Burger Life in Fayetteville Closing May 19

Fayetteville restaurant Burger Life, the popular restaurant on Joyce Boulevard near the Malco Razorback Cinema, will not re-open next week.

Dave Godwin, who operates the business as the managing partner of Springdale-based Restaurant Management Group, said the restaurant’s last day in business will be May 19. Godwin told the Business Journal his company was unable to successfully negotiate a new lease agreement with the building owner.

Little Rock developer Leonard Boen, through his MPG Properties I LLC company, owns the building. Godwin said he would re-open the restaurant as soon as he finds a new location.

“We’ll see where we land,” he said. “We’ve been in this market for 18 years, so we’re not going anywhere. We’re just redirecting a little bit.”

Burger Life opened in September 2010 in a former MarketPlace Grill location. RMG owns MarketPlace Grill locations in Springdale, Fort Smith and Conway and a MarketPlace Express inside the Northwest Arkansas Mall in Fayetteville.

A MarketPlace Express operated for eight years on Pinnacle Hills Parkway in Rogers but closed May 3, Godwin said, also because a new lease could not be negotiated. Boen also owns that building.

Godwin is pursuing a new Benton County location for that restaurant as well.