Some of you all look hungry for some restaurant news. Here’s what we know about several places that have opened, closed, or plan to soon open in Fayetteville.
Calle Latin Cuisine
A new restaurant offering Latin American cuisine has opened in Fayetteville.
The restaurant, called Calle Latin Cuisine, is located at 33 N. Block Ave. in the building formerly home to Flying Possum Leather.
According to their Instagram account, the restaurant will offer “traditional dishes from Latin America with a modern twist.” The menu on their website includes some delicious-sounding main dishes featuring short ribs, braised pork shank, duck, fish, and other items.
The restaurant has been in development since at least the summer of 2021, and is a project by locals Fredi Valle and Fernando Castillo, who are also behind Chuzos food truck at the Yacht Club.
Some pretty extensive renovations have taken place on the space. A patio area overlooking the street is in place on the north side of the building.
The restaurant officially opened earlier this week, and will be open Monday-Saturdays from 4-10 p.m.
The Daily Beet
A mostly-vegetarian restaurant and juice bar with two locations in New Orleans recently opened a Fayetteville location.
The Daily Beet is be located in the Ice House Building, just off Dickson Street at 339 N. West Ave.
Owner Dylan Maisel got his start running a bicycle-based juice bar called JuiceNOLA in 2015. A couple years later, that business moved into a food hall called St. Roch Market, which led to Maisel eventually opening his first Daily Beet location in New Orleans’ Central Business District in 2017. Just two years later, the restaurant opened its second location.
Like his other restaurants, the Fayetteville location offers a mostly plant-based menu created using as many local ingredients as possible. Customers will order at the counter, and can dine in, order online, or take their food to-go, he said.
The new restaurant is open initially daily from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., with hours eventually expanding to 8 a.m. until 8 p.m., Maisel said.
The Guisinger Cocktail Club
A new cocktail bar by the folks behind Feed and Folly and City Park has opened in Fayetteville this week.
The new bar, called ‘The Guisinger Cocktail Club,’ is located at 1 E. Mountain St., in the building known locally as the Guisinger Music Building on the southeast corner of the square. The project is the creation of locals Lewis Chase, Matthew Sutton, and Michael Sutton of the above local restaurants in partnership with building owner Sterling Hamilton.
The bar will focus on classic cocktails, from martinis, negronis, old fashioneds, and others, and an extensive wine selection.
The bar will also serve a rotating menu of appetizers and desserts for patrons to snack on, including some “adventurous bites,” Chase told us, along with some more standard bar snacks, oysters, and more.
The Guisinger officially opened on Wednesday, April 24, and will be open daily from 4 p.m. until 2 a.m.
The Leroy
A new restaurant, bar, and sporting lounge is coming to Dickson Street.
The restaurant, located at 644 W. Dickson in the old UARK Bowl building, will be called The Leroy Sporting Lounge. According to their Facebook page, the new spot will offer “craft cocktails, upscale lounge food, personal lounges, high tech simulators, duckpin bowling, and classic darts.”
The restaurant is currently hiring, and will host a job fair next weekend.
The UARK Bowl building is owned by longtime local business owner Ted Belden’s Old Buildings, LLC.
According to FayettevilleHistory.org, the building was built in 1947 by W.F. Sonneman as one of the city’s first bowling alleys. It remained a bowling alley until 1978, when it became The Boardwalk Shops, home to businesses like Boardwalk Jeans and Boardwalk Cafe. It was remodeled again in around 2000 to resemble the most current configuration.
If all goes well, the new restaurant and lounge will open sometime in late May or early June.
Shabae’s
A new food truck offering burgers, wing baskets, catfish, and more has opened in Fayetteville.
The truck, called Shabae Eats, is parked near the corner of North Street and the Razorback Greenway, near where Kiko Rice & Noodle got their start.
Here’s a link to the full menu.
The truck is typically open Thursday through Saturdays from 12-6 p.m.
Tusker’s Tavern
A new neighborhood tavern and restaurant has opened in east Fayetteville.
The bar, called Tuskers Tavern, is a project by East Side Grill, Theo’s, and Southern Food Company owners Todd and Marti Martin and their South by Northwest Hospitality company, along with locals Zack and Natalie Wakefield.
The new restaurant is located across the parking lot of East Side Grill at 1830 N. Crossover Road, in the building next to Mess Hall 45.
The bar serves beer, wine, cocktails, and some food including flatbread pizzas, sharable plates, salads, and more.
The newly remodeled space has a long bar with plenty of seating, and a cozy living room-type feel on the inside. There’s also a small patio on the north side of the building for when the weather warms up.
Tusker’s Tavern officially opened to the public on Valentine’s Day.
The restaurant is open Wednesday and Thursdays from 5-11 p.m., Friday and Saturdays from 5 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., and on Sundays from 3 p.m. until 10 p.m.
