Diners enjoy a sunset on the deck of Cajun's Wharf.
Little Rock restauranteur Mary Beth Ringgold said she will close Cajun’s Wharf this summer, citing changing consumer trends and costly upkeep of the 44-year-old restaurant and live music venue.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette first reported Ringgold’s decision on Monday. She said that despite efforts to make the restaurant more casual, customers still saw it as a “special destination.”
“People come out on the weekends; we have crazy business on the weekends,” Ringgold told the newspaper. “But on weekdays it’s hard to drive people in the door.”
The restaurant’s final day will be June 1. In a statement, Ringgold said it will continue regular operations until then, “including a full musical line-up and ‘Big Swinging Deck Parties’ with views of the Arkansas River.”
“We often hear from customers who have experienced some of the most significant events of their lives here — from college graduations to first dates to wedding receptions,” Ringgold said. “Over the next two months, we hope our loyal customers and friends will come soak up the best of Cajun’s and relive that nostalgia with us.”
Ringgold’s other operations, Capers Restaurant and Market at Capers on Highway 10 in west Little Rock and Copper Grill in 300 Third Tower in downtown Little Rock, will continue.
Ringgold’s career began at Cajun’s Wharf in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the early 1980’s.
“The Cajun’s thing was a big concept,” she told Arkansas Business in 2010. “It was very exciting, and I just thought it was so multifaceted in what it did with banquets, and a big restaurant and the bar side and entertainment. I really did enjoy it, and in your early years, that sounds very appealing. It’s fun and energetic, so I got sucked into it.”
Little Rock’s Cajun’s Wharf opened in 1975. Ringgold was named to the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame last year.
Sign up for Daily E-news
