Restaurateur Opting for Full-on Theos Expansion

Overwhelming positive feedback from customers has caused a Fayetteville restaurant group to adjust its business plan for its expansion into Benton County.

Scott Bowman, owner of Theo’s Bar and Dining Room in Fayetteville, said his plans are now to go ‘”full-on” with a new Theo’s restaurant at The Shoppes at Pinnacle Hills in Rogers.

Earlier this year, Bowman announced the Theo’s spin-off, but said it would be more informal than the original, focusing on the lounge and bar atmosphere rather than the formal dining that encouraged reservations. Bowman opened the Fayetteville establishment in 2005, one block north of Dickson Street.

“We had such an overwhelming response to not just open a Theo’s but people really wanted the full menu and the whole dining experience, and we were flattered by that,” he said. “Seems like everyone we talked to was excited about us doing the full menu.”

Bowman, who heads Bowman Hospitality Group along with his father, Ted, originally signed a lease agreement with Hunt Ventures to occupy a 4,900-SF space that was formally home to Eddie Haskell’s Patio and Grill. That restaurant closed Jan. 11.

BHG has since taken more space next door to create an additional dining room, bringing the restaurant to more than 6,000 SF.

“It’ll be just like a Theo’s experience in Fayetteville with the reservations, full dining menu, the lounge and the patio,” Scott Bowman said.

As with the original Theo’s, reservations aren’t required but encouraged. The restaurant will open each day at 4 p.m. Bowman said he is targeting Tuesday, May 29, as the opening date.

Theo’s had $1.1 million in total sales on food, beer and wine in both fiscal 2010 and 2011, according to data provided by the Fayetteville Advertising & Promotion Commission.