When owner and founder Jeff Trine closed the original Damgoode Pies on Kavanaugh Boulevard last fall and the Cantrell Road branch less than three weeks later, there was still one place in Northwest Arkansas where fans could grab a Damgoode stuffy: a franchise location in Fayetteville at 37 E. Center St. That location is now closed, Fayetteville Flyer reported, officially ending Damgoode’s run after more than two decades.
Trine opened Damgoode in 2001 at 2701 Kavanaugh Blvd. This reporter and many other Little Rockers quickly became entranced with its pink sauce (a combination of original red and spicy white), its double-crusted stuffy pies with sauce on top (the garden supreme with spicy white on top was insane), cheap PBR and its wisecracking marquee sign that once offered a 10% discount to the U.S. Pizza employees across the street.
Trine opened the Cantrell outlet soon after and followed with an additional takeout/delivery-only spot on Rodney Parham in 2005. In 2015, he opened a Damgoode brewpub location in the former Bosco’s in the River Market. That store closed in 2020.
When Trine announced the Hillcrest eatery’s closure last October, he seemed hopeful about the Cantrell location’s chances. Less than three weeks later, he told the Arkansas Times it was just time to close it down.
“The post-COVID restaurant life is just brutal,” he said. “And I gotta be a good dad, and I don’t think I can do that while being a restaurant owner, so that’s where I’m at.”
Brendon Maxwell opened the Fayetteville branch in 2009. Bill Karsten purchased the franchise in 2015. Karsten told the Flyer that the Fayetteville store also suffered from declining sales during the pandemic and wasn’t able to recover.
The Flyer posted a photo of the final marquee message above the entrance to the Fayetteville location: “RIP Damgoode Pies – Thank you pie eaters.”