Ep. 95 - Seahorses, Fry Pies, and Bentonville Buzz

Downtown Bentonville just got a new reason to rally. We sit down with the force behind Fry, a hidden-in-plain-sight bar at 100 SW 2nd Street, built on a simple promise: keep prices fair, keep service quick, and make it easy for people to gather. Think a $7 old fashioned, a lunch-and-a-pint target around $12, and a menu anchored by focaccia-based “fry pies” designed for speed without sacrificing flavor.

We unpack the location’s advantages, it's steps from First Seat, Barley & Vine, and a cluster of downtown favorites, plus it has two patios that can shift from mellow afternoons to lively nights. The beer plan is purposefully tight: two house drafts, Fry Heavy and Fry Light, crafted with Trailhead. Packaged standbys will be there too, because inclusivity matters. The limited taps keep quality consistent and wait times low, taking a page from classic two-choice beer halls while leaving room to rotate specialties as production scales.

You’ll also hear the surprising origin of the name: a seahorse story that became a brand anchor and a reminder to keep going when plans fall through. From permitting wins and fast buildout to pop-up music on a compact front stage and a larger east patio that could host 100-plus by spring, the roadmap is clear. The bigger theme, though, is collaboration over competition. Our guest and Trailer Tony break down how breweries, bars, and neighbors turns a district into a destination and helps everyone grow in step with Arkansas’s evolving landscape.

Want first dibs on opening night and VIP tastings? Follow @fry_bentonville, subscribe to the show, and leave a quick review telling us which fry pie you want to try first. We’ll see you on the patio.

Transcript

Banter, Bourbon, And A Fan Favorite Returns

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Welcome to the B Team Podcast. I am your host, Josh Saffron, with my co-host, and our permanent guest, Rob Nelson. We're here every week to talk to you about all things Betonville, urban, and business. The B Team Podcast. Be here. Welcome to the B Team Podcast. I'm your host, Josh Saffron, with my permanent alternate, Jim Corbett.

SPEAKER_02 0:32

And back from the dead. Hey. Hey, I think I made two in a row. No, you didn't. Yeah, I was here on the last one. No, you had Santa Claus hat on. Yeah, but that didn't really count. Like you've been gone for our permanent guest, Rob Nelson, aka Bobby. Welcome back. Thank you. It's been it's not the same without you. You know what? When you work around my schedule, I make it. Well, I mean, when you go to the Keys, when you go to the Bahamas, when you go to Big Cedar, when you go to Vegas, when you go to New York. When you go to Paris. I've never been to Europe. So there you go. I'm in Paris, Arkansas. Don't know where that is either. Well, we're happy to have you back. Uh, you know, the viewers requested me back, so I guess I had just had to come back. Demanded. Demanded. It wasn't asked. It was not asked. It was about two people. Like, hey, are you okay? Well, your mom and Haley. Yeah. Shout out to them both. Yeah. And my friend from Hawaii. I forgot about it. Well, as we're heading up to season three, I mean, there's lots going on. We're going to maybe put a poll out there. Should Bobby be voted off the island? Yeah, it's fine. A lot going on. I vote us to keep. I know. Well, you don't you don't want to take a spot. I mean now. Of course, you from alternate to permanent. Guess that's a big step up in the ladder. I mean, I do I do have a question. Where's Matt? Where's Matthew? Trouble in Paradise. We the co-host are there. We got a lot going on here today, guys. A lot of drama. A lot of drama. It's like a teenage girl group here. Yeah. So where's Matt? Yeah. Where is Matt? Did you forget to tell him? No, no, no. Matt misconstrued, clearly my fault, that he thought because we podcasted last Friday, we weren't going to podcast this Friday. You know, a clarifying question could have closed the gap on that. Yeah, he's probably in Florida. I'm certain.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

He's well, he's definitely not here. We're here every Thursday for all things Bentonville business and bourbon. So, Mr.

Introducing Kyle And The Vision For Fry

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Corbett, we have some bourbon today before we introduce our guests. Yeah, I brought in some uh Weller Weller Foolproof. Is it hot from the car? It is not hot from the car. It's been in the air conditioned office all day. You learned. It's pretty cold out there. Do you guys drink bourbon? Oh, it could be chilled. No. Not at all. I'll take a little sip. There you go. That's what I like to hear. There you go, tell me. Yep. And I gotta be honest, Josh, I broke out the good, the good bottle today because I'm pretty excited. Tell me. Well, my first podcast, we're coming up on, you know, it was probably almost a year ago. And I remember one of the questions I asked you guys as around the table was what was the episode that blew away your expectations the most? And it was a universal answer. You, Matt, and Bobby all said Trailer Tony. Immediately like it was no one had to think about it. So today I'm you're meeting Trailett Tony. I have super high expectations, no pressure here, Tony. But I think this is gonna be one of the best podcasts ever. Well, I I do have to here's the deal. Uh-oh. The first season, so we are we had Ben Blakeman and shout out to Blender like this is gonna be amazing. We had Jenny on, we had Dave on. And Rob goes, we need to bring Trailer Tony. I go, who?

SPEAKER_01 3:30

What? And I go, Rob. I go, who is this guy? And he goes, Oh, he owns a bar and he's a nail guy. And I'm like, what?

SPEAKER_02 3:39

All facts. They gave me so much shit.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

And then and then the episode blew up.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

Right. It did. I think it's still the number one watch episode. So then Rob goes, can we roll back trail two?

SPEAKER_01 3:50

God damn right we can. Why hasn't he been here as a permanent co-host? Yeah, right. I'll come on anytime. Yeah, that's what I wanted to hear.

