Bentonville, Arkansas has been on our radar for a while now because of the famous coffee roastery, Onyx. We finally made it down to explore this area for a long weekend and found ourselves impressed with the emphasis on both nature and art. We spent most of our time in Bentonville, but ventured down to Eureka Springs and had a great time exploring what is likely one of the hippiest towns in North America. If you’re looking for a unique long-weekend experience I think that Northwestern Arkansas is definitely worth exploring. Here’s a round up of our favorite coffee, food, and sights we discovered during our time there.
Where we stayed
This is the Airbnb we stayed at. It was about a 7 minute drive from downtown Bentonville and provided easy access to everything we wanted to go and do. If we return to Bentonville I will probably try to stay closer to downtown so that we can bike more easily around.
Coffee
Onyx Coffee Lab - This coffee shop was our main draw to Bentonville. They’ve made a worldwide reputation for themselves as serving some of the best coffee and we knew we had to experience one of their shops for ourselves.
We visited both the downtown Bentonville location as well as the HQ location in Rogers. Both locations had a small pour over menu that consisted of a rotating selection of coffees. We tried a natural kenyan as a pour over as well as a shot of espresso. It was fun to see how different the profile was using the same beans, but different methods of brewing. During our next visit we both opted for a straight forward drip coffee made using their Southern weather blend and honestly prefered the flavor of this over the pour over and espresso that we had. Overall our experience at both shops was great.
Considering the fact that we drove almost 6 hours to get here I was expecting the coffee to blow my mind in a way that it didn’t. Did I enjoy the experience? 100%! Will I come back if we’re driving through? For sure! Do I think it’s a really great option if you’re in the Bentonville area? Without a doubt! Will I drive 6 hours agaun just to go to the shop? Probably not.
Airship Coffee - As far provdiding an experience, this coffee shop knows what it is doing. We visited two different locations and got two very different, but both equally fantastic experiences.
The Coler location is nestled in the woods and only accessible via biking or walking. The hidden nature of this coffee shop captured our attention and we knew we had to visit. Admittedly the coffee itself wasn’t our favorite (a bit too roasty for our taste buds) BUT the experience was still superb and I would 100% go back again. Here are three parking lots where you can get to the shop from. All parking lots are under a mile from the coffee shop.
Coler Mountain Bike Preserve South Gateway (NW 3rd Street)
Coler Grove Parking Lot (Just up the road from the South Gateway on the right)
Coler North Trail Head Parking Lot (Peach Orchard Rd)
The Pumphouse Location gets 5 stars for the midcentury-science-lab vibes. We sat and worked on our computers here for over two hours and it was perfect — bright light, lots of outlets, and very spacious. We tried two pour overs and they were a bit better than the drip coffee we had had at the Coler location, but still not necessarily our chosen flavor profile. That said, this shop is still a place I would 100% come again and again if I lived in Bentonville — even if the coffee wasn’t my favorite. The vibes really got me.
Food
Crepes Paulette - This food truck turned brick-and-mortar is serving up some innovative crepe combos. All the savory crepes are made using a buckwheat flour based batter which lends a nice nuttiness to the crepes. We tried the thai, rubenesque, and strawberry with chocolate ganache. Be warned that the wait can be LONG. I was anticipating it would be a place we could pop in and out of quickly and head out of town, but it ended up being over an hour from the time we walked in to the time we actually had crepes in front of us. It was definitley worth the wait, but just temper your time expectations.
Yeyo’s Mexican Street Food - A modern take on Mexican cuisine that emphasizes the use of freshly grown ingredients. We split the taco plate which consisted of a variety of 8 different tacos and each and every one was to die for. Everything felt super fresh and flavorful! We didn’t get any cocktails, but their drink menu looked really interesting.
Pizzeria Ruby - This east coast style neighborhood pizza place was everything we hoped it would be and more. The pizza was phenomenal, but the salads were equally delicious. We literally ate here twice and would have gone back for a third if we had another day. Between our two visits we got the vodka pizza, mushroom pizza, house salad, and chopped salad and continually raved about all of the above. The cherry gelato was also amazing — served with a drizzle of olive oil and sea salt. I really can’t recommend this place enough.
Markm and Fitz - A bean to bar chocolatier that is creating true masterpieces. I think my jaw genuinely dropped as we looked around at all the different chocolate bars. Timing never worked for us to go back and get some, but the smells we got to experience and the rave reviews I have seen have me convinced it is nothing short of magical.
Sights
Eureka Springs - I’m calling it a sight because we kind of treated Bentonville as our home base and so driving an hour to visit Eureka Springs and walk the shops makes it feel like a site. Eureka Springs might quite literally be the hippiest place I have ever been. The hilly streets of the quant town are lined with crystal shops, local artist, and knick-knack stores. It was totally worth the drive just to take in this little town!
Inspiration Point Overlook - Definitely worth a quick stop on your way to Eureka Springs if you’re coming from Bentonville.
Crystal Bridges - This incredible art museum was FREE and captured our art-loving hearts. We didn’t get back from Eureka Springs until there was only 2 hours left to closing, but I would say you could budget closer to 3-4 hours to spend at the museum if you really enjoy reading about art and taking your time walking around. This is a MUST if you are in Bentonville. Don’t miss out on walking through the Frank Lloyd Wright home. Tickets are free, but timed so make sure you get your tickets before you walk out to the house (like we did).
Compton Gardens and Arboretum - Another free place that I highly recommend checking out! There are lots of beautfiul walking trails that will inspire you.
Walking to the top of the ledger building - There’s a ramp that zig zags along the front of the building that is available to the public. It’s super fun to walk up the ramp and look inside the building and when you get to the top you’re rewarded with a really nice view of the city. Bonus: plan it at sunset for an even more spectatcular view.
Farmer’s Market in downtown - Located in the Bentonville Square, a dreamy park with a fountain in the middle, the Farmer’s market takes place on Saturdays from 7:30am-1pm and there are lots of vendors. Definitely worth a stop even if you don’t plan to buy anything.
Biking Trails - Whether you are looking for mountain biking trails or just regular paved biking trails, Bentonville is the place to be. There are lots of trails to choose from and they are maintained really well. We don’t have mountain bikes and truthfully paved biking is more of my jam, so we checked out the Razorback Trail and the Applegate Trail. Both of those trails are paved and were so fun to ride on. There are lots of bridges over streams that make the trails engaging and enjoyable. Next time we go to Bentonville, this is probably what we will spend most of our time doing! They were seriously some of the best trails I have every been on.
