a reason again for the wife and I to drive down to Fayetteville to eat at a restaurant.

[Thia]

Hot Dog Alley in Bentonville closed in January of this year. I don't know why anyone would bother with a hot dog restaurant, but I think a hot dog cart would do good business in some of the downtowns in this area. Some of my favorite downtowns have those hot dog carts (Dallas, St. Pete, New York City).

There's a local guy with a hot dog cart in Fayetteville during warm months. He has been at the liquor store on the SE corner of Crossover and Mission for the past couple of summers. I've only seen him on Saturdays but I don't frequent that area M-F business hours so I don't know if he's around more than one day a week. (A few years ago he used to be in front of the north Lowe's in Fayetteville.) It's a pretty decent hot dog. It's the closest thing I've had to a Chicago dog in a lonnnnngggg time. I hope he returns this year.

[aerotive]

There's a local guy with a hot dog cart in Fayetteville during warm months. He has been at the liquor store on the SE corner of Crossover and Mission for the past couple of summers. I've only seen him on Saturdays but I don't frequent that area M-F business hours so I don't know if he's around more than one day a week. (A few years ago he used to be in front of the north Lowe's in Fayetteville.) It's a pretty decent hot dog. It's the closest thing I've had to a Chicago dog in a lonnnnngggg time. I hope he returns this year.

There's also been a hot-dog guy on the UA campus during the summer. Not sure if it's the same person.

[Mith242]

Something I hadn't heard about. Looks like Krystal's just opened (or about to open) in Springdale. The only location in this area, the next closest location is Memphis. Although it sounds like they may open more locations in NWA in the near future.

[zman9810]

Something I hadn't heard about. Looks like Krystal's just opened (or about to open) in Springdale. The only location in this area, the next closest location is Memphis. Although it sounds like they may open more locations in NWA in the near future.

I realize this isn't a food critic forum, but how Krystal's has been such a success is a mystery to me. I've tried their burgers at several locations and thought they were terrible. The meat is tiny and tasteless and the buns are like a slice of bread instead of a real bun. I guess the price is right though.

The Xaby's on 6th street in Fayetteville looks close to being done- they make good chicken although with the new Chik-Fil-A open I don't know how big a success it will be. There was going to be a Krystal's next to it but there isn't any sign of a building going up yet.

[RAK]

White Castle is much better than Krystal's, though I doubt I'll ever see one here.

Mama Fu's is reopening, by the way. There are ads for hiring out front. Must have new management or something.

[cowbreath]

I realize this isn't a food critic forum, but how Krystal's has been such a success is a mystery to me. I've tried their burgers at several locations and thought they were terrible. The meat is tiny and tasteless and the buns are like a slice of bread instead of a real bun. I guess the price is right though.

The Xaby's on 6th street in Fayetteville looks close to being done- they make good chicken although with the new Chik-Fil-A open I don't know how big a success it will be. There was going to be a Krystal's next to it but there isn't any sign of a building going up yet.

I'm with you on that one, I've had the same experience (and once was enough). Zaxby's also seemed to be a southerner magnet while I was at Clemson (however no Krystal was there thankfully). However, the last couple of times I went they're I realized it was really good, and I think there will be enough business on sixth street to keep it going.

[Mith242]

I realize this isn't a food critic forum, but how Krystal's has been such a success is a mystery to me. I've tried their burgers at several locations and thought they were terrible. The meat is tiny and tasteless and the buns are like a slice of bread instead of a real bun. I guess the price is right though.

The Xaby's on 6th street in Fayetteville looks close to being done- they make good chicken although with the new Chik-Fil-A open I don't know how big a success it will be. There was going to be a Krystal's next to it but there isn't any sign of a building going up yet.

I've never been to a Krystal's before. It's been one of those places I've heard a lot about but never seen one.

[thewizard16]

Okay, being a Fayetteville-ite, I don't get up to Rogers very often to eat. Well, I have family staying at Embassy in a few weeks, and I want to send them somewhere nice for dinner. (I will be out of town, unfortunately) I looked at James at the Mill, and am considering that, but are there some nice restaurants in Rogers where I could send them to eat for $50 or a little more? I don't know prices on Ruth's Chris, and I'm not aware of many other nice-ish restaurants there. Help from the Rogers residents would be greatly appreciated, as I'm going to have to do this via gift certificate and don't want to send too little.

EDIT: The Vineyard sounds like a potentially good place for them. (They're in town on a marriage retreat to celebrate their anniversary, so somewhere that's been reviewed as "romantic" would be great) Anyone know what prices are?

[Mith242]

I drove down to the Square to take pics and I noticed I had a rather hard time finding a parking space. Which is a bit unusual especially for a Sunday night. I'm hoping that means things are going well for Urban Table. I didn't see any of the restaurants on Center St open, which I thought was a little odd. I don't think they were necessarily closed for good. Maybe they just don't stay open long on Sunday.

[nwa_479]

Okay, being a Fayetteville-ite, I don't get up to Rogers very often to eat. Well, I have family staying at Embassy in a few weeks, and I want to send them somewhere nice for dinner. (I will be out of town, unfortunately) I looked at James at the Mill, and am considering that, but are there some nice restaurants in Rogers where I could send them to eat for $50 or a little more? I don't know prices on Ruth's Chris, and I'm not aware of many other nice-ish restaurants there. Help from the Rogers residents would be greatly appreciated, as I'm going to have to do this via gift certificate and don't want to send too little.

EDIT: The Vineyard sounds like a potentially good place for them. (They're in town on a marriage retreat to celebrate their anniversary, so somewhere that's been reviewed as "romantic" would be great) Anyone know what prices are?

Well, you could send them to Ruth's Chris like you said or you could send them to Carrabba's, Bonefish Grill, Granite City, P.F. Chang's, Copeland's. I think anyone of these could work.