SPEAKER_02 3:58

Cheers, guys. Cheers, cheers, cheers, cheers. Cheers, cheers. Enjoy. Cheers. Come back. Thank you. Yeah. Well, our full proof is always good. Full proof. Yeah. It's every bit of it. It's good. Test of stone fruit. Shout out. Shout out to Russ. He had surgery this week by the week. He did. Hit him up. Did you guys hit him up? Who hit him up? I did not. Because he got stuck. You're selfish. Russ didn't hit me up last week when I had my surgery. Neither did Bobby. I sure did. He absolutely did. That's because Angie's took his harm probably. Shout out to Angie.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

Shout out to Angie. All right. So Trailhead Tony is back. Bye, baby. And you're going to be supporting Kyle today. Kyle, former owner of the dive bar, about to launch a brand new downtown Benville. Love it. It's called The Fry?

SPEAKER_02 4:50

Fry. Fry. No, the Fry. Fry. All right. FRY? Yes, sir. FRY. All right. So where is this? So before we get into the dive and everything else, we won't get into a ton of it, but like the super cool spot. And you're like, hey, I want to now branch out and move to the to fry.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Yes. So uh essentially, you know, uh when the dive closed, uh the community immediately uh reacted. Reacted. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

And in a positive way.

SPEAKER_02 5:22

Well, like sad, like how can we have a positive way that they're not there? Well, a negative way that they're not there anymore, but positive for support.

Downtown Location Revealed And Why It Works

SPEAKER_00 5:30

Yes, absolutely. And you know, that was made clear to everywhere, not just to me. And uh so I had uh a property picked out about a year and a half ago in downtown Bentonville. Timing was never right. I love the property. I stayed in touch with the owners, and things just kind of kind of happened to shift my direction in favor of getting that spot. And uh yeah, and then the dive had just closed maybe uh eight months prior to that, and then I signed a lease on this new place. Awesome. Can you share where it's gonna be? Oh, absolutely. All right. Um we're breaking news here on the actual address is uh 100 Southwest A Street. Let me say that again. 100 Southwest 2nd Street in downtown Bentonville. Uh the last thing it was was uh a loom barber shop. Oh, we know the barber community very well.

SPEAKER_02 6:33

Okay, yeah, yeah. There's also a new Gens Place location in downtown Benton Place. There sure is. Yes, that's what I've heard. Yes, yes. Shout out to the Gens Place. But what an amazing location. I love that location. Oh, I like you know, for people who are trying to get a reference, right? First seat that's been there for a long time. You're literally right behind first seat, and that's uh the um uh what's the place there barley and vine barley and vine and lady slipper and real tap. Yeah, but I don't think it's a good location for something like a barbershop. No, and it was a cool, it's a cool spot, but for what you're doing, it's kind of got like a speake, how do I find this place? Where's it? Oh, it's around the back, you can't get to it from the main drag. Kind of what's going on back there? Kind of look like that's a cool spot for what you're trying to do. I think so.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

Yeah, yeah, it's a it's a little bit hidden. It'll probably get, you know, a little rowdy, not crazy, but the dive was rowdy. And uh yeah, and uh it, you know, at that spot, I also have a uh south facing patio and a much larger east facing patio. The building itself will hold three times as many people as well. It's kind of like a garage door pull up, right? Yeah, yeah, it's a clear spot. Thank you. Yeah, um, yeah, and and to your point, uh I I just I feel so grateful to actually have a spot in downtown Denton. Yeah, uh spot. Right. But this one specifically is just you're in the heart. Yeah, you're in the heart. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 8:06

You know, we we we love to go do bar hopping and you know go from spot to spot to spot. And it's just there's not a better location.

SPEAKER_00 8:14

I I would agree.

SPEAKER_02 8:16

So what's the theme of Fry? Like what what's give me the what's what's the 30-second pitch on like why this bar is different and unique? What's you what are you gonna be all about?

SPEAKER_00 8:25

So uh, you know, I think my the main focus focuses on on this project is you know, affordability is one of them, which that was a big focus with the dive.

SPEAKER_02 8:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

Affordability meaning drinks are reasonably priced. Yes, sir. Okay, yeah. Yeah. And uh, you know, very very reasonably priced. And uh give us an example, like what what's if you could go to downtown Bettonville, and I I I apologize in advance if I say anything incorrect because I haven't done all of the research, but I don't think that you can go anywhere in downtown Bettonville and get a good old-fashioned for seven dollars. No, probably not.

SPEAKER_02 9:10

No, okay, probably not. I didn't think I was probably not Josh few and far between, and if so, not like a high quality with a high end, that you can get maybe a well something for ten bucks.

SPEAKER_03 9:20

Right. But no, yeah, shots for Rob downtown not too long ago. I think he still owes me some money.

SPEAKER_02 9:29

Covered your rent. I was gonna say Josh charges one nut if you have a drink in his house. Oh, that's not even counting the fee to get in the front door. That's exactly right. Cover exactly QR store. Tony's coming by after. So a seven dollar old fashioned?

SPEAKER_00 9:50

Uh that yeah, that's that's just one one example. That's great. Um, obviously, you know, uh beer prices is harder to keep too competitive. But yeah, overall, you know, I want people to be able to come in uh and again, it's unheard of at the moment, but be able to come in and have lunch and a pint for$12.

Affordability As A Strategy

SPEAKER_01 10:15

Not possible. Like that's incredible pricing. You can't get a you can't go to McDonald's for less than 12 bucks now.

SPEAKER_02 10:21

Exactly. Yeah, that's a solid one. Yeah.

unknown 10:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:24

That's real. What so what's on the menu? Reasonably priced food? Like what do you what are you serving?

SPEAKER_00 10:29

Yeah, so uh the this actually is my first time talking about it because I just solidified it last night.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

Breaking news. It's this podcast loose. We've been here for two years.

SPEAKER_02 10:44

All right, before you break it, I I just gotta pause for a sec. I'm excited. I bring the best guest. Wow. You know what? Every year I'm probably doing that. Well, every year, every year he brings one guest, Tony. I bring the fire. I bring the fire. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

I love it.

