Come to The Dinner Table

PEA RIDGE — In the 52-year-old building that once housed the Dari Park, Laura and Lee Fletcher have opened The Dinner Table. A photograph of the Dari Park hangs near the front door of the restaurant across the street from Pea Ridge Intermediate.

Comfort and community - that’s what the Fletchers say they want to provide.

Laura McCoy Fletcher and Lee Fletcher both from Pea Ridge now live in Seligman, Mo.

Along with Lee’s mom, June Fletcher, and Laura’s brother, Darrell McCoy, and their daughters, the couple hopes to providecomfort and community at the diner.

“It’s a family thing. Our youngest daughter Marisa, is helping out until she goes back to college,” Laura said.

Marisa, 20, is studying pediatric psychology at Oklahoma University.

“I worked at Wal-Mart as anaccount manager. I worked for 10 years in the supplier world,” Laura said, explaining that when her office was down-sized, her position was eliminated.

She and her husband owned a demolition company, but he is disabled now.

The Diner Table will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdaythrough Sunday and as business grows, the Fletchers will readjust hours and days.

Both cook, she said. “He’s the grill man - our burgers are all charbroiled. I make the pastas and breads.”

The couple has three children: Caila Fletcher, 25, who has one son, and helps at the diner;

Heather Tull, 23, who has three children and lives in Oklahoma;

and Marisa.

“We want to bring something to Pea Ridge we haven’t seen in a long time. We want people to be comfortable. We bake our breads and pies from scratch,” Laurasaid. She said home-baked breads are her specialty and she plans to serve smoked meats once the smoker is installed.

As a commemoration of the traditions of the DariPark, the Fletchers said that on Saturday, July 7, during the fair, they’ll serve pulled pork sliders for 40 cents and lemonade for 25 cents, as long as supplies last.