Dixie Cafe diners, staff say farewell

Wednesday was the last day of operation for all nine Dixie Cafe restaurants in Arkansas and eight Dixie Cafe and Delta Cafe restaurants in Oklahoma and Tennessee. Dixie Restaurants Inc. CEO Allan Roberts said Monday in a news release, while thanking patrons, management and staff, that “After over 35 years in business, we have decided that we must close our restaurants. It is a very difficult operating environment for full-service, family-oriented restaurants. We have seen declining sales combined with increasing costs that has made this difficult decision necessary.” Dixie Restaurants Inc. staff are also losing their jobs.

The first Little Rock Dixie Cafe opened in 1980 on Rebsamen Park Road (on the lot now occupied by a Waffle House), across the street from a current location, as the Black-Eyed Pea, and was affiliated with a Dallas-based chain of the same name; Roberts, who also operated a Black-Eyed Pea in Memphis, changed the names to Dixie Cafe in 1986 when he split off from the chain. And to avoid possible confusion with another chain called Dixie House, later restaurants in some markets assumed the name “Delta Cafe.”

Also gone: Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, 13503 Crystal Hill Road, North Little Rock. A Google search turned up the phrase “Permanently closed.” The phone number, (501) 8518000, hadn’t yet been disconnected by our deadline, but nobody answered it during normal business hours and eventually it triggered an electronic beep. The most recent post (Nov. 16) on its Facebook page might just have been ominous: “Just a head’s up … we will be closed today and this weekend. We’ll keep you posted on our status next week.” The Dickey’s website (dickeys.com/ location) no longer lists the North Little Rock location. The franchise/chain operation still has central Arkansas outlets in Bryant and Searcy and Northwest Arkansas locations in Rogers, Lowell and Fayetteville.