SPEAKER_03 11:03

Cheers for that. You bring the fire.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

Yeah, I was I was a little reluctant uh going into this meeting that uh a current business partner of mine and just a very good friend of mine, a good dude, Justin uh Malanson. Shout out to Justin. Yeah, shout out Chef Justin Malanson. Um he essentially came up with an idea for me. Um and so he brought me, you know, into one of his kitchens, and he had all these, you know, uh essentially like pieces of uh facasha, round facasha print. Yeah. And uh to be quite honest, I immediately was like, I don't like where this is going, but I'll, you know, maybe we can take it a different direction from here. Uh after he showed me um, you know, how it was done and uh, you know, the simplicity, as long as the the recipes are are spot on, uh how you know how quick it was, I fell in love immediately. And I was like, You had me out for casha.

SPEAKER_02 12:12

Yeah, but I fell in love the minute he heard it.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Yeah, I was like, pizza sandwiches, yeah, like tell us more. No, yeah, it's uh so essentially uh you know, we're just we're gonna have fry pies and uh fry pies, yes, sir, hence the name. Okay, and uh so correction thank you, thank you. Uh so yeah, it's gonna be you know a pretty simple menu. Um just because um A, I don't have room for a kitchen, B, this is already too much food involvement for me. So I just explain with the pies. What do you mean fry pies? Yeah, pizza, pizza pie.

SPEAKER_02 12:54

Oh pizza. Yeah, so Bobby a silent investor? Yeah. Whoa, we're gonna do a broker business deal here. Yeah, I want to put a QR code on my door. There you go. Cheese, pepperonis, like simple toppings.

SPEAKER_00 13:10

You have a pizza oven? Yes, sir. Yeah, yeah. Oh, but again, it's a sm it's a small pizza oven. One of the reasons we're uh, you know, I'm gonna keep it limited on the menu is we gotta if it uh pops up as like I hope it's going to, it will. I believe so. Yeah. Um, then you know, we gotta move pizzas and we we gotta have them pretty much ready to hand out as they go for lunchtime.

SPEAKER_01 13:37

Now, what's your now what's the interaction here with Shady McTony here? Like, like what's what explain to me this dynamic here. Shady McTony. Yeah, well, you're here like it's we're not promoting you, but you're kind of here. It's like oh no, like you're his bodyguard, like you're his what's the deal, what's the relationship?

SPEAKER_03 13:54

Yeah, it's awesome. I mean, I'm gonna let him say it, but this is uh I'm super happy for what's going on. Uh his project and being included on it with you know the idea and uh community behind it, is it's it's amazing. So um, I mean, I'm gonna be making the beers for that.

SPEAKER_05 14:14

Let's go! That's what I was waiting to hear.

The Menu Breakthrough: Fry Pies

SPEAKER_03 14:17

Shading, let's go. I'm not gonna say hi actually. Um let's go like that's real that's Bruin. Me and T Dog, Trevor from um the rec parlor. Shout out T Dog. Yep, he um came with us, came on with us a few months ago, and he's been kicking ass, and he's yeah, this is a PG 13 podcast.

SPEAKER_02 14:40

We can't say kick never.

SPEAKER_03 14:43

Um but no, we've been uh kicking blocks from each other, and we're uh when he came along and we kind of figured out that this is what we were gonna do, just set a whole another, you know.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

That's exciting because you're such a successful business person and you are, and you guys c collaborating here and putting something together, like this isn't gonna be gold.

SPEAKER_03 15:04

Yeah, it's this is exciting. And what and what's cool is we're both still growing. And for me, I'm not trying to be a giant brewery, I'm not trying to be a huge brewery. I just want to be consistent and be able to, you know, produce good, consistent stuff. So for him to come to us, it's it's I think it's just one of those things that we're like very like-minded and the way that we want to succeed and how we want to see. I'm not trying to compete with nobody. I want as many bars around as possible to make this work for everyone. Great community. But that's a that's a great way to look at it, and that's how you you've always been. I will never ever go into a bar and do another or uh or at my bar talk shit about another owner or another bar.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

That's not true. When I was in last time, you had a lot of negative things to say about the dive. Like you were like, This that place sucks. I would never go there. Fast forward. Now you guys are partners. It's crazy how that works.

SPEAKER_03 16:09

But no, honestly, no, please. You know, I don't I don't, I don't, you know, uh that's how I feel about it. I I love it.

SPEAKER_02 16:16

I love the And it's the right way to think because if you look at the downtown, like, look, everyone's gonna go from bar to bar to bar to bar. Where they may start or where they may end up is one thing. But I mean, at least for a lot of us, we'll we'll go hit four or five different places on a sure, you know, Saturday afternoons or a Friday night or whatever the case is. That that makes the downtown community what it what it is, if you ask me. And just the fact that you know the the population's growing so much. There's plenty. Everyone can eat absolutely the more diversity, the more restaurants, the more bars that open up, the the more that's gonna become a hub that people want to be a part of. What I liked about you from the beginning was as our surprise gets to the first season, the community, the collaboration, like you were always the more the merrier. Let every like that was that, but that's why your business is so successful. And a lot of businesses are like, oh, a new business is opening. Oh, I gotta, I gotta want anybody going there. I want to like guys, it's downtown. That's how Josh is with all the haircut places. So when a fool you, you know, like you know, shout out to Alum. There we go. Alum gave him this great space. Shout out to Walton. They moved close to me.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:29

Oh, yeah. They came to compete. Yeah, they they they give a good neck shift. They sure do. Sure do. All right. So back to Fry. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. They got uncomfortable for a second. Shout out to Alloom. They got uncomfortable. Got a shift. Plenty of hair to cut. Plenty of hair to cut. Where do you get your hair cut?

