Buffalo's Southwest Café Enters Arkansas

Buffalo’s Franchise Concepts Inc., franchisor of Buffalo’s Southwest Cafe restaurants, announced that a development agreement has been signed for Paragould, Ark., marking the company’s first venture into Arkansas. The agreement was signed with Buffalo’s of Paragould LLC., owned by Lance Mitchell and Kristin Frankowski.

The restaurant, which is expected to break ground in a couple of weeks, opens this July. It will be located in the New Southpoint business development at 3506 Linwood Drive in Paragould near the new community center and softball complex.

Mitchell, a native and resident of Paragould, has witnessed record growth in the community over the past 10 years and believed there is still ample opportunities for family-style restaurants in Paragould.

“Kristin and I had been looking at franchise Restaurant concepts since last summer. Everything about Buffalo’s appealed to us, from its concept to its image to its menu. We want our restaurant to focus on families,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell and Frankowski, who are siblings, expect to draw customers from Paragould, Jonesboro, Ark., and Kennett, Mo. The restaurant will seat about 200 customers and will have a separate outdoor patio and a banquet room.

Mitchell has worked in his family-owned Ford-Mercury dealership, Pannell Ford-Mercury, for 22 years. He lives in Paragould with his wife, Kim, a second-grade teacher. Frankowski, also a Paragould native, lives in Little Rock, Ark., with her husband, Gary. She is a pharmacist. Mitchell and Frankowski plan to open future Buffalo’s Southwest Cafe restaurants in Arkansas, Western Tennessee and the Missouri boothill.

“Lance and Kristin have a clear vision to enhance Paragould’s business community,” said Ralph Perrella, president and co-founder of BFCI. “They are leaders in their community and are a strong addition to our team of franchise business partners.”

Based in Marietta, Ga., Buffalo’s Franchise Concepts was founded in 1985 and has approximately 50 restaurants in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Puerto Rico and Kuwait. The company has new units slated for construction in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Texas.

Award-winning Buffalo’s Southwest Cafe restaurants offers its world-famous Buffalo-style chicken wings with a variety of flavors for every taste in addition to southwestern-inspired entrees and appetizers. The menu features a variety of specialty dishes as well as mouthwatering steaks, ribs, fajitas, chili, quesadillas, wraps, hamburgers, soups, salads, sandwiches and desserts. Each restaurant tells a story of the Old Southwest while providing a unique dining experience. Restaurants feature wooden floors and distressed metal ceilings, western memorabilia and hundreds of period photographs lining rustic wooden walls. High-back cushioned booths for primary seating are each designed with their own themes such as gunslingers, outlaw posters, Indians, lawmen and railroads.