Brenda’s Bigger Burger building demolished

Only a concrete picnic table and a pile of rubble remain in the location formerly home to Brenda’s Bigger Burger

Staff photo

A Fayetteville landmark building, home to one of the finest burger murals the world has ever seen, was demolished last week.

A photo of Brenda’s Bigger Burger back in its heyday in 1973.

Photo: City of Fayetteville

The building, one home to the iconic Brenda’s Bigger Burger restaurant at the southeast corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Hill Avenue, was reduced to rubble just before Christmas.

The popular walk-up burger joint operated in the location for 47 years before closing for good in the fall of 2012.

Washington County records indicate that the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees purchased the property from Edward Hurley of HUARK Properties in October for $370,000.

Hurley, who bought the building from the Legg family that opened and operated the restaurant in 2012, reportedly was interested in getting into the burger business himself, and even considered opening a concept called “Hootie’s Bigger Burger” in the building before ultimately selling the property to the UA.

The parcel connects to several UA-owned properties between Hill and Government avenues, where the university plans to locate their new Art + Design District facilities. The UA also operates two storage warehouses on some of the property.

Campus offices are closed this week, so officials could not be reached for comment on their plans for the Brenda’s Bigger Burger property.