SPEAKER_00 17:49

Uh we'd be done to know. It's uh it's studio and it's three numbers. Her name is uh Janelle Rowe. Shout out to Janelle. See that? Shout out at 329.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

I'm I'm like like Tony, the more the mere. I'm yeah, I'm I think. Oh, that's me where I get my hair.

SPEAKER_02 18:06

No, no, we know. Few and far between. Few and far between. No, no, uh, yes. Um, so let's go back to Fry. Me, sir. Okay, so have you guys started construction yet? Have you guys started the the build out?

SPEAKER_00 18:19

That is happening uh as we're sitting here. Uh yeah, I just got approved for all my permits. That's awesome. Shout out to the city of Banville. Yeah, that's a smart move. It was uh it's not easy. It was it wasn't easy, but it that it was all right. Yeah, I'll say that.

Brewing Partnership And Community Mindset

SPEAKER_03 18:39

Yeah, the cool thing about working with the city of Bendville is they have a lot on their plate, yeah, but they're there for you, man. They they want to help you. They understand the value of business because you guys pay taxes. And it's the same with like the ABC and all that, they're there to help you. They're they're gonna take the time to sit with you, but everything is so new with the drinking game, yeah, that it kind of changes stuff, you know, with new bars, new restaurants coming in. So they're they're behind.

SPEAKER_02 19:09

So if everything goes perfectly like let me circle the date. When am I gonna be able to get a fry pie? Oh, put a lot of pressure on them. Well, for the B team earlier, because we're gonna come in and help sample. Right.

SPEAKER_01 19:23

Well, we'll be at the VIP open.

SPEAKER_02 19:24

Yeah, we'll be at the VIP open. But in a perfect world.

SPEAKER_00 19:28

In a perfect world, not holding you to this. Uh so I I just came from a meeting. Um, it can still happen to open New Year's Eve.

SPEAKER_02 19:40

This year? Like, like three weeks? I thought we were saying July 4th. Oh, yeah. Hey, if you hit any roadblocks, give me a call because I got every subcontractor that you could potentially need. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 19:51

Yeah, we can make we can make that date happen. New Year's Eve? Anything you need. Yeah, I think I think we've got it figured out. You just got your permit today? No, sir. Government approved uh construction. Okay. Yeah. Wow. Construction. That's just fast build out. Jen's place took like five months. Five months. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Um but yeah, you know, it's just uh we had to add a second bathroom and build out this great bar that uh used to be the bar at um row pounds. Ah yeah, yeah. Okay. Dave built that bar. Yeah, I know that bar. It's beautiful, it's gorgeous. It is gorgeous. Yeah, yeah. And uh shout out to Row Pounds.

SPEAKER_02 20:37

Shout out, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 20:41

Yeah, that's a gorgeous bar. Yeah, that's very good.

SPEAKER_02 20:45

So uh I can't believe it's that best.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

Yeah, I mean, you know, I started in uh I think I actually I signed the lease in November, I think, maybe August. Um I I can't remember at this point, but uh yeah, there's just not there's not a lot to do.

SPEAKER_02 21:04

I'm not doing anything you're not redoing the floors and the ceiling and the plumbing, it's already all there. Shell.

SPEAKER_00 21:11

Exactly. But in some tables. That's pretty much what it is. Which is great. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:16

A few pizza ovens or pizza oven uh fry pies, a little prep station, the bar for refrigeration, let's roll.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

Beers on tap or cans or fry heavy and fry light.

SPEAKER_02 21:30

Oh I like that.

SPEAKER_03 21:33

We're gonna try to keep up the best we can. Okay. So those are the two drinks, fry heavy and fry light. Keep it simple. I mean, that's that's what I'm gonna do.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

And that'll be on that'll be on draft. Yes, sir. Just the two, just the two. So one of the best bars I've ever been to in New York City is called McSorley's. Oh, yeah. Yep, and it's the dark and the light. The dark and the light. And it was one of the first original bars. Or you could do a mix, right? Yeah, I forget. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, black and tan. Well, black and tan, half and half. I can't.

SPEAKER_03 22:04

As we're growing as a brewery, we're gonna be throwing in a couple of beaches. Sure, you have a specialty here or there or what as we are right now, it's it's gonna be hard to keep up. Ain't gonna be a lie.

SPEAKER_02 22:15

But yeah, but you know what, though, it's a specialty. So if somebody came in and said, I want a micelobe or a um uh a Miller Ly, like I say the placework. Oh no, it's the place for oh, you got that too. Yeah, I gotta make money. Okay. That's the best part about it.

Buildout, Permits, And Opening Timeline

SPEAKER_00 22:31

That's the best part about it. Yeah, you all have all that in a can. As far as tap in two handles, you know, again, not trying to like uh imply a dive 2.0, but it just worked really nicely. We had one tap training Hawk Moss. I am gonna have, I am going to try to have a tap of his NA beer in the shakeout. Um but uh yeah, uh essentially what what I did is I took the numbers from the one tap that we had at the dive. And if we were to do the same amount of volume at Fry, the uh I mean, his beer is just gonna destroy, you know. So um yeah, it just works out. It works out really well.

SPEAKER_02 23:20

Right. I got a couple of marketing questions, suggestions for you.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

Visionary, close our eyes and think through this guest special event, pizza maker Bobby Nelson on the pizza oven, yeah, right in Friday night pizza night with Bobby, right? Tossing flipping, right?

SPEAKER_02 23:41

Yeah, the crowd would be conscious, so it's probably already pre-baked, but soon, yeah. Yeah. The crowd. I'll submit, yeah. I'll submit the crowd would go nuts. The line would be down and around past the dive to have some Bobby make pizza. Yes, sir. You know what we were able to do back in the day when we had the sliced pizza truck here. Magnificent. Yes, yeah, it was so good. I'm feeling a collaboration and now it's T R out on the positive. Hey, you never Friday night pizza night with Bobby. Yeah, love it. And yeah, Tri Day Night.

