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Monday, December 5, 2011

Coming soon Fort Smith welcomes new restaurants

Posted by Kat Robinson on Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 12:23 PM

Our Western wall is about to be inundated with a flood of new restaurants in the next month or so. Jennifer Boulden with the Fort Smith Convention & Visitors Bureau has shared with me a list of some of the new places that will be popping up around town.

First off — The Egg and I has opened at 3801 Planters Road. It's a breakfast place (think IHOP where the emphasis is on eggs rather than pancakes) open just south of I-540 off Highway 71. The menu looks interesting — lots of variations on omelets, Mexican egg dishes, Eggs Benedict-type selections and skillet scrambles. I'll have to try it out next time I am in the area.

A lot more restaurants are on the way — including a loose-meat sandwich chain, Buffalo Wild Wings, Bob Evans and Dunkin' Donuts. More on the jump.

Coming next month, Maid-Rite, which sells loose-meat sandwiches. May be the first place in Arkansas to do so. If you haven't had a loose meat sandwich before and need an idea of what I'm talking about, think a Sloppy Joe — without the sauce. It's ground beef on a bun, all loose with the traditional hamburger accompaniments. You can have yours one of several ways, including a Taco Maid-Rite, a Philly Cheese-Rite, a BBQ Texas-Rite and more. I'm excited about fried cheese curds myself.

It's going in at 3895 Phoenix Avenue, where the Cricket Wireless used to be at the Fort Smith Pavilion — right by where the new CherryBerry Yogurt Bar is also going in sometime this spring.

Also in January, yet another Vietnamese restaurant. Pho Real Asian Restaurant will open at 4900 Rogers Avenue, another addition to the already saturated pho market. Let's face it — Fort Smith really likes pho.

And then there's the River City Deli, which will open next month at 7320 Rogers Avenue. It'll be a New York style deli emphasizing roasted meats and fresh produce. You can follow along on its progress on the restaurant's Facebook page.

I'm really excited, though, that Arkansas is getting Dunkin' Donuts again. I can remember we had one here in Little Rock back in the early 80s at the most doomed restaurant location in the state, just north of I-30 on Geyer Springs (this location also hosted a Krystal, a Whataburger and heaven knows what else over the years) and I am glad to see it come back. I think the closest one has been, what, Jackson, TN? Yeah, something like that. You know what you can expect from Dunkin' Donuts; this one will be paired up with Jam Mart #6 and will open in February. There's a Facebook page for it, too.

Later on, wing lovers will flock in that crazy way they do to Fort Smith's first Buffalo Wild Wings location. The beer-and-wings sports bar will open its doors at 6550 Rogers Avenue. Should make these people happy. If for some reason you don't know about BWW, check out their website or the piece we did when the location here in Little Rock opened.

And then there's Bob Evan's. If you've been to Branson or have lived outside of the south you probably have a good idea. It's a farmhouse style restaurant heavy on the comfort foods and slow roasted dinners, along with half pound burgers. This one will be located at the Fort Smith Pavilion and will open sometime this spring.

Tags: Fort Smith, Buffalo Wild Wings, Bob Evans, Pho Real Asian Restaurant, Maid-Rite, Dunkin' Donuts, River City Deli, The Egg and I, CherryBerry Frozen Yogurt

        
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Comments (10)

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When will Little Rock EVER get a Dunkin' Donuts? I've been missing it since I moved from Upstate NY 18 years ago.

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Posted by daisy on 12/05/2011 at 4:01 PM

http://littlerock.about.com/b/2011/07/16/dunkin-donuts-moving-in-opening-11-stores-in-arkansas.htm

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Posted by Bob on 12/05/2011 at 8:07 PM

As somebody who lived two years in Iowa -- home of Maid Rite, where the Loose-Meat Sandwich roams free -- I can tell you that I won't be going withing 300 yards of the new Fort Smith Maid Rite franchise. I'll eat just about anything that won't eat me first, but loose meat sandwiches are just funky: brown some crumbled hamburger (actually "gray some crumbled hamburger" is a bit more descriptive), slap it on a bun, add ketchup, and there you have it. Just one of the 10,000 reasons I hightailed it back to Arkansas from the Frozen North as soon as humanly possible: they can't make anything edible in the Midwest that doesn't include bratwurst and/or kraut.

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Posted by David Koon on 12/05/2011 at 8:59 PM

The Asian community did a good job converting the locals to pho fans before it was cool.

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Posted by FSMXNA on 12/05/2011 at 9:20 PM

I grew up in 09-erville and I'm pretty sure there was never a Dunkin' Donuts on Geyer Springs. There was a Krispy Kreme on the south side of the I-30/Geyer Springs intersection at one time and there was a Dunkin' Donuts on University where the Hog Pen is now, but those are the only two I remember. I'm pretty sure Krystal built the building that went on to become a bunch of other restaurants.

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Posted by adman0468 on 12/05/2011 at 9:32 PM

adman, you are right... a futzbrained moment on my part.

I love the availability of Vietnamese food in Fort Smith -- Pho Vietnam is my favorite, but I also like Green Papaya. Knowing how the word "pho" is supposed to be pronounced, I always get a little kick out of Pho King over by UAFS.

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Posted by Kat Robinson on 12/05/2011 at 11:02 PM

Pho Hoang on Grand and Pho Vietnam on Rogers seem to be the most popular. Never been to Green Papaya, but they have a reputation right up there near the top. There are at least four other pho shops, two within blocks of Pho Vietnam, but haven't heard anything about them. Between the pho shops and authentic Mexican hole-in-the-walls popping up in the same area, it's amazing the food you can get at a great price. Beats McDonald's, that's for sure.

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Posted by FSMXNA on 12/06/2011 at 10:07 PM

Just what Fort Smith needs...more chain restaurants! Where Red Lobster is considered fine dining!

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Posted by Mordy on 12/07/2011 at 1:37 AM

FUCK ALL YALL BITCHES TALKEN SHIT ABOUT THE FORT WITH YALLS YANKIE ASS

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Posted by HAGEN on 01/03/2012 at 4:52 AM

River City Deli is where it's at!!! WOW! What a place - and not a chain - a mother and son own it and they are putting out amazing food! Try the Reuben - it's life changing! - RGT

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Posted by Rich on 02/20/2012 at 7:09 PM

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