Lori’s Grill just opened on Jan. 6 at 130 North Poplar in Searcy, serving American food such as burgers, chicken, salads, pasta and seafood.
According to owner Lori Moore, the creation of Lori’s Grill happened very quickly.
“We sat down in November and designed the whole concept for this restaurant,” Moore said. “We got the keys a couple days before Thanksgiving and opened Jan. 6.”
Moore said Lori’s Grill has relied primarily on the community to get the word out about their grand opening.
“We didn’t spend a lot of time or effort on advertising because we (know) that Searcy is a small community,” Moore said. “What we did was put out a really good product.”
For Moore, it’s all about fresh, healthy options.
“I use farm-raised products from local growers; we use fresh chicken, we fly in fresh salmon,” Moore said.
During the interview, a server came in and asked what the special was tonight. Moore turned to Chef Jordan Goetz and asked, “What’s fresh?”
Lori’s Grill doesn’t boast a 10-page menu, but that was exactly their intention.
“We kept the menu small so we could make everything hand-crafted and special,” Goetz said.
Moore said she takes pride in her own cooking as well. She cooks all of the desserts herself from scratch.
“These are all my recipes,” Moore said. “All our dishes are made by hand. Everything is made from scratch.”
A personal quest for Moore is to keep her food healthy and good tasting.
“Whenever you go to a restaurant and you look at the low-calorie menu, it’s not very good,” Moore said.
“Well, you can come here and get this great, hearty meal that tastes great and is good for you. And that’s really hard to find.”
Moore even showed me pictures of the kitchen at Lori’s Grill and told me exactly what they keep in their freezer. Most food is cooked fresh though. I can testify that it’s one of the cleanest restaurant kitchens I’ve ever seen.
With one of the friendliest atmospheres I’ve ever been in, you won’t step into Lori’s without feeling like family. She and her staff treat each other and their guests with respect and a smile.
“We’ve set up an atmosphere where we want you to escape the world,” Moore said. “Come in, listen to some relaxing music and enjoy your meal and your life.”
