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Dizzy's Grill in Benton first to serve alcoholic drinks since 1947 |
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Saturday, 07 April 2007 |
 WAITRESS JENNIFER CHAPMAN of Benton serves wine to Laura Hernandez of Benton and Lane Huie of Little Rock on the deck at Dizzy's Grill & Bistro. (Courier photo by Melissa Walls)
History was made in Saline County this week when Dizzy’s Grill & Bistro in Benton became the first local restaurant to serve beer and wine with meals.
“People have been great,” owner Darla Huie said. “I think overall, the timbre of the situation has been low key, mature and responsible. People are pleased.”
Huie received a state license to sell alcoholic beverages with meals on March 21. The permit was issued under the name Dizzy’s Social Club, but Huie said the name of her restaurant will not change.
“We did an unannounced, soft run on Friday (March 30) to test the waters and work through logistics and get some customer input,” Huie said.
“It’s better to gauge the culture of the market before you just barrel in with your own concepts.”
Huie plans to build the wine and beer list through customer feedback. Dizzy’s currently serves 12 types of beer and nine wine selections. “We’re going to let them (customers) craft the business,” she said.
She also plans to rely on customer feedback to create the ambience of the new drinking area. “People who dine there regularly need to be comfortable with the atmosphere,” Huie said.
Huie has no plans to make Dizzy’s Social Club a full bar.
“We stated we would be conservative, not extend hours or become a full bar,” Huie said. “We have no immediate plans to do that, and that’s the truth.
“We are a restaurant where you may choose to have a drink with dinner,” she said. “We are not a bar. We are a restaurant first and foremost.”
Huie said that of $2,200 in sales Thursday, between $250 and $300 was alcohol, and that the social club is not affecting business on the main dining floor.
She said the newly remodeled and cozy area at the back of the restaurant has been filling up each day around 5 p.m. but that the clientele has been “mellow” and “conservative.”
“Somewhere in the vicinity of 90 percent of the clientele of the social club average one glass of wine or one beer,” Huie said. “They are taking an hour or an hour and a half to complete it.”
Huie said that the five-year, $25 membership fee is designed to keep rowdier drinkers from frequenting the restaurant, adding that she sold 25-30 new memberships this week.
A membership is required since Saline County is dry. Anyone who is served an alcoholic beverage with a meal must either have a membership or be the guest of a member, Michael W. Langley, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Administration director, said. Langley made the decision to grant the beverage license to Dizzy’s.
The clientele at Dizzy’s is between the ages of 35 and 64, Huie said. “We have a mature clientele,” she said. “They have families or they are empty-nesters.
“We’ve yet to have anyone come in and order more than two drinks,” Huie said. She also added that the staff has not identified anyone under the age of 21.
“I’m seeing a lot more responsibility and maturity and getting a lot of positive feedback,” Huie said. “We are working extremely hard to make sure our compliance issues are perfect and the law is followed to the letter.”
Benton Mayor Rick Holland said he expects other restaurants in Benton to apply for similar beverage permits.
“There is a good possibility that more upscale restaurants will now look at the possibility of locating here if they see the possibility of gaining a liquor permit,” Holland said.
Huie said owners of other restaurants in Benton and Saline County have contacted her for information about the process of applying for a liquor permit.
“This means Benton and Saline County will be able to compete and not lose revenue to adjacent counties and cities that are progressing more rapidly than we are,” Huie said.
“We have to be able locally to offer the same goods and services as restaurants in Little Rock and Hot Springs,” she said. “We have lost untold business and tax revenue in this city and this county for too long.”
Nine other Saline County establishments have liquor permits, including five in Hot Springs Village, according to ABC officials.
Huie’s restaurant, which celebrates its 11th anniversary this month, is at 1217 Ferguson Drive, between Ferguson’s Furniture Co. and the Benton Wal-Mart SuperCenter.
Dizzy’s is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
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