Schlotzsky's is recognized as one of the country's premier sandwich franchises, spanning the country with more than 350 locations.
But the three Northwest Arkansas restaurants are now locally owned and operated by a couple who has fallen in love with the Ozark way of life and the communities throughout the region.
"We just love Northwest Arkansas," said J.J. Ramsey, who, along with his wife, Hortencia, purchased the three restaurants last year. "The beauty of this place, as well as the people, the school system, the sports. It's just a great place to live and raise a family."
Ramsey was 14 years old when he started working as a busboy for Schlotzsky's in his hometown of Tulsa, Okla. His parents were franchisees, so he grew up learning to make and serve sandwiches.
Now, two decades later, Ramsey continues that family tradition as a franchisee himself. The Ramseys purchased the three locations in Northwest Arkansas last year from Jim Barnes. They have made their home with their three children in Bentonville and have embedded themselves within the community.
They own the Schlotzsky's at 2548 N. College Ave. in Fayetteville, at 1919 W. Sunset Ave. in Springdale, and at 2709 W. Walnut St. in Rogers. The Springdale and Rogers locations also include Cinnabon.
J.J. Ramsey said the simple philosophy for success, which he learned from his parents, is stellar customer service.
"It's all about customer service, which sounds cliche', but it's the truth," he said. "I try to train my team to go over and beyond meeting the customers' needs. It's all about the attitude, and being urgent and consistent every day.
"I learned from my parents to have a passion for serving people and be willing to go that extra mile for the customer. It's hard to find great service now days, but we really do strive to make the customers first. We work for the customers, because they are the ones that pay us the money."
His brother, Shane, now works for Schlotzsky's, but J.J. said he enjoys staying hands on with serving customers.
"I guess you can say it's in my blood," he said with a laugh. "I have been serving customers with Schlotzsky's since almost as far back as I can remember."
Schlotzsky's prides itself on the freshness of their ingredients, from freshly baked breads to freshly sliced meats and everything in between.
"We bake our bread from scratch every day," Ramsey said. "Nothing is frozen. Every bread we serve is baked from water and flour in-house every single day. We also slice our own meats everyday, and our produce is all cut fresh every single day."
The Ramseys have began upgrading all three of their restaurants since taking over, which they hope translates over to more customer satisfaction.
"We have done some renovations to all of the stores and hope to continue growing within this community," Ramsey said. "The name Schlotzsky's already has a great reputation itself, but we want our stores to become a part of their communities and be a place where people enjoying coming for great food and a great environment."
The Schlotzsky's history began in 1971, when Don and Dolores Dissman founded the company in Austin, Texas. The initial menu consisted of one sandwich of mixed meats, cheeses and black olives on a freshly made, toasted bun called "The Original." The first sandwich was based on the Muffuletta sandwich, which they discovered in an Italian grocery store in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The couple introduced their own version of the muffuletta to Austin, setting up shop in a modest little space at 1301 South Congress.
The menu has expanded through the years. In 1991, the deli concept was introduced and the store name changed to Schlotzsky's Deli.
Now, more than 40 years later, Schlotzsky's is an international sandwich franchise restaurant chain with locations in 35 states and three foreign countries. As they've grown, customers' tastes have evolved, and so has their menu. The Original is still their most famous sandwich, but today you can also enjoy fresh baked bread, delicious hot sandwiches, Artisan flatbreads, specialty pizzas, toasted wraps, freshly tossed salads, gourmet soups and more.
Schlotzsky's is dedicated to serving customers great-tasting food, freshly prepared from the finest ingredients and at reasonable prices. They strive to give quick friendly service in a pleasant and inviting atmosphere.
Schlotzsky's also promotes its growing national catering program which offers a rewards program within it. It offers points, which can accumulate and translate into gift cards.
"It's great for office managers or corporate representatives that place orders for office or corporate events," Ramsey said. "And any catering order over $50 gets delivered free."
The three local stores now offer delivery for individuals with Chef Shuttle for just $4.95 per delivery.
For more information, go to schlotzskys.com.
NAN Dining Guide Spotlight on 10/14/2016