Conway will be getting a Burge’s Restaurant this summer, at the southeast corner of Dave Ward and Equity drives, at the entrance to the Acxiom campus.
It will be Burge’s third location, after Lewisville (1962) and Little Rock (1974). Bruce Stracener, who doesn’t pay much attention to titles — “I kind of do everything around here” — called it a “slow expansion strategy.”
Burge’s owner, Jeff Voyles, said he’d considered opening a third location in west Little Rock a couple of times, “but I never was comfortable with the location, but this Conway location I really like. I think it’s a good fit. We have a lot of customers that come from Conway.”
Groundbreaking on the building that will house the restaurant took place about two weeks ago. Burge’s will occupy 4,000 SF and a second tenant will occupy the remaining 1,200 SF, Voyles said.
Voyles said he’s also had a lot of requests to open a Burge’s in northwest Arkansas. “My thinking was do a Conway location and maybe have something in the Fort Smith-Russellville area and also in the Fayetteville area.”
Voyles, originally from Texarkana, grew up eating at the original Burge’s in Lewisville, founded by Alden Burge. He bought both locations eight years ago from Alden’s son, Jack.
Voyles used to be an investment broker and Jack Burge was one of his clients. Voyles sent Burge’s hams and turkeys to clients all over the country. When Burge started thinking about retiring, he urged Voyles to buy Burge’s.
Although running restaurants is a little different from being an investment broker, his financial background has helped him, Voyles said.
Voyles received his finance degree from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway in 1989, so “in some sense it’s going back to my roots. I’ve always loved Conway as a town.”