Catfish Hole and Applebee?s Make Strong Showing

For the first time, Catfish Hole No. 3 has made the Top 10 list of Fayetteville restaurants based on gross sales.

Catfish Hole vaulted to the No. 7 position with sales of $1.18 million for the eight-month period from December 2000 through July. (The city’s fiscal year for hotel-motel-restaurant sales tax collection runs December through November.) Catfish Hole had a total of $1.48 million in sales for the entire 12 months of fiscal 2000.

“We’re not doing anything differently,” said Pat Gazzola. “Business is suffering in the restaurant business. Right now, it’s dog eat dog. … Our target customer is the working-class person. You’ve got to really be good.”

Pat and Janie Gazzola have owned Catfish Hole No. 3 for the past seven years. They also own Catfish Hole No. 2, which is in Alma. Contrary to what most readers might think, there is no Catfish Hole No. 1.

The restaurant, which can seat 400 diners, is open for lunch only on Saturday and Sunday. It’s open for dinner Tuesday through Sunday.

“We don’t advertise,” Pat Gazzola said. “It’s just been a slow process of word of mouth.”

Restaurants that have jumped to higher slots within the Top 10 include Applebee’s (from No. 7 to No. 5) and Powerhouse Seafood (from No. 10 to No. 8.)

AQ Chicken House dropped from No. 6 to No. 9, and Ozark Brewing Co. slipped from No. 5 to No. 6.

As usual, Red Lobster stayed on top and Jose’s was No. 2.

Also, for a change, half of the restaurants in Fayetteville’s Top 10 are locally owned. Usually, chain restaurants have the majority of the premiere slots.

Jose’s, Ozark Brewing Co., Catfish Hole, Powerhouse Seafood and AQ Chicken House are locally owned. The rest of the restaurants in the Top 10 are franchise operations of major chains.

Fayetteville’s Top 10 Restaurants

Sales in millions.

Rank — Restaurant — 2001 Sales Through July — 2000 Sales — 1999 Sales

1 — Red Lobster — $2.41 — $3.37 — $2.95

2 — Jose’s — 2.30 — 3.30 — 2.86

3 — Chili’s — 1.90 — 2.59 — 2.29

4 — Ryan’s Family Steakhouse — 1.58 — 2.42 — 2.40

5 — Applebee’s — 1.40 — 1.92 — 1.89

6 — Ozark Brewing Co. — 1.30 — 2.09 — 2.12

7 — Catfish Hole No. 3 — 1.18 — 1.48 — 1.32

8 — Powerhouse Seafood — 1.17 — 1.57 — 1.26

9 — AQ Chicken — 1.14 — 1.93 — 2.05

10 — Chick-Fil-A (Northwest Village) — 1.14 — 1.63 — 1.44

Source: Sales figures are based on Fayetteville’s hotel-motel-restaurant tax collected from December 2000 through July. The numbers include sales of food and alcohol combined.