Iconic Pier 27 restaurant reopening Friday
DODDRIDGE, Ark. — Pier 27 Seafood and Steak, an iconic and well-loved restaurant, is reopening on Friday for friends and family to reminisce and make new memories.
Jon and Angie McAdams are the new owners of the restaurant nestled among the trees on the Sulphur River slough just off state Highway 237 about eight to nine miles off Interstate 49.
“Everything is still the same. He (former owner Jerry Sewell) kept it clean with someone coming in once or twice a year. All we did was deep clean and wash the dishes,” Angie said, adding the original furnishings, artwork and memorabilia remain intact.
This includes the bobcat and the rattlesnake at the register.
Sewell even passed along the iconic
restaurant’s recipes to the McAdams.
“Everybody loved the food,” said Jon, which includes catfish, shrimp, fish, chicken, burgers, salad, beans and the “best gumbo around.”
Sewell, also a former Miller County Quorum Court member, and his family opened the restaurant in June 1984. It closed in October 2015. The restaurant’s name comes from Sewell’s service as a U.S. Navy veteran on a ship and the first 27 acres he and his wife purchased in the area.
The McAdams look forward to good company and customers coming to “get hooked on the Pier.”
“People have good memories here. We want them to come, sit down and hang out with family and friends,” Jon said.
The McAdams say it was their family, their memories of the restaurant and
Angie’s food service experience that compelled them to reopen the restaurant.
Jon’s grandmother is a Sewell.
Jon would gather with friends at Pier 27 while growing up.
He and Angie met in 1999 in Fouke and have been married for 20 years.
“We (he and Angie) used to live up 237 and we would come out here to eat,” Jon said.
Jon worked for Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. before going into sales and public relations 13 years ago.
Angie, the Fouke High School secretary for 13 years, also has extensive food service experience.
The McAdams have four sons — Tyler, Jake, Braden and Garyson — who will also be helping in the kitchen and bussing tables.
Angie asks that everyone be patient, kind and considerate as the new crew finds its rhythm and flow.
The McAdams had soft opening events in the last two weekends, which were well received, they say. The business’ Facebook page has brought an outpouring of support and excitement.
The restaurant will hold 200 people, but probably the most popular place to sit are the tables near the large windows overlooking the Sulphur River slough.
The McAdams are looking forward to some of the youth she knew at the high school and he coached in peewee baseball and football coming to the restaurant with their own families to continue the tradition of Pier 27.
Handwritten tickets will still be the order of the day.
(Pier 27, located at 16095 Highway 237 between the Sulphur River bridge and Smith Park, will be open 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Fridays and 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Saturdays. Reservations will not be initially accepted because of the high interest in the restaurant’s reopening.)