Long time Little Rock restaurant Homer's East destroyed in fire

Yahoo

19-04-2025

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A devastating fire on Thursday marked the end of an era for Homer's East Restaurant in Little Rock after fire officials ruled it a total loss.
'We were just home talking, and somebody sent my daughter a Facebook post about a fire at the restaurant,' Homer's East owner and operator Katrina Eibes said. 'We got in our cars and drove out there and by the time we did the fire trucks were gone and it was just the fire marshal. We were in shock.'
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Eibes said kitchen fires happened every now and again at Homer's East, 'but nothing to the magnitude we saw.'
Fire officials told Eibes that the fire started close to the deep fryers, although Eibes said everything was turned off before the restaurant was closed. Adding that everything appeared in the off position as they surveyed the damage.
But thanks to swift action by the Little Rock Fire Department, Eibes said that the 'historical part' of Homer's East was saved.
'We've been here since 1986,' Eibes said. 'So, all of our news articles, all the things that really meant a lot.'
Eibes said her father bought the restaurant back in 1986 from a man named Harlen Holt, when it was named Circle B and her father, Homer, renamed it Homer's East.
Being in business just shy of 30 years, Eibes said Homer's East Restaurant became a part of the Little Rock community, hosting the Clintons, governors of the state and the entire community over that time.
'I used to say that you couldn't be in arm's length of somebody who hasn't been to Homer's,' Eibes said.
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Friday morning, Eibes said a small fire had rekindled in a different area of the building but was put out. She confirmed that they would not be reopening at the East Roosevelt Road location since the restaurant was deemed a total loss.
However, the outpouring of support from the community, Eibes said, shows how much of an impact the restaurant had on central Arkansans.
'People were posting pictures that had been taken here, memories they had with their grandfathers, fathers,' Eibes said. 'That's the only thing that's getting me through it.'
Eibes said crews worked to clear out the standing water and she's working to salvage what memorabilia she can from the restaurant. She said she plans to open a new food trailer with the Homer's name in the industrial park and soon usher in a third generation to keep the restaurant's tradition alive.
'We do know our food trailer will be up and operating at the Little Rock Open this year and we'll be there all week serving food,' Eibes said.
But looking back at the remains of the burnt building, Eibes said she couldn't help but feel sentimental about the loss.
'It's like seeing your childhood home, all of our kids grew up in this building, the kids that are taking over, they grew up running around these floors,' Eibes said.
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Adding that leaving behind 'the memories' will be the 'hardest part.'
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