New Restaurants to Open in the River Valley

There's a good chance that Fort Smith will be able to add Whole Hog Cafe to its list of eateries while Van Buren will gain Zaxby's, both by the end of this year. Asheton Carter, owner of a Fort Smith franchise of Little Rock-based Whole Hog Cafe, says he plans to open one of the barbeque restaurants this fall at 4501 Burrough Road in Fort Smith. 

Carter has invested roughly $600,000 in construction and equipment and plans to build a 3,700 square foot restaurant with enough seating capacity for 110 barbeque lovers. Whole Hog Cafe will employ about 15 people cooking and serving lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. Carter has applied for a license to serve beer and wine as well. His professional background has been in legal practice. "I didn't want to be an attorney anymore and wanted to have my own business," Carter said. 

Whole Hog offers great barbeque, and Carter says he wouldn't want to compete with the chain if it ever intended to open a restaurant here. Information from the company lists a total of 13 restaurants in four states, the majority of which are in Arkansas. 

Paul Allen, area manager for Zaxby's restaurant franchise owner David Bowden, announced Tuesday that a Zaxby's eatery is planned to open in Van Buren this year. Though he didn't have the exact address of the new restaurant, according to building permit information with the city of Van Buren, Zaxby's will be at 2221 Fayetteville Road where Captain D's restaurant recently closed.

Zaxby's is a "fast-casual chain" with 440 locations in 12 states and offers chicken fingers, Buffalo wings, sandwiches, and salads. Allen says the Van Buren location will employ about 40 people, half of which will work part-time, and will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. It will seat around 70 people and have a drive-through service, according to information from the Athens, Georgia-based restaurant chain. 

Zaxby's has seen great success in other Arkansas cities, and Van Buren has the characteristics the franchise was looking for in a western Arkansas city, said Allen.

"We're pioneering the market. Everything east of Little Rock has been developed. We're now looking west. Generally, we pick smaller towns as opposed to most major cities. With some of the development going on in that area, we felt it was going to be a good spot to start in a new market as well as for future opportunities coming to that area," said Allen.