The word "crawl" is not one that a business would typically want associated with their brand's growth.
However, that's not the case for Red Kite Coffee Company. Or a handful of other Northwest Arkansas coffee, tea and chocolate shops that participated in the 2023 Northwest Arkansas Caffeine Crawl last month.
The crawl is the one event that exclusively enables locally owned specialty coffee houses and other related businesses to showcase their craft and talk about their unique brand and culture to a much broader audience, according to Red Kite Coffee Company CEO Danny Hamilton, who co-owns the business with his wife and Chief Marketing Officer, Leigh Ann.
Hamilton said that Red Kite staff start preparing several weeks before the crawl to determine the choice of drinks and logistics in order to create an elevated experience for participants. This year, the coffee shop hosted crawl stops in Bentonville and Springdale, interacting with a diverse group of people from Kansas, Missouri and Northwest Arkansas.
And it was a good time for such an event to boost interest in local shops, too.
Summer may be all sunshine and smiles for most, but not necessarily for those businesses known more for their hot beverages and whose customers are often students working on homework or cramming in some study time during the school year.
But school's out for the summer.
"Summer time can have a definitive impact on the specialty coffee industry, with a typical reduction in sales of 15 percent," Hamilton said. "This is mainly due to how our communities' routines and schedules change with school being out and other extracurricular activities rather than the actual heat. We work to provide seasonal drinks to keep folks interested, and we just released our summer menu we believe will appeal to the communities we serve."
Check out their summer menu on their Instagram.
Red Kite Coffee Company was established in 2014 and has locations in Bentonville, Fayetteville and Springdale. According to Hamilton, they strive to provide exceptional customer service with great coffee, specialty coffees, teas, alternative drinks and sweet and savory eats.
Umami's Supper Club
Are you looking for a memorable culinary experience? Maybe something different than your typical dining night out?
Mount Sequoyah in Fayetteville is hosting a supper club event with food, drinks and a drag show.
Umami's Supper Club will feature a family-style Lao dinner, according to Mount Sequoyah's website. The event, which is for adults 21 and over, will take place at 6:30 p.m. June 15.
Umami Origami, creator and curator for the evening, said in an email that this is a seasonal show of culture, food and drinks, with future plans to hopefully offer discounted cooking classes to supper club participants.
The event website says tickets are still available, with a portion of the proceeds going to Northwest Arkansas Equality.
Outlaw Pizza Co.
Outlaw Pizza Co., a pizza-focused food truck, announced their new location in Centerton at 290 N. Main St. in a recent social media post.
According to their website, Outlaw Pizza Co. offers handcrafted pizzas and sides made fresh with quality ingredients, no artificial additives or chemicals and sourced from local products when in season and available.
Like many food trucks, their operating hours can seem eccentric.
Outlaw Pizza Co. is closed on Wednesday and Thursday. Be sure to check their website, outlaw-pizza.square.site, for their full hours.
Eats and Treats
Hillside Eats & Treats is now Eureka Springs Eats and Treats, according to the restaurant's website.
A recent Facebook event says the eatery's new ownership was celebrated with coffee and cake on June 6 at 2051 E. Van Buren in Eureka Springs.
The restaurant offers a variety of soups, salads, sandwiches and desserts, plus their menu now boasts an Italian food section.
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We'll be back in a couple of weeks with more restaurant news across Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley. Has one recently opened or closed near you? Does your favorite spot have a new menu? Let us know. Email bcollins@nwaonline.com.
Red Kite Coffee Company recently released their summer menu. This is the Shaken Espresso, shake it up espresso with brown sugar, white chocolate and cinnamon layered with your choice of milk. (Courtesy Photo/Danny Hamilton)
Also on Red Kite Coffee Companys summer menu is the Iced Blackberry Oat, a fruits of summer latte made with espresso, blackberry, vanilla and oat milk. (Courtesy Photo/Danny Hamilton)