Reggie’s Burgers to expand to State Line
Texarkana business to move to original former Dixie Diner building
Shane Kennedy says it is all about a great burger and a clean restaurant when he is asked to explain the success of Reggie’s Burgers, Dogs & Fries. Reggie’s is a family-owned, one-restaurant business and has been operating out of its location on St. Michael Drive for the past five years.
“We opened in March of 2012,” Kennedy said. “We’ve enjoyed a lot of success there on the west side of town. But we’ve been getting lots of requests for a place over on the Arkansas side. So, we looked around for a good location and decided that the former Dixie Diner on State Line was the place to go.”
He described the location as a geographic and cultural crossroads, not only falling in the dividing line between the eastern and western parts of Texarkana, but it is also near the north-south demarcation of Interstate 30.
“We wanted our new place to be easily reached by most areas in the Texarkana city limits,” Kennedy said. “The location of the old Dixie Dinner is really in the perfect spot for that. Also, the building is iconic and everyone knows where it is. For many of those who live in Texarkana, their memories of that building go way back.”
Reggie’s is a family concern, named after Kennedy’s father, a commercial real estate owner. He bought the old Dixie Diner location.
“My brother Paul will own the new location and will be its manager,” Kennedy said. “We took full ownership of the property this week and will start renovations as soon as the powers-that-be give us the go-ahead.”
The planned opening time is Sept. 1.
“We know it is aggressive, but we are aiming for just that,” Kennedy said.
He described Reggie’s as not a fastfood place, but “fast casual.”
“We have won best burger awards in several publications,” he said. “We have one several awards in (the clean restaurant) category as well.”
When it comes down to it, a great burger stands out and gets people talking. But people also talk about restaurant cleanliness, or more to the point, the lack thereof.
“It is vital to do these things right, great food, clean, serviced facility, good customer service,” he said. “All these things are as important to us as they are to our customers. They don’t call it ‘food service’ for nothing. We aren’t perfect, but ‘ good food, friendly service and a clean atmosphere’ are what we do at Reggie’s. We greatly appreciate our customers. Their No. 1 request with us was to open an Arkansas location. And now, we are doing just that.”