MySaline’s staff met for breakfast Wednesday morning at a new restaurant in Benton. It’s been a couple of years since there was an eatery open at this certain Benton location, but a new one opened there today. Bobbie D’s was most recently located in the storefront at 1016 W South Street, with some great food, but the pandemic made it impossible for them to continue there. And so it went empty.
Meanwhile, Denise Whitworth – aka Niecy – was working a few blocks away at Holy Roller Bike Shop. She had been in the restaurant business for 25 years in Texas, but decided to try something else, so she moved to be near family in Arkansas. Her nephew Scott Elliott needed a manager at the bike shop, and she fit the bill.
One day at one of the shop’s events, a bicycle clinic at Tyndall Park, Scott said it became really evident that Niecy still enjoyed running a restaurant. As he tells it, there was a food truck serving the crowd for the event, and a number of kids and their parents showed up hungry. The food truck began to get overwhelmed and Niecy did what came natural to her. She jumped in the side door of the food truck and started helping to fill orders.
As Scott came up to the window to get his food, he was surprised to look up and see her working inside. That’s when they realized – filling the community’s collective bellies was still in fire in her own belly. So they started planning on how to make that happen again. A few months later, they redecorated that empty space next to Finley’s Pharmacy, they practiced the recipes, made up the menus and did everything else that goes with a full restaurant. This week, the Health Department approved them to open, and so they did.
Pictured left to right: Denise “Niecy” Whitworth and Shelli Poole.
Niecy’s is a breakfast restaurant, serving biscuits and gravy, omelettes, sandwiches and more. They are open at 1016 W South Street on Monday through Saturday from 5:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. and Sunday until 2:00 p.m. Find their menu at this link.
