JJs Expanding Into Bella Vista, Fort Smith

Fayetteville-headquartered restaurant chain JJ’s Grill & Chill is opening its fourth Northwest Arkansas location in September.

Restaurant owners Jody and Jessica Thornton are planning to open a full-service restaurant and bar location at 12 Cunningham Corner just off Highway 71 in Bella Vista in a 2,700-SF space occupied in recent years by restaurants Basil’s and Blackboard Café.

The strip center is owned by Cunningham Corner LLC, an entity controlled by Cooper Realty Investments of Rogers.

JJ’s has become known for its female servers, clad in skirts and cowboy boots, live music and a wide-ranging menu that includes hamburgers, chicken wings, sandwiches, wraps, soups, salads and grilled items. The full bar has more than 30 beers on tap.

“In Bella Vista, what we’ve found is there are a lot of young people moving there, and there are no other restaurants there doing what we do — burgers, beer and homemade food,” said 40-year-old Jody Thornton. “We feel comfortable with where we are as a company and we have developed a good rapport with customers who live in that area.”

JJ’s opened its first location in Rogers in December 2008. The Thorntons also own locations in Fayetteville and on Beaver Lake in Northwest Arkansas, as well as in downtown Conway in central Arkansas.

In March, Thornton, 40, said a sixth location will open in Fort Smith near the intersection of Interstate 540 and Phoenix Avenue.

JJ’s Grill, which maintains its corporate office in the Uptown Professional Center on Steele Boulevard in Fayetteville, employs about 150 people, Thornton said.