Razorback Pizza and Sports Bar

Even during summer time, one of the area's favorite pizzerias is keeping the ovens busy

Even in a down time without the Arkansas Razorbacks to cheer for, Razorback Pizza and Sports Bar is still abuzz this summer with a variety of sports on the tube and pizza in the oven.

Along with a full menu of pizza, chicken wings, salad and other Italian favorites, Razorback Pizza and Sports Bar also offers a full bar and 11 60-inch TVs. A private room for 35-50 people can also be reserved.

“You can watch any game you want to watch,” Douglas said. “We will have them all.”

Douglas and her husband, Dale, opened the restaurant in January 2014 as an expansion under the Jim’s Razorback Pizza franchise. Now, Razorback Pizza and Sports Bar has garnered its own popularity at 4093 W. Sunset Avenue in Springdale, in the same plaza as Lowe’s and Planet Fitness. They have embraced Jim’s traditional recipes but have also added a modern edge to the ambiance and offerings.

A outdoor patio is one of the novelties that distinguishes the sports bar and is a popular hangout during the spring and summer.

They offer the familiar pizza, pasta and hot sandwiches served at all of the other Jim’s Razorback locations, but the sports bar has more appetizers and a menu that includes burgers, wings and chicken strips.

The same quality and care taken with the Italian-style fare is taken with the newer menu items.

The chicken strips are white breast meat hand-battered in house-made coating and fried to order. The burgers are hand-patted with fresh-ground chuck. Idaho russet potatoes are used for the home-cut French fries.

The signature dishes that established Jim’s Razorback Pizza are used at the sports bar location, down to the house-made ranch dressing.

The pizza dough is made in-house several times a day, and there is a thin crust, pan pizza and a hand-tossed recipe with a garlic butter crust.

There is also a 10-inch gluten-free pizza crust available.

The original location on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard opened about 30 years ago and is still owned and operated by founder Jim Reaves, as well as the locations in Prairie Grove and Farmington. About seven years ago, Diane Douglas moved to the area and became office manager for Jim’s Razorback Pizza corporate stores.

The franchised Razorback Sports Bar location owned by the Douglases brings a new look to the restaurant, with a modern design and array of Razorback decor.

“We just had to have something new. It was time for a change,” Diane Douglas said.

“I just thought this would be a perfect place for everyone to hang out and watch Razorback games — at Razorback Pizza.”

The high-ceiling restaurant has a large, custom-made metal Razorback sign hanging from the ceiling. The walls display a collection of Razorback memorabilia, including a jersey of Diane’s son-in-law, who was a punter for the Razorbacks.

The salad bar runs along the center of the restaurant and offers an all-you-can-eat salad, soup and pizza bar several times a week.

The all-you-can-eat pizza buffet is offered for $6.99 11 a.m.-1 p.m. weekdays, as well as Monday-Thursday nights from 6-8 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m.-2 p.m. The offering includes cheese sticks, cinnamon sticks, a variety of thin crust and hand-tossed pizza, the salad bar and a choice from two daily soups.

Other daily specials include a cheeseburger with fries and a soft drink for $6.99 from 6-8 p.m. Monday nights; and a pasta dinner with salad bar and a soft drink is offered at $7.99 from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday nights.

The salad bar is also offered as a one-trip serving for $3 or all-you-can-eat for $6.

The salad bar is so popular that a second section had to be built so the restaurant could keep it filled and fresh. Fresh deliveries from a local vendor are dropped off daily. The vegetables, including the salad mix, are sliced and prepped in house.

Just about everything is freshly prepared in the restaurant.

“Well, I don’t grow the peaches and am not making my own cottage cheese… yet,” Douglas joked.

The soups are made-from-scratch and varieties include chicken noodle; chili; split pea; sausage and black bean; chicken and rice; and baked potato with broccoli and cheese.

There is a high emphasis on quality food, cleanliness throughout the restaurant and exceptional customer service offered to everyone who walks through the door, Douglas said.

“We have made so many regular customers already. It has been so great since we opened up, but there are still people that come in each day and say ‘I didn’t know you were here,’ ” she said.

The Razorback Pizza and Sports Bar is open at 11 a.m. daily, and until 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and midnight on Friday and Saturday. The menu and more information about all locations are available online at razorbackpizza.com. More information about the sports bar is available online at facebook.com/RazorbackPizzaSportsBar or by calling (479) 419-9440.

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