Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Boar’s Nest
LOCATION: 1189 Steamboat, Fayetteville, AR
4404 W Walnut, Rogers, AR PHONE: (479) 443-4152 WEBSITE: boarsnestnwa.com
NICE TO KNOW: Sun.-Thurs. 11 a.m.10 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Bringing Texas and Louisiana style BBQ and seafood to Northwest Arkansas along with fantastic wings. A bar with any kind of drink and so many TV’s you lose track to watch your favorite sporting event. Kids under the age of 10 eat free with any paid adult.
Across America, you will be able to find countless amounts of restaurants that have just one style of food that they serve. Whether that is burgers, or Italian or Mexican; they usually stay in one lane when it comes to what is on the menu. Boar’s Nest in Northwest Arkansas, is a barbecue restaurant first, but that is not where the menu ends.
Flippin’ through the Boar’s Nest menu, you can find popular barbecue favorites such as ribs, brisket sandwiches and chopped up pork. But, right next to those delicious, traditional classics, set more classics, just not barbecue classics. From their Gumbo and Jambalaya to ‘Toby’s Catfish,’ Boar’s Nest brings the taste of the bayou to NWA.
Owner John Hudec and his wife, Heather, recently bought Boar’s Nest back in December. The restaurant already had the southern taste on the menu, which is what John grew up with.
The Southwest Texas native, grew up only six miles from the Louisiana border, so if he knows two styles of foods, barbecue and seafood are at the top of the list.
“Delta BBQ, more of Texas BBQ. We are changing the name to just barbecue, with southern favorites. A little sweeter taste, the only thing we dry-rub is our wings. Everything is dry-rubbed when its smoked,” Hudec said.
Of course one of the biggest things when you think Texas BBQ is the sauces; and the endless amounts of types there are.
“We have a sweet sauce, then we also have kind of a Texas, what they call a Delta sauce, which is a little spicier, little bit thiner sauce. Then, we have our Georgia White sauce, which is a mayo based,” Hudec said.
The Texas grown Hudec’s background was culinary management, which is what he was trained to do in many roles throughout his home state.
“I was a culinary manager, there were five restaurants in Dallas that I managed. And then basically got my training in a five-star restaurant in Houston,” Hudec said.
After taking a few years away from the kitchen and the restaurant business as a whole, Hudec knew that he wanted to get back into the culinary business and found the perfect place in Northwest Arkansas.
He had currently been living in Tulsa, Oklahoma working a non-culinary job when he found that Boar’s Nest needed new ownership. He had connections to Fayetteville, as his sister is a chiropractor in town, and Heather had worked for the Fayetteville Police Department for 13 years.
The new owners are currently working on a new menu that will be released in just a couple weeks, there will not be much turnover, though there will for sure be new items to look out for.
“We will have a pork belly sandwich that is coming out. We will also have a new sandwich that will be sausage and brisket combined, a pretty good sized po’boy,” Hudec said.
Also, something that Hudec is working hard to expand is their dessert menu. They have fried pies and other new items coming to the menu soon.