First Buffalo Wild Wings Slated for Bentonville

B&K Wings LLC plans to build in Bentonville the first of six Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants planned for the state.

The 6,400-SF building will be constructed at 2707 Moberly Lane. Construction will begin in August and should be completed in about three months, said John Bliss, one of the partners in the company.

The restaurant will seat 295 diners and will be built on a 1.5-acre parcel of land.

The franchise company calls the restaurants Buffalo Wild Wings Grill and Bar, but Bliss said he was going to drop “bar” from the name of the Bentonville eatery. The restaurant will serve beer, wine and mixed drinks, so by county regulations, it must be a private club. Bliss, however, is playing down that aspect of Buffalo Wild Wings.

“It’s a kid- and grandma-friendly sports restaurant,” he said. “It will [serve] liquor, but it won’t be a Hooter’s as other sports bars have been named.”

Bliss said the second location will likely be in Fayetteville’s CMN Business Park. Locations in Fort Smith and Little Rock are likely to follow.

Minneapolis-based Buffalo Wild Wings went public last year and is currently planning a major expansion. The company plans to have 400 stores open by the end of 2006. The chain, which currently has 252 locations in 30 states, has been growing at a rate of about 50 restaurants per year.

At the end of 2003, Buffalo Wild Wings had 84 company-owned stores and 161 franchised stores. Last year, the company’s restaurant sales totaled $365.1 million.