SPEAKER_05 24:14

Oh, I like that.

SPEAKER_02 24:19

How did you get that pro? I don't know. That was quick, but I'm full. That was good. That was quick, yes.

SPEAKER_01 24:25

All right, next question. Yes, sir. Is it possible if there's a VIP Bobby Nelson wing or C?

SPEAKER_02 24:31

Like, will there be a spot where he can walk in like Bob Hey? Here you go. Like Norman Cheers.

SPEAKER_03 24:36

Like Norman cheers for Bobby. Actually, you can't get your name on a plaque and put it on. In. Not really.

SPEAKER_00 24:46

Sorry, that's not you you can't uh if you loan me a really expensive bar as a favor, uh you get the name of the bar still. Let's see how many views we get here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:59

That's right. That's right. So so I know Josh is just hitting you with question left and right, but you what what what what do you want the viewers to know about? Like, I mean, you've already said a lot, but like, I mean, how are you indoor seating, outdoor seating, bar seating, hours, staying hours, stay?

SPEAKER_00 25:17

Yeah, the basic uh welcome back. Yeah. Investment. So do the viewers. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

All three of them.

SPEAKER_00 25:27

Uh yeah. So there, you know, there is gonna be the bar seating. Uh we'll have some some tables. So you know, nothing fancy or keep it simple, maybe. Absolutely simple. Um, and uh so we do have a uh food truck in front of us. Yeah, I saw that. And I love that food truck, pastrami wagon.

SPEAKER_02 25:51

Whoa, whoa, it's been there for a while now. A little like a New York Delhi downtown Benville.

SPEAKER_00 25:58

Clearly, I didn't know it was there. Astrami wagon, yeah. But again, it's kind of it's you know, it's not hidden, but it's hidden. You gotta know all things consider. Yeah. And so uh uh we have a little bit of space between that garage door and where his trailer starts. Yeah. And so the way his uh trailer is set up is a stage comes down off the back. So we're gonna have like, I don't know why I want to call it like mini raves, probably because the stage is tiny. It's not a mini rave. We just want to, you know, have a DJ on his stage and kind of collaborate between DJ Bobby B after you're done flipping pizzas. Uh I'm out on enjoy the music. Josh can be a DJ while Bobby's making the pizza.

SPEAKER_05 26:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 26:42

So you're gonna have some music. Oh, yeah, for sure. And uh, and then on the on the east side of my spot is a much bigger patio. Oh, sure. It's I I don't envision the east spot. I will be I'll be uh essentially sharing a patio with Ozark Mountain Bagel. Oh, Bill and Sheila. That's worse.

SPEAKER_02 27:06

That's they've been on the podcast, yeah. Oh, nice. Not as many views as Charlie Tony, really nice people, but not as many views as you.

SPEAKER_03 27:12

They they they come into the trilogy, they met us for like the first day. They're they're really nice people. Nice people, yeah. Then they make freaking awesome bakes.

Taps, Cans, And Keeping It Simple

SPEAKER_02 27:19

Yeah, best bagel is something that they do. Shout out, the best breakfast sandwich you'll ever have. Shout out to the big pig. The big pig. Tastes so good. Oh my gosh. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

Especially after having too many of Tony's beers. I've bad. Nice. Um, so yeah, so uh sorry. Uh so there's pretty you know, probably space for about uh a hundred people on the on this the east patio. Uh I'm not gonna start with a stage because uh we're opening January. Right. So smart, but uh yeah, by this spring, um, I hope that there's a stage out there because that's you know, it's not a big venue by any means, but where you can get a hundred plus people. Sure. That's pretty solid. Yeah. Um that's another thing I want to incorporate. And uh, you know, there's a lot of half-finished ideas that all sound like a fool if I start and get halfway through and be like, hey, won't that be cool?

SPEAKER_03 28:20

It'll be cool if you'll organically take uh entertainment district like Rogers and Fayetteville, yes, Rail Yard or Fayetteville. Put that on your next project. I love it. Oh, the city's gotta get it. Yeah, the city's gotta get behind that.

SPEAKER_02 28:33

Small pants.

SPEAKER_01 28:34

We get Tony behind it.

SPEAKER_02 28:37

I uh it's coming, I feel like in Bentonville that you'll be able to do that. I think the promenade's kind of it's kind of set the way for something like that, potentially. Yep. What with Daisy you are you open Sunday, Monday?

SPEAKER_00 28:50

Uh seven days a week. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 28:52

Uh that's big.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

Yeah. So good. Uh Sundays uh 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. and the rest is 10 a.m.

SPEAKER_02 29:01

Who the people coming from Bloody Mary's hung over?

SPEAKER_00 29:04

Oh yeah. Yeah. You got to. That's when you need to be there. That's incredible. I think, yeah, I think I expect to be busy at 10. Yeah. Do it five. Egg egg fry pie.

SPEAKER_03 29:17

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 29:18

Smith, canadian bacon.

SPEAKER_03 29:20

You may need a hard time drinking. The day drinking crowd in bit in this area is picking up, man. It is oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:28

I mean, yeah, shout out to Santa Con. I don't know if any of you enjoyed SantaCon this past weekend, but it was busier than ever. Like there was places you couldn't even get in. You could not even get younger demographic? Uh mix. Complete mix. Yep. Younger, older, older. Older than you? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Hard to believe. Hard to believe. I didn't know those people existed. Yeah. You. Yes. Yeah. So I mean, that's just a perfect example of you know the momentum downtown's had over the last few years.

SPEAKER_00 30:02

So yeah. Yeah. The rest of the days 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. I want to just see. 1 a.m. is not the norm. Most of the bars close earlier, right? In downtown. Oh, yeah, definitely.

