Owners Close Hoffbrau Steaks
by January 30, 2006 12:00 am 97 views
Hoffbrau Steaks, a downtown Fayetteville landmark for 22 years, closed on Jan. 6.
“It’s very difficult to have a restaurant when the road in front of it is blocked by construction, and the only parking is on the street,” said Stanley Bond of Fayetteville, attorney for Margaret and Hilda “Sunny” Charboneau, who owned Hoffbrau.
Bond was referring to construction work under way on the Renaissance Towers hotel on the site of the former Mountain Inn.
In July, Center Street Development Co. bought the former Mountain Inn site along with the 4,605-SF building at 31 E. Center St. that housed the restaurant. Richard Alexander said the group — which includes him, Rob Merry-Ship and Mitchell Massey — paid $480,000 for the 71-year-old Hoffbrau building. The previous owner was Stella Moga of Westlake, Ohio.
Leo Charboneau, one of three owners of the restaurant, died in April of 2004. A month later, his son Matt Charboneau, who had managed Hoffbrau since 1989, went to work for Tyson Foods Inc. That left Leo Charboneau’s wife Hilda and daughter Margaret to operate the restaurant.
Hoffbrau Steaks of Arkansas Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the summer of 2004, and the owners closed the restaurant for five months to renovate it.
Bond said the owners won’t file for bankruptcy again because “there’s nothing to liquidate.”
Kirby Walker opened the Hoffbrau in 1983. In 1989, he sold it to Gary and Tommye Thompson. They sold the business to the Charboneau family in 1993.