Get hungry, restaurant fans. It’s time for some restaurant news.
Here’s what we know about a handful of places that are opening, closing, moving, or are now open in Fayetteville.
Tula
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A new Mexican restaurant recently opened on the Fayetteville square.
The new place, called Tula, opened in East Square Plaza in the space formerly home to Burrito Loco. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner, and the menus focus on a wide variety of Mexican dishes.
According to their Facebook page, they are open Monday-Thursday from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m., and on Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m.
Conscious Coco
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A local restaurant specializing in vegan chocolate, coffee, smoothies, and vegan cuisine is now open in the Uptown Apartments + Shops development in north Fayetteville.
Conscious Coco officially opened in the building formerly home to Puritan Coffee and Beer, located at 3959 N Steele Blvd., Suite 101, in the first week of January. The restaurant had previously been located at 1877 N. Pluto Dr., next to Nomads Trailside.
According to their website, Conscious Coco serves coffee, smoothies, herbal drinks, and assorted snacks and sweets, along with some raw vegan entrees available on a rotating specials menu.
They are open Monday-Wednesday from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m., Thursday-Saturday from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m., and on Sunday from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Puritan / Burton’s
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A nearly two-year run in north Fayetteville has come to an end for Puritan Coffee & Beer and Burton’s Creamery.
The two shops, which shared a retail space in the Uptown Fayetteville Apartments complex on Steele Boulevard, closed on New Year’s Eve.
Both companies announced the news to customers on social media this week.
From Puritan on Instagram:
It has been an honor and privilege to serve you all at our Uptown location these past two years. Unfortunately, we have decided, alongside Burton’s Creamery, that this was a temporary location for the two of us.
Burton’s shared a similar message.
The two companies opened for business inside the space in March 2018.
Puritan continues to operate at its original location on Dickson Street. Burton’s representatives said the plan is to reopen its food truck on Dickson Street in the spring, along with its year-round catering services.
Black Bear Diner
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A California-based restaurant chain specializing in all-day breakfast will soon expand to Northwest Arkansas.
Black Bear Diner will open its second Arkansas restaurant in Fayetteville, according to company’s website. The chain last year opened a location in North Little Rock.
Documents filed with the Arkansas Department of Health indicate the Fayetteville restaurant will be located at 4078 N. College Ave., in the building formerly home to Applebee’s.
Black Bear Diner was founded in 1995, and has since expanded to open more than 130 locations in the U.S.
The restaurant’s menu lists a host of breakfast items, including chicken fried steak and eggs, omelettes and scramble dishes, pancakes, waffles, bendicts, and other breakfast fare, along with some burgers and sandwiches for lunch, and steaks, meatloaf, pot roast, and other items for dinner.
We reached out to a spokesperson for the company for more info about their target opening date, and we’ll add that info to this post once we hear back from them.
Taco Bueno
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Sad news, Taco Bueno fans.
Both of the restaurant’s Fayetteville locations closed last month.
The restaurants were located at 1634 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and at 272 E. Joyce Blvd., though it appears the locations in Springdale, Rogers, and Bentonville have also closed.
According to Nation’s Restaurant News, Taco Bueno filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year. The company was sold to Taco Supremo, LLC, an affiliate of Sun Holdings, Inc earlier in 2019.
As the name suggests, they specialized in tacos and other Mexican food.
Tokyo House
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A new Japanese restaurant focused on sushi and ramen opened in Fayetteville last month.
Tokyo House Sushi & Ramen is located at 1818 N. Crossover Road, in the space formerly home to Madame Wu’s. The Fayetteville restaurant is affiliated with the Rogers-based business of the same name.
According to the company’s website, Tokyo House offers a variety of sushi, sashimi, Japanese fried rice, Teriyaki dishes, noodle dishes, and other Japanese fair.
The restaurant is open for lunch daily from 11 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., and for dinner Sunday through Thursday from 4:30-9 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 4:30-9:30 p.m.
Snack Lab
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A grocery store-restaurant hybrid offering healthy meals and snacks is planning to expand to Fayetteville soon.