Patios, Music, And Mini-Stage Plans

SPEAKER_03 30:14

I think well, is it changing there? There's not really the crowd for it. There's certain bars that have the crowd to stay open past, you know. But there so Bentonville, you have to close by one. In Arkansas, I think it's two o'clock, but Bentonville is one. Bend County, most of the cities are one. I think Rogers might be two. I don't know. I think it is. Springdale's two, Fayeville's two, but it's by city. Yeah. One's still pretty decent. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:42

And but by one o'clock, you're it's changing. Needs a water. Yeah. I'm good with yeah. Last call at 12:30. Yeah. 12:30, one o'clock close, 1.30, Bar Nelson. Uh that happens quite a bit. Yeah. I'll keep Rough Sherry's. Yes.

SPEAKER_05 30:58

Invite on me on that one.

SPEAKER_02 31:03

Last call, last call. Everybody hit the Bar Nelson right down to Block C Street. That's how it typically happens. Hey. Poor Angie. Shout out to Angie. I apologize. She just goes to bed. Have you been to Bar Nelson? I have not. No, no. We'll have to set something up. You've been. Whoa. I have not. I've got two pizza ovens out there. We need to do some testing. You think I can be a pizza? Yeah. Yeah. I do. Yeah. Absolutely. That's exciting. I'm very excited. I'm excited for you. Yeah. No, I'm no, it's it's good. How'd you come up with the name fry? Like what's yeah. There's gotta be a good story on this. I well, the story is he saw you come out of the bathroom. It's a small fry. Jeez. I mean fry. That's what that's what he's told me off air.

SPEAKER_05 31:55

I'm gonna leave it alone.

SPEAKER_02 31:57

Tony, there we go. Give us some love on that one. That was good, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

Sorry, sorry, apologize. Oh no. Sorry. That was that was well worked. Uh yeah, so um fry. Uh so you know, this was gonna be uh my first project where it was just me, lostly. Um, you know, I I don't have the money myself, so I had to get you know silent investors. Sure. And they're great, and they essentially just believe in me and they think I'll do something good with it and they want to be a part of it. That's right. And so uh I am so grateful for that. And I think I'm finding that I work best that way, and that's uh you know, just take it a while to figure figure that out. Right. But uh yeah, I would say uh sorry, what was the original question?

SPEAKER_02 32:54

Why fry why fry the name? Sorry, I threw you off with the story about Muhammad coming out of the bathroom, but I took you off too. That's all I can think about.

SPEAKER_01 33:03

Same with the viewers at home. That's all they can think about.

SPEAKER_00 33:05

That's what she said. Um, so uh I have always loved seahorses, but plain and simple. I just think they're the coolest little animals or whatever they are. Um and honestly, I thought that they'd be really good for branding. And when I found out uh that baby seahorses are called fries, I was like, that's the cutest damn thing I've ever heard. Did you know that? Baby sea oars were called fries? I didn't I've never heard that even.

SPEAKER_02 33:40

I didn't know I didn't know.

SPEAKER_03 33:42

I mean, I've heard of a fish fry. Yeah, a lot of I didn't hear of baby sea fry horse is a single fry, I think, right?

SPEAKER_00 33:48

I believe so. Yeah. And so uh I it looked like I was about to open this place a year ago, um, a year and a half ago at this point. And um everything, everything was aligned, was ready to sign the lease, and then one very random, nobody's fault, no one to blame, one very random thing happened and it just the rug came out from under me on that one. And uh but I got this uh seahorse tattoo. Oh, let's see it. Um, and so the logo is actually designed from this, my tattoo artist Andrea White, who owns Amber.

SPEAKER_02 34:33

Shout out to Amber, yeah.

Hours, Day Drinking, And Late-Night Flow

SPEAKER_00 34:35

So it's uh she designed and did this, she does all my tattoos. Um because I essentially, if it didn't happen in that building, I had so much uh for lack of better words, passion about this project specifically that this was just a reminder like it's gonna happen. I don't care what you gotta do, you know. It's the the community wants something like this, and um that there's no better time than now or soon.

SPEAKER_02 35:08

Are there gonna be sea seahorses in there? Like, is anybody gonna be able to tie it back to fry and seahorses, or is it seahorses? Is it just that's just up here?

SPEAKER_00 35:16

That's yeah. I mean, that's there's there's not a lot of correlation there.

SPEAKER_02 35:20

Okay, but it's all that would be a great trivia question. Like who anybody knows why it's named Fry? Well, if they listen to the 12 people the 12 or 14 people that listen to the podcast, well, I mean, the educational piece of this is fascinating. I didn't know that. I knew nothing about it. I know next time I'm in a place and I order a side of fries, I'm gonna say potato fries. Potato fries because I don't want them bringing me out little you know fried up viewers. I don't I don't want that. I don't think that's when you go to the aquarium, you're like, look at that little fry over there. Like, what's a fry? It's it's a baby seahorse. Look at that. And then the girls come over, like, oh my god, you're so smart. And you pick up chips because you knew what a fry was. Josh is just like his fantasy, clearly. Like, look at this. Like, you learned a piece of knowledge there. You're gonna go home and make uh Emily dress up as a seahorse tonight and sounds like shout out to Emily.

SPEAKER_01 36:08

Go get that seahorse costume, baby.

SPEAKER_03 36:13

This is going off the rails. Quickly to Emily some more bourbon. Bring us back. That one goes. I might subscribe.

SPEAKER_02 36:22

It is Friday, right? Oh, Friday. Friday is Friday. Friday is Friday.

SPEAKER_03 36:29

I don't know. Center Poor knows. I actually do need to use the restaurant.

