Platnum BBQ has taken over the restaurant space formerly occupied by David’s Burgers in the River Market’s Ottenheimer Hall food court.
Angia and Kevin Cox opened Platnum in a vendor stand on the southeastern corner of the food court in 2017. Kevin Cox told us in a July interview that Platnum began outgrowing their space about three years ago. The move to the market’s larger unit on the eastern end of the hall “allows us to have more control over the line,” Cox said. “Now we don’t have to be packed in like sardines, we can move around a little bit.”
Platnum is taking the opportunity to extend their hours to include Friday and Saturday nights and expand their offerings with Saturday morning breakfast and soul food Sunday service that was previously reserved for curbside.
The Arkansas Times called Platnum “the hottest new thing in barbecue” in a 2018 review, which praised its catfish, pulled pork and smoked chicken. The restaurant offers daily chef specials with items you typically don’t see on the menu at typical barbecue joints like chicken and dressing, catfish served alongside spaghetti, barbecue meatloaf or Cajun bowtie pasta. Platnum offers several smoked meat items, including beef short ribs, oxtails and brisket burnt ends with a variety of solid sides, including broccoli cheese casserole, purple hull peas and fried okra.
Platnum is subleasing the space from David’s Burgers. David’s currently operates nine restaurants in Arkansas, but the company was unable to run the River Market location with much consistency in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic. David’s didn’t reopen the River Market location from its pandemic closure until June 2022, more than a year after Ottenheimer Hall reopened. Last year David’s closed the River Market store for the entire month of December.
David’s owner and founder David Alan Bubbus Jr. told the Arkansas Times earlier this summer that managing the River Market outpost was difficult for the company because of a combination of inflation, low margins and David’s dedication to “keep our prices low for our customers.” For that reason, Bubbus said, the company’s business model calls for high customer volume daily. Bubbus called Platnum’s food “absolutely dynamite” and said the location will better suit their business.
Boulevard Bread Co. opened a location in Ottenheimer Hall’s bigger restaurant space in 2006 and moved to a smaller unit to make room for David’s in 2015. Boulevard moved out of the River Market in 2016.
Platnum’s hours of operation are 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday; 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.