Boars Nest... far more than a sports bar

Rogers sports bar, grill and barbeque restaurant serving up wide variety of food and beverage

During the last nine months, John Hudec and his wife and co-owner, Heather, have focused a lot of attention on the Rogers location of Boars Nest Bar, Grill and Barbeque. It is their passion.

"We've had a great response," John said. "With a lot of help and dedication from our front of house/bar manager, Becca Duncan and kitchen manager, Rodney Snoxhill; our popularity is increasing and we've had a great response from folks. Our focus is on making sure everybody is taken care of and our food is topnotch."

After shuttering their Fayetteville location last October, the couple has gone all-in on their Rogers sports bar and restaurant. They are happy with the decision.

"We are focused on great food, great drinks and a comfortable, fun atmosphere," John said. "It's really good bar food. Everything is made fresh and made to order. Besides smoking our own BBQ, we also smoke our own pork belly, pastrami, and tenderloin for sandwiches. "Check our Facebook page for our daily specials, our smoked meatloaf sandwich on Stone Mill Sourdough is awesome". We make our own chips and hand cut fries. If you come in here, you will see it's a family friendly bar with great food." Our bread is sourced locally from Stone Mill Baking.

John was a culinary manager in Dallas for many years. When this opportunity arose, he and Heather jumped on it.

"It's been a great ride," John said. "We closed our Fayetteville location last year so we could focus on Rogers. It's just a 20-minute drive for our Fayetteville friends. The wings haven't changed."

With TVs in every booth and personal TV remotes at the family friendly establishment, kids can eat, watch what they want and parents can entertain themselves with hard darts, pool or mixing with friends and singing karaoke.

"We have a great menu for kids," Heather said. "Children 10-years old and younger eat free, as long as they are with a paid adult. They can order off the kid's menu; sliders, mac and cheese, grilled cheese and chicken tenders - all free."

The couple believes they have created a menu with something for everybody. But each of the owners has their own menu favorite.

"Our Chili Mac has absolutely the best chili in town," John said. "Our macaroni and cheese is to die for."

Heather has her own favorite. "The beef tenderloin sandwich on the weekend is absolutely delicious," she said. "We smoke it in house. It is tender and delicious. It melts in your mouth. It's straight up smoked tenderloin and cheese."

The couple agrees on one specialty item that has been a hit with their customers. "It's the Pork Belly Pops," Heather said. "As much as we loved it, we weren't sure how it would be received. It's gone over like gangbusters. We smoke the pork belly in house and cut it into cubes and skewer it so it looks like a popsicle. Then we deep fry it and dip in in our BBQ sauce. Pork belly bacon... just really good smoked bacon."

John said the chili at Boars Nest is second to none. "Our chili is our three-bean brisket chili," he said. "We use our brisket in the chili. It has black beans, pinto beans and kidney beans. It's based on my recipe from growing up in Texas, just not as hot. People can modify it if they want. It's always easy to heat something up, but it's hard to take the heat out of it."

Their chili, he said, can be added to many menu favorites. "You can have a bowl of chili," he said. "Or, get our version of chili mac and cheese, which instead of spaghetti, we use macaroni and cheese. You can put it on our cheese fries or nachos, hot dogs or a hamburger. Our burgers are all hand-pattied daily."

Looking for something on the light side? Boars Nest has that covered.

"You can get your typical side salad," Heather said, or "You can get a salad and add smoked chicken, pulled pork or brisket to it. We have a grilled chicken sandwich that's also incredible. You can add any of our smoked meats to any salad."

For those simply looking for an adult beverage and an appetizer, Boars Nest is a great option. "Our Gator Bites are a long standing item on the menu," he said. "They are actually bites. A lot of places cut them so small they are nothing but batter. The fried pickles are a huge hit, I love our fried pickles."

Boars Nest offers a full bar with room for 40 seats, happy hour prices from 3p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays, three hard tip dart boards and two pool tables (adding a 3rd in the next few weeks). There is always something to do at Boars Nest with a Thursday night Corn Hole league currently forming and an ongoing pool league during the week. We are also looking for all Benton County dart throwers to start a dart league.

"We have live music on Saturday," John explained. "We have all local bands and local entertainment. We have karaoke on Wednesdays and a DJ on Fridays. We are a full service food and entertainment establishment."

Want to go?

Boars Nest Bar, Grill & Barbeque

4404 West Walnut Street, Rogers, AR.

Phone: 479-899-6282

Open Monday -- Thursday 3p.m. -- 2a.m.

Open Friday -- Sunday 11a.m. -- 2a.m.

Get social: facebook.com/boarsnestrogers

NAN Dining Guide Spotlight on 06/17/2018

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