SPEAKER_02 36:33

Oh, well, in the middle of the pocket, this is the first one of one. You should we just wrap up? Should we wrap up? We've got it. We're good. Well, we're I mean we're close to time. The only 50? We're good. No, I'm sorry. Hold it for an extra minute. Hold it. Hold your seahorse.

SPEAKER_05 36:53

Hold your seahorses. I literally know it's not an emergency.

SPEAKER_00 37:00

I literally thought it was like we had like 45 minutes left. No, we have 45 seconds left.

SPEAKER_02 37:06

We're wrapping up. You can hold it across your legs, do the pee-pee dance. I'll do something. But we want to make sure we get your website. We want to make sure we tell people one more time how to find you. Is there an Instagram page? Is there a Facebook page? We got then you'll step out and we'll plug Tony for a minute. Yeah, we're gonna talk to Tony for a minute. I got some questions for Tony. He always has to have questions for Tony. Everybody.

SPEAKER_03 37:28

Well, I'm gonna tell you what. Before that, I got a thing. I'm just joking. It's clearly gone off the rails.

SPEAKER_01 37:41

Why don't we just bring the microphones into the bathroom? We'll get the podcast from there. Hey, small fry.

SPEAKER_03 37:51

Gotta love the fucking website.

Why “Fry”: Seahorses, Branding, And Grit

SPEAKER_00 37:56

Website. So right now the most relevant website is our Instagram. Uh it's at uh fry underscore betville. F-R-Y. Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_02 38:07

Underscore Bentonville with a B for Bentonville. With a B. Yeah.

unknown 38:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:12

Helping you out on case. We're learning a lot of things today. You know, baby oysters are called Bentonville's. Did you know that? We're gonna zoom in on that one. Yeah. All right. Well, we're excited for you. Thank you. Very exciting. Yeah, congrats. Thank you. We will all be visitors, particularly on Bobby P tonight.

unknown 38:37

I love it.

SPEAKER_02 38:38

I love it. I I I feel like once you open, the community is just gonna come out like you've never seen before. I love here. Based on what's been going on lately. Yes. I I I feel like they're gonna send a message. Yeah. I don't know what you're referring to. However, we all are excited for friends. Sure. Yep. You're gonna get your seahorse jersey. I I I might, yeah, at some point we might have to put a fish tank in there. Oh, oh with some seahorses.

SPEAKER_00 39:07

That that was like one of the first things I researched. Uh I they're kind of bothered by bass. Um by bass?

SPEAKER_02 39:16

Like learning so much.

SPEAKER_00 39:19

There's gonna be a lot of a lot of dancing and fries. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 39:22

That's probably get one of those little goldfish bowls and get a seahorse, and they're like every day replace it. They are delicate. Shout out to the seahorse. If it doesn't make it through the night, we'll get a new one.

SPEAKER_00 39:32

We all just have crippling anxiety the entire time.

SPEAKER_01 39:35

This is Bobby Jr. Jr.

SPEAKER_02 39:37

Jr.

SPEAKER_01 39:37

Jr. Jr.

SPEAKER_02 39:38

Bobby Jr. Jr. didn't make it through yesterday. We have a new one. Hence the reason why we only have 12 viewers. Yeah. Now I get it.

SPEAKER_03 39:46

Tony, what do you want to plug before we get out of here? Well, I I I am super, super stoked for Fry to come in for sure. Um, you know, I've been I reached out to you months ago whenever we uh Whatever we decided to kind of well, okay. Let me just put this real clear.

SPEAKER_01 40:06

Hey, go faster because Kyle's gonna go to the bathroom.

SPEAKER_03 40:09

Go faster here. But this is not a partnership or anything. So you know what I mean? We're this is we're completely separate businesses, but what you know, we're just working together out of yeah, just taking advantages. Trying to support each other. Because if you listen to his story and my story from the last podcast, it's very similar. Oh, 100%. He does nails too. Jeez. I I don't know. I actually have an ask them.

SPEAKER_00 40:36

I I used to do my own notes every day.

Socials, Support, And Community Energy

SPEAKER_03 40:38

But but as far as like, you know, just how we got into stuff and how we had the help to get to where to do stuff, and now it's now it's kind of payback time, you know, to for us to replay. And that's why for me it's like there's that there shouldn't be any competition ever. You know, I'm I'm I wish that there'd be like eight more bars come to grab it, yeah, right next to me. Because it just pulls more people, yeah. Be and you know, and so that that's my mindset on it. That's that's the community aspect of it. I wish more bar owners bar owners had this mindset, honestly, to um just not care who's next to you, yep. And embrace it. Yeah, it's not the norm, it's just positive. And with where we've come in in the state of Arkansas, especially here, being able to drink and getting alcohol laws and getting it to where it's at now, like we've come a long way, man. So we all have to work freaking together period of time to uh to get stuff done. And with two growing businesses trying to trying to make it here, it's it makes sense. Yeah, it makes sense for us to do it. And I think that we've um in the past few years with Dive with Trailhead, got the platform to to do kind of what we're doing and hopefully open up more doors, um, inspire other people to to do the same, to be have the same thoughts.

SPEAKER_02 42:11

But you know what? I like you you're good. I love Bobby. He brings you in. I'm like, oh, this guy's good people.

SPEAKER_01 42:16

Like now we bring in more good people, and and people want to support good people. Yeah, but that's just the nature of this town. Yeah, people want to come in, so you're gonna have a lot of people say, I like these guys, they're good human beings, they're collaborative, and they want to do more for the community. Let's go out and support them. And Jim will get him out of Shadow Valley at some point to come downtown.

SPEAKER_02 42:33

He doesn't normally do that. So I'm gonna go up tomorrow and get a pastorami sandwich. You kidding me? Oh yeah. Exactly. So so I know you may have to step out for a second, but you're fine if you need to now or you can hang. Um so so here we go. Yep, let's go. All right. So you already publicly announced say again? You already publicly announced some changes. Yeah. So do you want to talk talk about that?

