Sodie?s Scoops Up Old Post Office
by July 5, 2004 12:00 am 191 views
The Fancher family of Flippin plans to open a restaurant, sports bar and soda fountain in Fayetteville’s historic Old Post Office building by Sept. 1. The lease agreement was signed on June 30.
For the past six years, Maureen and Gary Fancher have operated Sodie’s Fountain & Grill and The Flippin Pharmacy & Gifts in the train depot at Flippin, a Marion County town of 1,357 people.
The Fayetteville restaurant will most likely be called Sodie’s Fountain & Grill in the Old Post Office, Maureen Fancher said. The couple’s son, Travis, will also be a partner and will manage the Fayetteville business.
The restaurant will be an American grill selling “a wide assortment of stuff made from scratch,” Maureen Fancher said. Entrees will include pot roast, country-style ribs and steaks, pork chops and fajitas.
The soda fountain, which will be located where Jammin’ Java coffee shop is now, will specialize in Yarnell’s Ice Cream, which is made in Searcy.
The basement of the 10,000-SF building will be converted into a sports bar. Maureen Fancher said the restaurant will seat about 130 people, but she wasn’t sure about the exact number in the sports bar. The business will have a full bar, she said.
Ron Bumpass evicted Hog City Diner from the building on June 1, 2002. The 93-year-old building has been empty since then except for Jammin’ Java, which leases a room on the building’s east side.