What?s for Dinner? Johnny?s

Owners: Johnny Mrsny

Address: 3511 S.E. “J” St., Suite. 8,

Bentonville, 72712

Phone:501-464-7272

Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Friday

Start-up date: May 28

Johnny and Jodi Mrsny are cooking like crazy, and business is boiling. Creating gourmet meals-to-go, What’s for Dinner? Johnny’s made its first kitchen in Bentonville.

Slow-cooking home style meals for customers to take home for lunch or dinner was a rare concept in Northwest Arkansas before What’s for Dinner? Johnny Mrsny offers staple main courses of roasted beef and chicken and side orders of anything from fresh fruit to mashed potatoes to salads. The chefs of What’s for Dinner? also take creative liberties with seafood dishes and pastas.

“Business picks up every day,” Mrsny says.

“Home meal replacement” is the official term for the What’s for Dinner? concept, but Mrsny breaks it down simply. “People don’t always have time to slow-cook their meals. Now we do all the cooking.”

Homemade meatloaf is a big seller with 30 pounds moving each week, Mrsny says.

“We serve what I call, ‘American portions’ for reasonable prices,” he says.

Special productions made daily are also popular, Mrsny says. One such special was stuffed red bell peppers with Caribbean rice and an Alfredo cheese sauce.

Targeting families, the business operates without a dining room, allowing Mrsny to avoid the expense of a wait staff by offering carry-out-only food.

Eventually, Mrsny plans to franchise What’s for Dinner?, and new franchisees may add their names to the end of the restaurant’s name. Mrsny also intends to create more of a deli section, offering a vending supply of locally made goods such as jellies, bread and cheeses.

Catering to special occasions and customers’ personal requests, What’s for Dinner? is “gourmet to go.”