The new business, called Snack Lab, is renovating the building formerly home to EZ Mart at 2341 N. College Avenue, near the intersection of College Avenue and Township Street with plans to move in soon.
The business currently operates locations in Bentonville and Rogers.
Snack Lab focuses on healthy food items including breakfast and lunch bowls, smoothies, and grab-and-go meals, snacks, and other items.
If all goes well, the new business plans to be up and running in Fayetteville in March of 2020.
Smudgies
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A local ice cream establishment has closed its doors.
Smudgies Dessert Labs, the sweet treat restaurant located at 241 N. College at the corner of Dickson Street and College Avenue, closed for business recently.
The owners announced the closure officially on Nov. 21 via the business Facebook page.
“After long talks (and) sad circumstances, it absolutely breaks our hearts to announce that we will be closing Smudgies in Fayetteville,” the post read. “This is something we hoped would never happen. But we remain humble, optimistic, + truly thankful for all of you that supported our little business through it all.”
The restaurant opened in the spring of 2018, and specilized in all kinds of desserts, including milkshakes, concretes, donuts filled with ice cream, and others.
Smudgies also closed their Springdale location late in 2019.
Hurts Donuts
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The sign on the window indicating that Fayetteville’s Hurts Donuts location is open “25/8” is no longer accurate.
According to a Facebook post that appeared on the company’s page recently, the Fayetteville location has been permanently closed.
“Early today we were very surprised to learn that the Hurts Donut Fayetteville owner would be closing its doors. It goes without saying that we are very saddened by the news,” the post read.
No reason for the closure was given.
The location page for the Fayetteville restaurant has since been removed from Facebook. Hurts is best known for its oversized donuts with off-the-wall toppings.
The Fayetteville location opened in early 2017 at 1641 W. 15th St., in the University Village Centre across from Baum Stadium.
NWA Gyros
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A new restaurant specializing in gyros sandwiches and other items is now open in Fayetteville.
The new restaurant, called NWA Gyros, opened at 1139 N Lindell Avenue near the corner of North Street and Gregg Avenue last week, in the space formerly home to Mr. Burger, and more recently, Star BurgerHaus.
The restaurant also serves chicken wings, fish, shrimp, burgers, and several sandwich combos, according to their Facebook page.
They are open daily from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m.
Feed and Folly
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A new restaurant specializing in house-cured and smoked meats with a rooftop bar overlooking the south side of town is nearing their open date in Fayetteville.
The new spot, called Feed and Folly, will be located at 110 S. College Ave., next to the old courthouse and just across the street from the John Paul Hammerschmidt Federal Building.
According to recent posts on their Facebook page, the restaurant is currently hiring, and could open “in January 2020.” Update: Co-owner Lewis Chase got back with us this afternoon, and said it is looking like it will be more like March for a grand opening for Feed and Folly.
The menu for the new business will focus on meats, charcuterie plates, specialty sandwiches, along with seasonal entrees, local brews, and craft cocktails using fresh, local ingredients.
Saffron Indian Cuisine
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A Little Rock-based Indian restaurant recently opened in Fayetteville.
Saffron Indian Cuisine, the restaurant concept created by Shekhar Rikame and Nikita Salunke in 2018 and located at 12911 Cantrell Rd in Little Rock, opened at 401 W Watson St. Ste 203, in the space most recently occupied by The Grillhouse Seafood and Steaks.
The new location in Fayetteville serves a buffet during lunch hours with several Indian food favorites, and focuses on menu service in the evenings.
The menu focuses on cuisine and curry dishes from both North and Southern India regions, similar to what is served in Little Rock.
The Hip Cafe
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A coffee shop and vegan/vegetarian restaurant coming soon to east Fayetteville could be opening soon.
The Hip Cafe is currently under construction in a building formerly home to a car wash at 2229 E. Huntsville Rd.
We reached out to the owners, who were reluctant to give a concrete date for opening at the moment, but hinted it could be very soon.
“Our builder is working on the certificate of occupancy,” they said. “We will know more once that’s in our hands.”
