It seems that burrito bars were on a lot of people’s minds in Fayetteville in 2002. Archie and Lisa Schaffer were looking into the idea of opening a place, as were Mike and Jill Rohrbach. Since the two couples knew each other and had many mutual friends, it wasn’t long before they ended up opening a burrito bar as a joint venture – pooling their resources as well as many years of experience in the restaurant business.

Numerous names for the restaurant were kicked around, including The Black Bean, Tortilla Fats, Big Juan’s and, of course, The Flying Burrito Co. After polling family and friends and considering all the other stuff one must consider when naming a restaurant, or a baby, The Flying Burrito Co. was born. Its home was to be in a refurbished warehouse, just a block off Dickson Street. After many months (more than expected) of building out a restaurant from scratch, designing the interior, and creating the recipes and menu, the two couples proudly opened The Flying Burrito Co. on May 31, 2003. The old Campbell Soup building now contains retail and office space with The Flying Burrito Co. directly in the middle and using the old loading dock as an outside patio.

In December of that first year of operation we noticed that the old IHOP on 71B was available. We threw caution to the wind and decided that one FBC wasn't enough for the Fayetteville area. Mike and Archie spent long days working at Spring St. making burritos and long nights as demolition men at the "new" Flying Burrito Co. on N. College! If you recall what the IHOP looked like and come to see it now, you'll be as amazed as some of the former IHOPers that have come to see our handy work. After about six months of work and total remodel, the Flying Burrito on N. College was opened on June 7, 2004. Instantly, the word was out and we were slammed with lines out the door for the first several months! Since then we have helped a friend open a Flying Burrito in Little Rock's River Market (opened in June 2006) and we are looking at other possible locations2 currently. Also, we have added a drive-thru and patio at the N. College location. The drive-thru will open in January 2007 and the patio will open when the weather permits! We can't thank you enough for helping our crazy idea take shape and become a thriving part of the Northwest Arkansas restaurant scene. We are locally owned, operated and created- support the local area businesses!

We hope to see you at a location very soon. You won't leave hungry!