SPRINGDALE -- The Lundstrum family soon will be rebooting a giant Springdale tradition.
Catalyst Capital, an investment company owned by the family, has announced plans to reopen the AQ Chicken House restaurant. The family plans to build the new restaurant on land they own near the Walmart Supercenter on Elm Springs Road -- roughly 3 miles west of the restaurant's former location, Tom Lundstrum said Monday.
"I can't stand the thought of a 75-year-old institution in Springdale being closed," he said.
"We don't like to say AQ is closed," he said. "We tell people AQ is napping."
The restaurant closed March 18. It had operated since 1947 at its location on North Thompson Street.
AQ stand for Arkansas quality.
Lundstrum said he plans to reopen AQ in 2025. He said the company purchased the original recipes and all rights to the name from Dick Bradley, who had owned and operated the restaurant for 25 years.
"It will be a sit-down, full-service restaurant," he said. "But it won't look like the old one."
The original restaurant at 1207 N. Thompson St. was demolished this summer. A Club Carwash currently is under construction in that location.
The old restaurant building had been so "cobbled" together over the past 75 years, the cost for updating the building would have been prohibitive, Lundstrum said.
Roy Ritter opened AQ when Thompson Street was a dirt road. Chickens were raised, killed, cleaned and processed behind the restaurant.
Ritter later became the mayor of Springdale, according to Angie Albright, director of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History.
The restaurant hosted many momentous occasions and guests. Some have been documented on the restaurant's website: President Clinton's 47th birthday celebration and George W. Bush's takeout order from Air Force One. Many Arkansans undoubtedly have celebrated their own milestones, graduation dinners, family get-togethers and other occasions, enjoying AQ's famous Chicken Over the Coals and Pickle O's.
"As nerdy as it sounds, I had my bachelor's party there," Lundstrum said.
Blake Clardy of Springdale knows the new AQ won't be the same as the old, but he's glad the restaurant will still have the Springdale connection.
"The Lundstrums have been around here a long time," he said. "I'm glad they are doing something to keep the tradition alive.
"Because nothing is more chicken than Springdale, Arkansas," Clardy said.
The recipe for the famous rolls at the restaurant came form Clardy's grandmother, Flossie Clardy. Flossie taught her sister-in-law Lela Clardy how to cook, Blake Clardy said. Lela cooked for the restaurant in the early years and used Flossie's recipe, he noted.
"The AQ brand was so beloved in Springdale -- but not just Springdale, in all of Northwest Arkansas," said Bill Rogers, president of the Springdale Chamber of Commerce.
"It's so exciting for Springdale and the Lundstrum family and their business to be passing on the tradition," Rogers continued. "It's good news."
Rogers also likes that the family will "repurpose" the restaurant and the brand and bring them up to date.
Tex Holt of Springdale remembers eating at AQ back to high school, when his family moved to Springdale. He noted school clubs would eat there. In later years, he would take his parents to the restaurant.
"We had some good meals and some good times," Holt said. "It's quite a legend to have in Springdale. People were proud to have eaten there. I'm glad they're trying to revive it."
Memorabilia and other items from the restaurant were auctioned March 22. Lundstrum said his family did not attend the auction, but he's had people who bought something at the auction come forward and offer the use of their items.
Lundstrom noted none of his family are restaurateurs, but his daughter and son-in-law, Gracie and Jacob Lively, operated 13 Dairy Queen locations from the Little Rock office of the family business.
Lundstrum said he plans to make the new AQ a success by hiring good people and treating people right.