Crumbl Cookies
A popular cookie chain will soon expand to Fayetteville.
Crumbl Cookies has found a location in Fayetteville and the new store is already in the works at 2621 E. Mission Blvd. next to Eureka Pizza and Fayetteville Beer Works.
Crumbl Cookies was founded by cousins Jason McGowan (CEO) & Sawyer Hemsley (COO) in Logan, Utah in 2017. Since then, the company has grown rapidly to operate more than 900 locations across the U.S.
Local franchisees Dave and Nicole Trudo opened a Crumbl Cookies location in Bentonville in 2020, and a second location in Rogers in 2022. Trudo told us just before the opening of the Rogers location that she planned to focus on Fayetteville next.
“We have secured a location, received a business license and are waiting for our building permit so we can begin our buildout,” Dave told us this week. “We are hoping for a late summer grand opening. If all construction goes smoothly, Fayetteville will finally have a Crumbl Cookies of their own this summer!”
The Fayetteville location would be the 10th in Arkansas for the chain. Crumbl also operates stores in Conway, Benton, Hot Springs, Little Rock, North Little Rock, Fort Smith, and Jonesboro.
Marlo’s Little House of Tacos
A taco restaurant that has served Fayetteville since the 1990s (and before that, if you count the Casa Taco years) closed last year, but the shop has reopened under new ownership.
Marlo’s Little House of Tacos, also known locally as its previous name of Marlo’s Taco Shack, closed back in the fall. Then in November, a handwritten note posted on the door and drive-thru window of the restaurant indicated the restaurant would soon reopen. Last month, it did.
Local resident Charla Clark purchased the name and all the recipes for the restaurant from the original owner, Marlo Underhill, and officially reopened on March 5. The restaurant underwent some interior renovations over the last several months, and a coat of paint on the exterior of the building is also coming soon.
Clark, who worked at the restaurant from 1997-2002, said the menu will remain the same as it has been for more than 30 years.
Marlo’s is located at 1192 N Garland Ave., in a small building located in Oak Plaza Shopping Center. As the name suggests, the restaurant is best known for tacos served by the meal or by the six-pack, along with cheese dip and other items.
Clark said that Marlo herself still comes in and helps out at the restaurant when she feels up to it.
The restaurant is currently open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m, though Clark said she hopes to be able to open for another day soon.
Cannibal & Craft Cafe / The Collective
Cannibal & Craft, a longtime bar on Dickson Street, has converted half of its space into a coffee shop and cafe, and the other half is set to become a restaurant.
According to a press release issued this week, the coffee shop and cafe in half the space has been open for about two months.
The other half of the space will become “an upscale restaurant offering a collection of Americana and world cuisine,” according to the release. Chris Tanner, owner of Cheers in the Heights, The Oyster Bar, and Samantha’s Tap Room & Wood Grill, will partner with Cannibal & Craft owners William and Don Ray on the new restaurant project.
According to the menu on the website, the menu of the coffee shop and cafe includes a handful of burgers, sandwiches, and snacks. The shop also serves Arsagas coffee and espresso drinks. Cannibal & Craft Cafe will eventually be renamed “The Collective,” the press release said.
Renovations for the new upscale restaurant are set to begin soon. The coffee shop and cafe will remain open, as will Ben’s Apartment, the speakeasy-style bar located near the back of the space.
Baked by Kori
A bakery and wine bar that got its start in Rogers has opened a Fayetteville location.
Baked by Kori Bakery & Wine Bar opened recently at 644 W. Dickson Street, in the space most recently home to Auntie Anne’s / Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.
The restaurant offers sandwiches, quiche, soups, granola, cookies, brownies, cakepops, cupcakes, sourdough bread, muffins, scones, toasts, and other baked items, along with a selection of beer, wine, and mimosas.
The shop also offers coffee and espresso drinks, teas, pressed juices, and other beverages.
The restaurant is open Monday-Wednesday from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m., Thursday from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Cheba Hut
A marijuana-themed sandwich shop is set to open soon in Fayetteville.
Cheba Hut, a Colorado-based chain specializing in submarine sandwiches named after marijuana strains, is coming to 1947 N. College Avenue, in the building formerly home to Arvest Bank.
Cheba Hut got its start in 1998, and has been growing rapidly in recent years. According to their website, there are roughly 50 Cheba Hut restaurants currently open in around 15 states, including Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, California, New Mexico, Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, Wisconsin, and others.
The chain opened their first Arkansas location in Little Rock on April 20 of 2022. The Fayetteville location, however, will be owned by a different franchisee.
Renovations of the building on College Avenue have been ongoing for several months now.
According the manager of the Fayetteville location, though they’d hoped for a 4/20 opening, it’s looking like more of a mid-May opening for this one.
