We’ve been hearing rumors for months that the Greenhouse Grille is moving to a new building in the Mill district, and into a space large enough for a 175-200 seat music venue.
Today we found out that the rumors are true.
Starting next week, owners of the Greenhouse Grille will begin the remodeling process on the building that is currently Wilma’s, formerly La Maison de Tartes, and will relocate into the building in the next few months.
Clayton Suttle, one of the owners of Greenhouse Grille, has big plans for the new space.
“We’d like to be able to do jazz diners, bluegrass brunches, kid’s talent shows, etc. while the restaurant is open. And then from 10:00 pm to 2:00 am we’ll have a full-on music venue with local, regional, and national acts.” Suttle told us.
Suttle knows the local music scene well. He is the drummer for Fayetteville band Echobase, as well as one of the creators of the Great Unknown Music Festival.
“We’re hoping to put a wide variety of stuff in the club, mostly music that we like. Jam bands, indie rock, jazz, reggae, funk, folk, and bluegrass. That type of thing…We’d like to be able to show movies, and do dinner and a movie sometimes, or open it up to guest speakers from the community.”
Clayton says that after 10:00 when the space becomes a venue, “bar food” will still be available from the kitchen. The space, which is another example of some of the cool things happening in the mill district right now, has a lot of potential.
“We haven’t started planning what colors to paint, or where the stage will go or anything yet.” Suttle said. “Eventually, we’d like to have a nice patio out back right on the bike trail. There’s plenty of nice grassy space out there, and we could put in some bike racks.”
Wilma’s will begin moving out of the space on Monday, and renovations will begin soon thereafter. Early plans are for the move and re-opening to happen sometime in early to mid August.
Not that I’m disappointed, but where is Wilma’s headed?
Greenhouse Grille is freaking delicious. Best of luck to them at their new location.
What is happening to Wilma’s? She had the best food and always checked on her customers to make sure the food was cooked right. A little slow and a little pricey, but I never left hungry! Good luck to Wilma’s whatever they do.
Glad to hear GreeneHouse Grille is moving to larger quarters. Always semed too crowded.
Mama Dean would mop the f@cking floor with Wilma.
Go Greenhouse!
Rockin! Clayton is the man.
Once when I was at the kabob place that was there before Greenhouse Grille, a family came in, looked at the menu, realized they weren’t at Pizza Hut and apologized and walked next door.
I’d love to see another great restaurant move into the old G.G. space. Any rumors on what’s taking their old building? Can I formally request an Indian restaurant?
Will definitely miss Wilma’s but abolutely ADORE Greenhouse Grille and look forward to same heavenly food in better quarters. Now if Wilma’s will just be around somewhere else we can still get to, we’re all set.
It’s my understanding the Wilma’s is moving to the building just north of Evelyn Hills. I believe it was a Korean restaurant most recently.
I woulndt mind seeing another Greek or Mediteranean or possibly a Cajun restaurant open in the current Greenhouse Grille building.
Wilma’s is moving to a spot on N. College next to the closed Sonic. We hope this shift is positive for everyone involved. I’ve enjoyed Wilma’s food, hospitality and record collection many times and look forward to many more. The music venue will not be as large as mentioned, more like 175-200 person range without seating. Our first priority will be serving up the delicious food we have become known for and the music venue will start small and hopefully grow. Big thanks to Fayetteville Flyer for their encouragement and support.
Good news for the Mill District. Hopefully having an established popular restaurant there with live music will be the start of something big.
I’ve got something else to say about the Mill District. I really think that the large undeveloped tract nearest to School could support another building, Main Street Center-style, and would give the Mill District its critical mass needed to become a real entertainment district. Given that the developer already owns that land (presumably it isn’t ROW) the costs should be relatively low. The main Mill building hasn’t been friendly to tenants, I think because its so far back off of School that people forget there are businesses there. Bringing the whole development up to the street, I think there’s an opportunity to draw in people and make it its own destination, like Dickson.
Congrats to GG! Best “burger” in town! My 7yr old is a huge fan too. Great place to go with the family. Rumor has it a little Italian joint may fill the old spot.
I hope that rumor is true. I’ll believe it when I see it.
If you’re looking for your Indian food fix until then, there’s a newish place up in Bentonville. Aroma, Pakistani/Indian food, has been open for about 10 months, and has an impressive buffet and delicious somasas. Take exit 85, go west about a 1/2 mile, and it’s there on your left in a strip mall. Good stuff. Also check out India Corner in Rogers.
Looking forward to the new GG spot!
@Tony Wappel:
Petra Cafe -yummo- is now open evenings on Friday/Saturday, in case you haven’t heard. We also have Emelia’s & Kosmos, all downtown.
Just got back from covering the Diamond Hogs in Omaha, and was happy to see this post while finding out what happened in NWA while I was away.
We’re covering this story Tuesday night at nine (Fox News Edge) and ten (KNWA). I’ll post a link to the story on here sometime after KNWA finishes up.
We spoke with Clayton Suttle, Steve Clark and Bailey from 104.9 the x to find out what it means for the city to have an additional music venue. Clark compared Fayetteville to Austin, TX! They were all really good interviews.
This town needs more live music venues. The Mill District could really set itself apart by becoming a live music area.
Here’s a link to the story we did on KNWA — http://nwahomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=99411
And here’s the FOXy version — http://nwahomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=99421
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People really need to stop comparing Fayetteville to Austin. It’s ridiculous!