Located in the former location of Jim's Razorback Pizza on Sunset Avenue, Wildhog Pizza & Wings in Springdale is rekindling a community-style pizzeria with taste and service as paramount ingredients.
Co-owners Jeff Cheney and Tracey Bruner both grew up with families in the food and hospitality business. When Cheney and Bruner relocated to Springdale, they grew nostalgic for the distinct eateries from their former residence in St. Louis and Chicago.
A free-to-play poker tournament is held in the Hog Trough at Wildhog Pizza & Wings on Tuesdays and Wednesdays starting at 7 p.m.
The game is hosted by PDQ Poker of Northwest Arkansas. Primarily a game of fun, the first- and second-place players win a gift certificate to Wildhog Pizza & Wings. Several players arrive early and dine at Wildhog because receipts for food orders on that day can be turned in for bonus chips to play.
Wildhog Pizza & Wings
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1528 W. Sunset Ave., Suite A
Springdale
(479) 756-3711
11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sun-Thur, 11 a.m.-midnight Fri-Sat. Home of the Hogzilla Pizza - it’s huge! New restaurant serving delicious pizza with fresh ingredients, as well as stellar wings. Dine-in, carryout and delivery. Dining room with comfortable seating, friendly staff. Other rooms for special events; perfect for watching football.
WildHog Pizza & Wings delivers that big-city flavor while embracing the Northwest Arkansas community.
"We wanted to give Springdale a family-style, sit down restaurant -- and to source as much as possible from local businesses," Cheney said.
All of the produce comes from Twin City Produce in Springdale, and the meat
products are all from Tyson Foods.
"Tyson employs so many people here locally. We appreciate the fact that they are right here in our neighborhood," Cheney said.
As a gesture of that gratitude, Tyson employees in uniform or who present employment identification will receive 15 percent off their food order at Wildhog throughout December.
Following the lead of other owners of Italian eateries, Cheney has a vested interest in making a connection with his guests and ensuring they are happy with their food. He makes a conscious effort to greet and check on every table, and he gets to know regular customers very well.
As an example, he said there are two ladies who come to Wildhog every Monday afternoon after mass. One lady mentioned she really like green olives, but there were only black olives on the salad bar.
"The next Monday when she came in, green olives were sitting on the salad bar... it's little things like that," Cheney said.
The menu at Wildhog includes appetizers, specialty salads, a one-trip or all-you-can-eat-salad bar, hot sandwiches, pasta, garlic bread, pizza and wings.
The pizza features a combination of quality toppings, handmade dough and a signature cheese blend with a variety of eight cheeses.
"We use about the best product you can put on pizza," Cheney said.
There are several varieties of crust and, with exception of the gluten-free crust, the dough is made fresh and from scratch daily. There is a traditional thin-crust, Chicago-style deep dish, gluten-free crust, St. Louis-style crust and a special dough used on the Hogzilla.
Cheney describes the Hogzilla as "a beast" -- deep-dish, 16-inch round, that starts with a pound of cheese, half-pound of pepperoni, half-pound of Canadian bacon, half-pound of sausage, half-pound of Italian sausage, then quarter-pound of bacon and another half-pound of cheese.
Former Razorback football player and Green Bay Packer Anthony Hicks recently visited Wildhog and ordered the Hogzilla. When Cheney checked in on him, Hicks said, "all I can say is that I've eaten pizza all over the country playing in the NFL -- this is the [best]."
"When you make someone happy by giving them something good they can't get anywhere else, that's what it's about. I just want to be able to get it right, every time," Cheney said.
Another top seller is the St. Louis-style crust. The hand-tossed crust is paper-thin and very crispy.
"Basically, with the St. Louis-style, the crust is there simply to be a topping-delivery system," Cheney said.
Many of the customers who like thin crust and try the St. Louis-style end up ordering that every time.
Before opening in June, the restaurant was remodeled with an updated salad bar, flat-screen televisions, new paint, new blinds and renovated party rooms. The extra rooms allow space for private parties of 40-50 people, and both rooms are available with added room charge.
One of the back rooms, called the Hog Trough, is decorated with Razorback sports memorabilia and has a new bar with stainless steel tiles. The other private room is without the bar and sports decor.
For men's Razorback football and basketball game days, Wildhog offers $2 draft beers all day with $1 draft specials throughout the game. Happy hour is offered 2-6 p.m. daily and supplies $8 pitchers and $2 pints on all draft beer, even the premium brands. Miller High Life and Keystone drafts are offered for $6 pitchers or $1.50 pints all day, every day.
"According to the [beer distributor], this is the cheapest pitcher price in town," Cheney said.
In addition to the lowest price, the beer is also served in the coldest glass, he added.
"The beer distributor tells me that I have the coldest draft in Springdale, and the glasses are chilled to -10 degrees."
Wildhog has 12 taps, bottled beer and also serves wine by the glass.
Wildhog Pizza & Wings is open at 11 a.m. daily. Delivery is available.
More information is available by calling (479) 756-3711.
NAN Dining Guide Cover on 12/19/2014