Remember those rumblings last year about an effort to resurrect an epic downtown Little Rock eatery gone for nigh on 25 years?
The Shack, remembered as barbecue nirvana by its devotees, is on the drawing board to reappear on the dining scene at 402 E. Third St.
Tim Chappell, known for his involvement with the Gusano’s Chicago Style Pizzeria chain of seven locations, will be reintroducing the venerable Shack.
The reincarnation of funky hovel into tony River Market digs will entail some reimaged ambiance, no doubt.
Plans call for a three-story layout: kitchen and ordering counter on the first floor, food preparation on the second and seating for as many as 80 on top.
Outdoor dining for up to 74 patrons is part of the scheme, with most of this seating under the cover of the adjoining parking deck.
The Shack and its famed cooking pit went the way of the bulldozer blade in 1989, a year after the restaurant closed at the northwest corner of Third and Victory streets.
Some remember the barbecue joint served as the launching pad for a short-lived small chain of restaurants that operated during the early 1960s and 1970s under the umbrella of a public company.
Even older partakers of The Shack’s smoky goodness recall its original location on the south side of the Capitol grounds, at Seventh and Bishop streets, established in 1934 by Kessler “Casey” Slaughter.
Did the original sauce recipe perfected by Slaughter and his wife, Iris, survive the past quarter century of limbo? Its savory memory still elicits praise.
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