Boston?s Pizza Planned for Bentonville

Boston’s the Gourmet Pizza will open in Bentonville’s Clarion Hotel and Convention Center in August. The restaurant will replace the Bobbisox Bar & Grill, which closed in July, said Pam Mock, general manager of the hotel.

Bobbisox had $504,190 in food sales during the six months it was open last year, according to Bentonville tax records.

Mock said the conversion is under way, and just like Bobbisox, there will still be an outside entrance into the 6,800-SF restaurant as well as an entrance from inside the hotel.

Café Clarion has been serving food since the close of Bobbisox.

Boston’s restaurant will seat 180 people and will have about 75 employees, Mock said. It will be a family dining atmosphere with pool tables, a sports bar and outside seating.

Boston’s menu, according to the Web site, offers various entrees from sandwiches to baby-back ribs and, of course, gourmet pizzas. There are 24 different types of pizzas, ranging in size from eight inches to 15 inches.

Hobbs & Curry FLP of Fort Smith is the franchise owner of Boston’s and did own Bobbisox locations in Bentonville and Little Rock, along with the one in Fayetteville. The Little Rock Bobbisox, located in the Holiday Inn Little Rock-Airport East, has closed and will also be replaced with a Boston’s, said Dwight Curry, a partner in Hobbs & Curry. That restaurant should be open by early 2007.

Curry said the Fayetteville Bobbisox has a different lease agreement and will remain open for the forseeable future.

Kang Opens Japanese Steakhouse in Bentonville

Tommy Kang opened Samurai Japanese Steak & Sushi on May 10 in Bentonville.

Kang, former general manager at Shogun Steak House of Japan and Shogun Express, both in Bentonville, spent $300,000 remodeling the former Chinese restaurant location for the new eatery.

The 5,000-SF restaurant seats about 290 people, said Ki Park, Samurai’s general manager. There are 12 Hibachi grills with tables that seat eight. Hibachi grills are situated on tables where diners are seated around, having the chef prepare their meals in front of them.

In addition to the sushi bar, entrees — including chicken, steak, shrimp and scallops — start at $8 and include meat, vegetables, salad and soup. Samurai also has a full bar, serving wine, beer on tap and mixed drinks, Park said.

The restaurant, located at 1100 S.E. 14th St., has 20 employees, including five chefs.

Kang said he has worked as a chef for more than 20 years, getting his start on the East Coast. Kang said his restaurant is about service and experience, bringing in chefs from all over the United States. Kang plans to bring in two more chefs from Florida.

Park, who has worked with Kang for four years, said all of the sauces are original and are sold individually as well.

Kang said he helped set up the two Shogun restaurants in Bentonville, creating the menus and sauces that are still being used.

Shogun Express, which opened in March 2005, brought in $248,000 in food sales last year, and Shogun Steak House had $1.94 million last year compared to $1.95 million in 2004. Those two restaurants are owned by John Pak of Fayetteville.