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Sullivan’s Steakhouse, which announced in October that it was opening a restaurant at the Promenade at Chenal in west Little Rock, plans a soft opening at the end of March, the 29th or so, with plans to be serving the public the first week of April. Ken Hoffman, chief operating officer of Sullivan’s Steakhouse, described the restaurant as a “neighborhood steakhouse.”
“I don’t want to compete with the Ruth’s Chrises or the Capital Grilles or the dark and dingy steakhouses of the ’80s and ’90s,” Hoffman told Whispers, referring to the Ruth’s Chris Steak House chain owned by Ruth’s Hospitality Group and the Capital Grille steakhouse chain owned by Darden Restaurants.
“We’re a little bit more vibrant. We’re a little bit lighter. We have live jazz music on the weekends. It might be more Zen-like than a Capital Grille, which is darker woods and real thick curtains on the wall. We’re light and bright and lively.”
Hoffman said Sullivan’s beef, which it buys from Stock Yards, a company based in Chicago, is hand-cut by chefs on the premises. “We’re known for our bone-in steaks, which is different and unique compared to some of the other steakhouses,” he said.
The Little Rock location, at the former home of Del Frisco’s Grille, will be 9,100 SF and will employ 100.
Little Rock will be the 14th restaurant in the Sullivan’s chain.
Sullivan’s, based in Denver, is owned by Dividend Restaurant Group, which also owns the Romano’s Macaroni Grill franchise and which earlier this month announced the purchase of Eddie Merlot’s, a 13-unit steakhouse chain.
Hoffman, who noted he’s been visiting Little Rock and Hot Springs for more than 25 years, said he first visited the Promenade location in January 2021.
The company had been paying attention to the growth in west Little Rock, he said, citing, among other developments, “the medical community, the hotels that are being built there — there’s an Aloft that just came on board — the banking office buildings that are going there.”
“The area’s growing,” Hoffman said. “I look at this and go, it’s a home run.”
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