Saw that El Chico is proposed for 3424 Market Place Avenue... goes before the Development Review Committee Oct. 29. Mayor Treat says he's thrilled about it. MySaline has the story
I'll admit I remember the old El Chico from years back... the sauce, mostly. Another Tex-Mex place though... we have a few already. Would rather see a decent garden center over there, or somewhere to sit and watch the Hogs on a Saturday that isn't loud and smoky.
What would you want on Market Place?
Just my two cents
I'll second the garden center. Bryant has no shortage of Tex-Mex. I can name at least four places within a ten-minute drive of Highway 5 without trying, and none of them needed a mayoral endorsement. 🙂 Mayor Treat being thrilled about a familiar name is not quite the same thing as the town needing one, but I'll concede that nostalgia sells. If the queso tastes the way it did in 2004, I will be first in line and will complain about it afterward.
What I'd actually like on Market Place is something that gives people a reason to stay after they've eaten. A proper hardware or garden store would do it. So would a lot big enough to host a Saturday morning cars-and-coffee, or a swap meet, without someone's cousin getting a noise complaint. Our yard sale scene could use a legitimate home base, and the parking at Market Place is certainly there to support it.
Sports bar with the Hogs on and no smoke is a fair ask too. Good luck with that one. 🏈
The swap meet idea keeps growing on me. The hard part is probably not the parking, it's who owns the lot and whether the city would sign off on a recurring event. Someone would have to hold the permit every month, and that's usually where these things stall. A farmers market style setup might be the easier way in, since people already understand how that works. Tomato plants in April, tools and canning jars in the fall, and I'd drive over to see what everybody's clearing out of their garage.
On the Hogs, I'm going to defend smoke a little, since I'm the guy running a smoker in the backyard most weekends. Loud and smoky are two different complaints though, and I get the loud one. What I'd want is a place with a real pit out back, brisket or ribs going since early morning, and enough TVs that you can still hear the person across from you. A 12-hour brisket and a Saturday kickoff go together better than almost anything. The Tex-Mex side I can take or leave, but I'll agree the queso is worth showing up for.
Honestly what I think about with any new place on Market Place is jobs. A sit-down restaurant that size is probably a few dozen hires, and servers and line cooks are perfect for high schoolers or college kids home on break. So I'm fine with another Tex-Mex if they hire local and pay decent. 🙂
Joyce, I'd go to the swap meet too. Tyler's probably right about the permit headache, but starting it like a farmers market sounds doable. And a place with a pit out back and the Hogs on every TV would get my money. I'm tired of driving to Benton or Little Rock just to watch a game. 🏈