After the culinary excursion that was the Fayetteville Roots Festival, we’re back with more restaurant news. We’ll start with the latest from Fayetteville.
Taco & Tamale Co.
Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is getting a taco shop at the South Yard development.
This one, Fayetteville Taco & Tamale Co., is a concept resembling similarly named restaurants in downtown Bentonville and the Heights area of Little Rock.
Little Rock-based hospitality group Yellow Rocket Concepts, the company behind Local Lime and Big Orange, plans to open the shop next spring.
Development firm Specialized Real Estate Group will open South Yard later this year in buildings formerly occupied by the Farmers Cooperative at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and South School Avenue. It will include restaurants, entertainment venues, office and retail space, a new public park and more than 100 apartment units, according to a news release.
Jeremy Hudson, chief executive officer of Specialized Real Estate Group, said the restaurant fits well with the vision for South Yard and will be accessible from the Razorback Greenway.
Cafe Rue Orleans
As reported by my colleague Stacy Ryburn recently, demolition work started in August at the site of Cafe Rue Orleans.
However, the restaurant isn’t going anywhere.
The former Hi-Way Inn at 1140 N. College Ave., which wrapped around the restaurant, has largely been demolished.
AMR Architects has designed a smaller, renovated eight-room motel at the location. The firm also plans to move its Springdale office to the ground floor of the Cafe Rue Orleans building, previously the restaurant’s seasonal Avenue Seafood Bar, according to Ryburn.
Meanwhile, the interior of the restaurant will receive minor updates like a new sign facing College Avenue and a patio at the south entrance, according to the plans.
Business owner Maudie Schmitt told Ryburn she hopes the renovations will draw hungry customers.
“I’m excited,” she said. “Change is always crazy, but I think this is a good change for Cafe Rue Orleans.”
And for those craving crawfish etouffee or catfish tchoupitoulas: yes, they’re open.
Summer Moon
Summer Moon Coffee is open at 1422 N. College Ave.in Fayetteville’s Evelyn Hills Shopping Center.
If you haven’t heard of it, the thing you need to know is Moon Milk. That’s the company’s signature cream.
The Austin, Texas-based coffee shop boasts a wood-fired coffee roasting process, and much of its menu is based around different ratios of espresso and Moon Milk.
The Fayetteville location, Summer Moon’s first in Arkansas, is open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Culver’s
A Wisconsin-based fast food chain is now serving butterburgers and frozen custard in Rogers.
Culver’s is open at 4204 W. New Hope Road near Splash Car Wash from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. all week.
The location is the company’s first in Arkansas.
Culver’s began in 1984 in Sauk City, Wis., and has since opened franchises in 25 states, according to its website.
Eat My Catfish
Eat My Catfish has opened a Pinnacle-area restaurant in Rogers at the former location of Bocca and Genghis Grill.
The eatery is open Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Social Project
Brewing Co.
Social Project Brewing Co. has opened a downtown Springdale taproom at 205 E. Johnson Ave., the former location of Bike Rack Brewing Co.
The company opened its first taproom in Bentonville about a year ago.
We’re running out of space, but there are even more restaurants opening across Northwest Arkansas. Many of them have been featured in this space before, including TxAR House, OZ Smokehouse and Duck Donuts in Rogers, Girls Gone BBQ and Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux in Fayetteville, Wendy’s and Taco Bell in Pea Ridge and Schlotzsky’s in Siloam Springs.
Has a restaurant recently opened or closed near you? Does your favorite spot have a new menu? Let us know. Email gmoore@ nwaonline.com .