The room at 14502 Cantrell Road that used to be the Capers Market is now a bakery kitchen. It belongs to Wendy Schay, who spent years laminating croissant dough by a French method that takes three days from start to finish. Jill McDonald, her business partner, told AY Magazine in January: "What was the Capers Market is now the bakery."
That one sentence holds most of this story. On this stretch of Cantrell, a long-running restaurant's closing worked like a ladder. The Croissanterie, which had outgrown its space, moved up into the bigger building. Its old suite a couple of blocks west then went to a newer, smaller kitchen that needed a starting point.
What 28 years left behind
Capers opened at 14502 Cantrell Road in 1997. Its last service was March 29, 2025, after 28 years. Founder Mary Beth Ringgold ran it until Dan Kovach took over ownership in 2021. When the closing was announced, Kovach called it bittersweet and said the team was looking forward to new opportunities, according to AY Magazine and the Arkansas Times.
Within a week of the closing announcement, a new tenant had been named.
A bakery that kept running out of room
On March 24, 2025, Schay and McDonald announced that The Croissanterie would leave 14710 Cantrell Road for the former Capers building. The Arkansas Times reported that customers had been asking them for a while to find a "bigger place." The move fit a pattern. Each step in the business's history had come when the previous setup got too small:
- 2019: The Croissanterie launched and regularly sold out at farmers markets.
- Late 2020: A custom-designed food truck was added as demand kept growing through COVID-19.
- A year later: The owners opened their first permanent location, where croissant sandwiches and a widely praised burger made the bakery known across the city.
- March 2025: They announced the move to the Capers building.
- January 15, 2026: The new location opened after nine months of renovation.
The original plan was to move in the summer of 2025. The renovation took until the new year. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette said January 15 was planned as a soft opening. AY Magazine called it the official opening.
Either way, the bakery that started at farmers market tables now runs out of a 6,000-square-foot building with 120 seats.
What the bigger building added
The move added more than seats. The Capers building has two full kitchens, so one can serve the dining room while the other runs as Schay's bakery and handles some catering. That layout makes room for things the old suite couldn't hold.
| Space | What it holds now |
|---|---|
| Main dining room | Part of the 120 seats in the 6,000-square-foot restaurant |
| Bakery kitchen | The former Capers Market, now set up for baking and future classes |
| Coffee lounge | Local coffees, couches and a cozy area meant for laptops and pastries |
| Patio | About 45 outdoor seats, open when the weather allows |
| The River Room | Private dining with AV hookups, open seating when it isn't rented |
The River Room's size depends on where you look. Schay told AY Magazine it would seat 40 to 60 people depending on the setup. The restaurant's own River Room page now says about 40 seated guests. That page also says a reservation needs at least a week's notice, a signed contract and a fee or deposit.
The staff grew with the building. The crew added 18 of its 33 employees before opening day. Schay asked the public to be patient while the new hires were trained, and she told AY Magazine:
"Even though we're a bigger space, we still want it to feel homey."
At the January opening, the menu stayed the same as at the old location, with new items and specials planned once the kitchen settled in. The current online menu lists a Harvest Salad with cranberries, apples, toasted pecans, bacon, pickled red onion, feta and honey mustard. The hours announced at opening were Tuesday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Those posted hours are breakfast and lunch only, so the bigger building hasn't turned The Croissanterie into a dinner restaurant.
The evening that's on the calendar
The exception is the supper club. According to the restaurant's supper club page, the next dinner is Wednesday, November 11, 2026. It's a prix fixe, six-course fundraiser for Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families. Tickets are $150 per person, with an optional $30 wine package. Tickets go on sale through the restaurant's newsletter, so signing up is the way to hear when they're available.
Several other things the move made possible haven't started yet. Schay told AY Magazine the bakery kitchen would let the team "hold classes again," and she mentioned cinnamon roll and croissant classes, with savory dishes possibly to follow. As of mid-October, the classes page says "coming soon" and points readers to the newsletter. Past offerings listed there include a French Croissant Workshop and a Cinnamon Roll Class. The holiday preorder page also says preorders haven't opened. Anyone planning a Thanksgiving or December pastry order should keep an eye on it. The restaurant does take catering requests now, with custom menus for corporate and private events.
Two blocks west, the suite didn't stay empty
The second half of the story is at 14710 Cantrell Road, Suite 5A. That's where The Croissanterie built its following, a "stone's throw" from its new home in AY Magazine's words and a couple of blocks west in the Democrat-Gazette's.
In its September 9 column, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that Eats & Drinks by Jaime had recently opened in that suite, in the space The Croissanterie left. It's a different kind of restaurant. Eats & Drinks by Jaime describes itself as a scratch kitchen serving Southern-style favorites, and it also offers catering. Its website highlights a Southern Burger, red beans and rice, banana pudding and a cinnamon-roll bundt cake.
Its posted hours are built around lunch: Monday and Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., closed Tuesday and Sunday. Within two blocks there are now two different midday options. The Croissanterie is open early with pastries, coffee and croissant sandwiches. Eats & Drinks by Jaime opens at 10 with a Southern plate. If you're planning around the schedules, the two close on different days. The Croissanterie's opening-day hours had it closed Monday, and Eats & Drinks by Jaime is closed Tuesday and Sunday.
How the chain worked
A 28-year restaurant closed. Within a week, a homegrown business that had moved from farmers market tables to a food truck to a suite announced it would take the larger building. Less than eight months after that move, its old suite had a new tenant with a different menu.
The Croissanterie took on the Capers building with more than five years of growth behind it, and it now has two kitchens, a private room and a patio. Eats & Drinks by Jaime opened in the restaurant suite the bakery left a couple of blocks away.
For anyone who lives near this part of Cantrell, the practical update is short. The Capers building now serves croissants and coffee from 7 a.m. Its next supper club is November 11, and classes and holiday preorders are announced through the newsletter. The bakery's old suite now serves red beans and rice and banana pudding at lunch.
Shops and restaurants changing hands near home affect your daily routine, and they can affect how you think about where you live. If you'd like to talk about what changes like these along Cantrell Road mean for your own plans, Inez Reeder would be glad to sit down with you, maybe over coffee at one of these two spots. Request a personalized market consultation whenever you're ready.
