See the list of 8 restaurants coming to Saline County, and what’s taking so long

See the list of upcoming restaurants below ?

Saline County has 8 or maybe more restaurants looking to open this year. When I write about a new restaurant opening around town, I give an approximate date it will open. We know that things happen, and so if I publish a specific date, it might cause people to show up hungry when the business isn’t ready to feed them just yet. Normal delays might be issues with renovations, waiting on approval from state agencies, getting food delivery, and just getting staff hired and trained.

In the past 6 months or so, I have reported on several restaurants coming in “Early 2022” or “Spring 2022” and in one case, it was “Summer 2021.” You’d think that would be a large enough time window for them all to get open. And it’s possible that one or two will open. But for nearly all of them, a big issue has been getting kitchen equipment.

I’m not going to sit here typing this and pretend I’m knowledgeable about what it takes to run a restaurant, but I will point to a long list of articles talking about how hard it is right now to get what’s needed, whether it’s knives or coolers or deep fryers. A recent survey by the National Restaurant Association showed that 95% of restaurants have had to wait much longer for equipment and supplies. Not only that, but when they are able to get it, they are paying an increased price. They are competing with other new kitchens but also established ones that are updating appliances or supplies for their daily operations. You can see a list of articles on the shortage below if you’re interested in diving deeper.

The list you really want to see is all the restaurants coming. I know you want to see because you have been commenting and messaging to ask about them daily. Hopefully I won’t leave any out, but more could pop up any second.

New Restaurants Coming to Saline County…
***CLICK EACH HEADLINE TO GO TO THE ARTICLE FOR MORE INFO***

1. Church’s Chicken – Church’s Chicken, Casey’s, a farmers market and a playground on the Bryant Planning agenda Mar 14th

2. Mighty Crab – Seafood restaurant coming to former Dixie Cafe location

3. I Heart Mac & Cheese – New restaurant coming to Benton to feature a childhood favorite in a grown up way

4. Grill Pollo – New restaurant coming to old Hardee’s location in Bryant

5. Rōber – Restaurant power couple in downtown Benton has plans for a charcuterie & whiskey next door

6. Rock & Roll Sushi – Downtown Benton is Rockin’ with Another Restaurant Coming Soon

7. Olive Garden – City of Benton announces big chain restaurant coming in 2022

8. Subway – Restaurant owner hopes for summer opening of retail strip

Of course in the process of researching to write this article, I ended up seeing a web ad for restaurant equipment. I clicked on an item to see how the process looks for ordering something. Immediately I saw a notice under the item info that stated, “Due to global supply chain issues, actual ship time of this item may be later than estimated here. Please contact our Customer Support Team if you want to discuss other options that may be available sooner.”

Here’s a screenshot of the ad I clicked on above,? with the company name obscured (because hey, they don’t advertise with MySaline). I clicked the beer cooler / tap appliance. Below ? you can see the where I circled that notice that customers might be waiting longer than usual for the item to become available.