SPEAKER_03 42:58

Or yeah, you know, I mean, go ahead and ask away. Um, so ever since that we publicly announced some stuff, like um the sell of the business and stuff, I've my phone's been blowing up. People have been asking questions or speculation. Um I don't care. Set the record straight. Yeah, so I'm I I actually have nothing to set straight, other than I I'm a we're a business. Yeah. And every single time I open a business, this is my fifth business item. I've sold four now. Yeah. So if I everything I have is for sale, yeah. I have how much for that hat? Dude, this is a really special hat. Here we go, it's negotiator. 75 bucks. You can have a business. Wow. Whoa. I'm gonna start with five bucks. I'll give it to you, he'll send me those. There you go.

SPEAKER_02 43:48

But no, uh, I'm just you built you built the great business, and there was the opportunity to focus on it.

SPEAKER_03 43:56

It wasn't well like I never opened it. My goal is to bring Trailheads throughout Northwest Arkansas as a consistent brand, brewing, customer service. Like I want, I want to be on, I want to be here, you know. Is it true that Rob and Matt are the owners of Trailhead Tap now, or is that not true?

SPEAKER_02 44:14

I I read that no, that's not true. That's not true. That's not true. Is it just Matt? Yeah, not true either. No, okay, because that's what you told me. I I heard you got some amazing new people.

Trailhead Updates, Permits, And Smart Growth

SPEAKER_03 44:25

Yeah, awesome. They're they're awesome. Scott and Donna. Um, they have been our customers out there for a few years, and he's always kind of said that's the thing, man. When you when you open something, build something up, and that's not our only you know what I mean. People are always wanting to try to make a deal on something. Sure. So they loved your business so much that they just say a lot of people when I didn't actively go out and try to just sell this, but it it happened. Stars aligned. And because of that, and now that we can change our permits to be okay. Here's this is very this is really weird because I don't want to say too crazy much to get in trouble with state or anything. No, no, no, there's not it's all about permitting. And now we can, as a brewery permit, we can go and open three more locations. Well, that's good. Okay, good. So, well, we can always open three more locations if you want, but with this certain permit, it allows it to be a lot easier. You're a smart business with one entity instead of going and opening up four or five new entities to you know what I mean. Yeah, I see what you're doing. It's a business, it's a total business decision. It's uh it's not uh nothing too crazy, you know. We love that place. That was my, you know, when it was it was freaking, it's better sweet. Yeah, that's exciting though.

SPEAKER_02 46:00

And and since I'm very selfish, all I heard from that conversation was there's a chance somebody like Jim Corbett comes in and wants to buy the gym's place at some point and buy me out. Because that's that's what I heard. Like a happy customer will want to buy your business someday. Gentlemen Jim is that's what it's but no.

SPEAKER_03 46:13

I mean, honestly, I like I said, I I this the it's a business to me. Yeah, um I well we opened that. I didn't expect this to meet us to be where we're at. Sarah, my wife, yeah, she's amazing. Shout out to Sarah, yeah. Definitely you better have. We yeah, but we put so much into this and moving forward now. We have a lot bigger job on our hands, honestly, after get her to this horse now. So he was a huge motivation too. For the, you know, right at the time that we started trying to talk about the beer stuff, is when the conversation of selling the business, and then when that came up, I was like, you know what? This is a good opportunity for us to expand the brewery. We've already expanded the brewery, but and when I say that, people think we have a giant brewery, but our tanks are this big, so you know what I mean? Yeah, small fry. Yeah, yeah. So it's just what I mean is it's just we're able to grow, right? And we're able to grow as a together as uh like-minded individuals in the same industry and hopefully create what we already created out there, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 47:29

Makes me feel like you we should open up a bar across the street from them and kind of just like collaborative. You would welcome it. You welcome it or each other and you would, please, and that's good.

SPEAKER_03 47:38

Or you can come buy the parlor from me. I'm not gonna sell the brewery, but I'll show you the I'll show you the bar party restaurant part. I ain't scared. So you throw in the hat?

SPEAKER_02 47:49

Yeah, yeah, for free, baby. That's a free one. We and we have 14 potential listeners at deep pockets. I mean, who knows?

Expansion Mindset And Closing Cheers

SPEAKER_03 47:56

Who knows who's hearing this right now? So I'm wow. Well, that's my mindset. Yeah, if somebody comes to me and wants to buy anything, hey, I'm talking to them about it. So well, it sounds like not to you always have to. But my my main goal is free. Free knows we started out in Bella Vista trying to open in Bella Vista. I remember that, and we got screwed by them. And yeah, don't edit that out because I mean shout out to not Bella Vista, but we put in a lot of money and a lot of work to get into Bella Vista, yeah, and they a lot. And we had we went to the Troy Tap, which is awesome. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 48:37

But you know not only we're not editing that up, that's gonna be the teaser on both Wednesday and Thursday. That's gonna be what we launched with.

SPEAKER_03 48:45

That's just you know, that's it for me, man. Like for what for what it is with the business. I knew y'all were gonna have questions about it, and what's exciting has questions about it.

SPEAKER_02 48:55

What's exciting to hear is that it sounds like you're streamlining the process for you to expand. Yes, yes, go ahead. And and to me, that's the big win. And that's the everyone loves Tony. So the more uh everyone loves Tony.

SPEAKER_03 49:08

Uh except the six or seven people that are kicked out.

SPEAKER_01 49:10

And everybody in Bella Vista Bella Vista does not like Tony now. Everybody else. Thank you for coming back for season two. We're gonna have you back in season three, season three. I'm so excited for this is gonna be amazing.

SPEAKER_02 49:24

Fries over the end of December, early January, popping for the pizza, it's congratulations, thanks for coming back. We love having you and I love y'all. Thanks for reaching out.