JONESBORO, Ark. – One of the region’s best culinary talents is bringing a new establishment to Downtown Jonesboro.
James Best, founder of Skinny J’s in Jonesboro, Paragould, and North Little Rock, plans to launch a New York-style pizzeria on Main Street in Downtown Jonesboro, just one set of apartments away from his Skinny J’s location.
The new establishment will feature New York-style pizzas and salads only! Best told NEA Report the leavening process for the dough will take 48 hours, so some nights, when the place runs out of pizza, that will be it! It will be unlike anything NEA residents have seen.
The restaurant will also open with a liquor license, Best said, who plans to transfer one of his current permits over to the new joint.
The pizzeria will be called “Eleanor’s Pizzeria,” Best said. Plans are for it to open in early September.
Best expressed excitement for the new project and called it his “baby.”
Skinny J’s was started in 2009 in Cash after Best returned home from Johnson and Wales Culinary School in Charlotte, NC. The doors first opened in October of 2009 and it was a smash hit for the region. As the website states, Skinny J’s had a packed house every weekend night with people lining up at the door.
“Customers drove from all over to sink their mouths into specialties like hand-cut certified angus beef ribeyes, seared scallops, fresh ahi tuna, and homemade pastas,” The description said.
Best moved downtown in Jonesboro on Dec. 4, 2010, and has since expanded to offerings in Paragould and North Little Rock. This will be the first new establishment he has opened not under the Skinny J name.
(Photo submitted by James Best)
I just wanted to comment that the information about it being unlike anything NEA has ever seen is not factual. I know Jonesboro’s favorite pizza place for 12 years running makes their dough fresh everyday. However they never run out because dough is cheap to make and that would just be poor management.