Big thanks to Sync Weekly for reviewing our food! In case you missed it, here’s a link to the article…

Wimpy’s Burgers and Fries is a new Conway eatery well-schooled in the ways of social media and creating an online buzz.

People began hearing about the chain restaurant (Barely, there’s only one other in Southaven, Miss.) back late last year. Burger fans were told to look for the restaurant’s arrival in the Conway Towne Centre, a U.S. 65 shopping center that has experienced a rebirth in recent months, with new tenants arriving and a new 12-screen Cinemark Theater that opened in December 2010.

Restaurant owners nurtured Wimpy’s online image in the weeks and months leading up to its debut last Monday. Before opening, they randomly selected Twitter followers for free burgers, fries and drink vouchers, and seemingly answered each posting on Wimpy’s Facebook site, a site that was updated often with photos of prepared burgers or the ongoing facelift of the former Hardee’s location.

It worked. Wimpy’s has been busy since opening, evident through Facebook postings apologizing for wait times and by a personal visit to the burger place. And since opening, Wimpy’s operators have continued their online image assault, asking readers to vote for the restaurant on Urban Spoon and directing patrons to the restaurant’s Gowalla site where they could upload photos and comments following their dining experience. The online responses have been overwhelmingly positive.

Here’s what they are hyping: a simple burger concept. Wimpy’s burgers come in three sizes (a single patty for $3.89, a double patty for $4.89 and a triple patty for $5.89), but it gets a little complex — in the best way possible — with the addition of up to two dozen toppings, including four kinds of cheese, sauces and even grilled pineapple. (Bacon and cheese are the only toppings that cost extra.)

There are appetizers such as fried pickles and mozzarella sticks, and sides, including onion rings and sweet potato fries with praline dipping sauce. There are sandwiches, hot dogs, two kinds of Philly cheese and a BLT, and ice cream, including soft serve and shakes. And there is a kids menu adding to the family friendly concept and sure to please parents and children alike with its prices (a Wimpy’s Kids Hamburger with fries and drink for $4.59) and free ice cream with each meal.

But Wimpy’s is a burger and fries kind of place. Yes, the restaurant is a former Hardee’s, but it has been totally redone. It’s all red and black, with booths along the walls and tables in the middle of the open floor plan. You order — from a menu broadcast on a flat-screen TV — and sit, and employees call out your number. The establishment utilizes its wrap-around windows creating plenty of natural light. It looks like a burger restaurant as opposed to a fast food joint, which it should not be mistaken for.

It’ll be interesting to see how Wimpy’s keeps its buzz going in the months ahead. The new movie theater will only help its cause, and the online cultivation will only continue, but the food has to live up to the hype to keep people walking back in the doors.

THE DISH: OUR REVIEWS:

Wimpy’s Signature Burger with cheese ($5.29): Okay, this is a little too easy and probably cliched, but there is nothing wimpy about this burger. It’s a man’s burger. The Triple Wimpy is three patties and over a pound of beef, but I would guess the Wimpy’s Signature is close to a pound of beef. And I can’t imagine finishing a Triple Wimpy as a Signature Burger is a lotta burger.

I chose red onion, lettuce, jalapenos, mayonnaise and cheddar cheese for my toppings. Wimpy’s didn’t skimp on the toppings either, with the crisp, pickled jalapenos adding a nice bite to the burger. Both the lettuce and red onion were fresh, too. As far as the actual burger, it’s great: two huge patties with a flavor above the usual fast-food fare, with a real meaty taste and juicy texture. Perhaps the patties were a little too salty, but that’s a trivial matter. My only true complaint was the bun. It just didn’t live up to the burger it barely contained, getting a little soggy from the burger’s juices.

The onion rings are great, coated in a thin but crispy batter that still allowed the sweet onion taste inside to shine.

Wimpy’s burger is certainly better than any fast food burger around, but doesn’t quite touch the heavyweight burgers of central Arkansas. (ss)

The Wimpy with cheese ($4.29) and Sweet Potato Fries ($1.99): I chose to accessorize my Wimpy with standards like mayonnaise, mustard, pickles, lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese and grilled onion.

All of those items seemed to meld only into the usual burger deliciousness; it was nothing mind-blowing. Wimpy’s is certainly many levels above fast food and the patty was moist enough, it’s just … I guess I expected more.

The sweet potato fries, however, came with a super sweet praline sauce that could very well substitute for dessert. Very yummy. (mt)

Wimpy’s Signature Burger with cheese and bacon ($5.99): Fast food has changed our idea of what a hamburger patty should be, but hopefully Wimpy’s will put that notion back on track. The two patties stacked so high it was hard to take a bite, and that was without a lot of fixings. Speaking of which, the added cheese, bacon and barbecue sauce were a little short to really shine flavorwise when paired with patties so large, but it’s hard to complain about the overall taste. And don’t miss out on the fries. (sw)

Recently Rachel Parker Dickerson of the Log Cabin Democrat here in Conway posted an article about Wimpy’s, you can read that article here: http://thecabin.net/interact/opinion/columns/2011-04-02/rachels-rumors-lights-soon-burger-place or below. Thanks Rachel!!!

I have noticed that Wimpy’s Burgers and Fries/Conway has a lot of followers on its Facebook and Twitter pages.This is the restaurant that will open soon in the Conway Towne Centre on Skyline Drive in the building that, a very long time ago, housed Hardee’s. The building has had a nice facelift and looks great.

Based on a recent conversation with the folks behind the Wimpy’s name, it looks like the Conway location is going to open in the next week to 10 days.

Wimpy’s specializes in burgers, and they offer 16 different toppings. They also serve grilled chicken sandwiches, Philly cheese steaks, sweet potato fries, fried pickles, fried cheese and some apparently very decadent brownies.

Just about every place has a snag or two in the process of opening. As soon as the last hurdle is cleared, Wimpy’s will be open for business.