New businesses open downtown
Chickadee’s now open for business
Chickadee’s Fresh Fare officially opened on Tuesday and is offering global comfort food made with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.
The new restaurant, owned by Bryan and Stephanie Truitt, is located at 501 N. Mt. Olive Street, across the street from Medical Springs Park and the new Siloam Springs Public Library.
The restaurant’s menu focuses on lighter foods inspired by flavors around the world, such as
the Caribbean bowl featuring slow roasted Cuban style pork with pineapple mango salsa, or the Mediterranean bowl featuring falafels, quinoa tabbouleh, hummus and tzatziki sauce. The restaurant also serves burritos, breakfast burritos, salads and wraps, smoothies, and energy bowls such as the Acai berry bowl. Acai is a berry from Brazil with very high antioxidant properties, Stephanie said.
The couple were inspired to open the restaurant after spending a lot of time in Southern California visiting their son Parker Baldwin, a former Siloam Springs standout who is playing football for San Diego State University.
They enjoyed the fun eateries and cafeterias that served lighter food such as avocado toast and Acai berry bowls. When they came back to Siloam Springs, they realized it was hard to find the same fresh foods.
“We decided to bring some of those things we had sampled out there and thought it might be a gap that needed to be filled,” Stephanie said.
Stephanie loves fresh fruit and veggies, while Bryan joked that he is a “meatatarian,” so the couple worked to develop a menu that has items that everyone can enjoy.
“We have a lot of really picture pretty foods we serve” Bryan said.
All the hummus and sauces, including the tzatziki, chimichurri sauce and roasted tomato salsa are made in-house, Stephanie said. Many of the other items are locally produced. For example, the kombucha, which is on tap, is produced in Fayetteville, and the coffee is from Bad Dog Beanery Coffee Roasters in Siloam Springs. Kombucha is a fermented tea that offers health benefits. The restaurant is also licensed to serve beer and wine, Stephanie said.
Although Stephanie’s professional background is in real estate, she has a love for cooking and food. She collects cookbooks and likes to try new recipes.
“My love language food,” she said.
Chickadee’s has also brought a fresh face to the building in which it is located. Bryan explained that his family has owned the building for 40 years and when it became available his mother asked him if he was interested.
“With all that’s going on in downtown, we wanted to be a part of it,” he said.
They hope to attract customers who are visiting the nearby library and the future splash pad and other improvements. is
“We’re really excited about all the other quality of life improvements the city is doing and wanted to be part of the growth,” Stephanie said.
The business has also added nine new jobs, including two full-time jobs, the couple said. They jokingly call the team members their “peeps.”
The restaurant has two outdoor spaces, dubbed the front perch and the back perch, where customers can relax and eat outside. The back perch includes a patio with tables and umbrellas, and features a bright mural of a chickadee. The front perch, which is a covered porch, gives customers a place to sit and watch the traffic go by.
The mural was painted by Mikayla Pruett, an art student at John Brown University. The mural provides a great atmosphere for customers and people walking down the street from the library, and also offers a place for people to stop and take selfies.
“We couldn’t be more happy with how it turned out, she did a great job,” Stephanie said.