REVEL restaurant to open in The HUB, employ 15-20

A new dining experience is on its way to Fort Smith. REVEL, an upscale dining venue, is scheduled to open Aug. 1, 2019, in The HUB at Providence in the Chaffee Crossing area.

Owner Chef Jason Haid of River City Bistro in Fort Smith said REVEL is a new concept in cuisine.

“For years I’ve been hearing about the lack of upscale yet casual dining establishments in Fort Smith especially in the East Fort Smith Chaffee Crossing area, so we created REVEL to fill that void that consumers have been waiting for,” said Haid.

The Southern-themed restaurant will feature a menu of international flavors ranging from a duck confit club to Southern shrimp and grits to the “Burger Above,” a media release on the restaurant said.

“My background is in fine dining,” said Haid, who has 20 years’ experience in restaurants, dining and catering.

The restaurant, which will have an investment of approximately $500,000 including the cost of building the space, will be about 2,500 square feet and will include another 2,500 square feet in outdoor patio space, said Rod Coleman, chairman of ERC, the development engine that is driving The HUB. The new restaurant will employ around 15-20 people.

“I think I am most excited about the patio. It will be huge,” Haid said. “I’m saying we should have about 84 seats inside the restaurant with a lot more than that on the patio.”

The restaurant also will feature an indoor/outdoor bar that will be divided by a garage door.

“That is going to be very cool,” Haid said.

The HUB is under construction on Wells Lake Road in Fort Smith, adjacent to multiple residential developments and the ArcBest Corporation headquarters. The $11 million development at the Wells Lake Road intersection will feature a “live-above-retail” arrangement that includes 43 living spaces (23 townhomes between 1,593 and 2,634 square feet, 20 apartments between 530 and 701 square feet). Two buildings will feature 8,800 square feet of commercial space, 4,400 in each; and there will be a 2,500-square foot location for restaurant use.

“The idea is to have a place where you can live, work, play, and REVEL is going to be the center of that,” Coleman said.

While excited about the new restaurant, Haid stated he has no plans of leaving or closing River City Bistro.

“River City is still my restaurant. It will be in Stonewood Village as long as there is a Stonewood Village,” Haid said. “This is just another project and one I’m very excited about. It just seemed to make sense. I love the idea of being a part of the community they are making at The HUB. I think this is the way a lot of our area and Arkansas is going to go, and I’m excited about it.”