Brothers Robby and Chris McIntosh — grandsons of the late civil rights activist and restaurateur Robert “Say” McIntosh — will celebrate the grand opening of their new restaurant, Say McIntosh Restaurant at 11 a.m. Thursday, July 25.
Named in honor of their grandfather, who was also known as “The Sweet Potato Pie King of Little Rock,” the restaurant will feature his signature sweet potato pie (whole or by the slice), as well as fried catfish, burgers, grilled chicken sandwiches and barbecue sandwiches. A soul food menu will be available on Sunday, Robby McIntosh said, that will feature several of his grandfather’s recipes, including fried chicken, turkey chops and a variety of vegetables such as turnip greens, candied yams, purple hull peas and fried okra. More on that nickname and McIntosh’s history as a sometimes-restaurateur from Arkansas Times editor David Koon’s 2011 cover story on Say:
McIntosh, who moved from Osceola — first to Woodson, then to Granite Mountain —with his family when he was 6 years old, spent much of his life involved in the restaurant business as a 9-to-5 job, starting work as a waiter at Franke’s Cafeteria downtown when he was a teen-ager. He eventually owned a series of restaurants in the Black community, where he served up barbecue, plate lunches and his locally-famous sweet potato pie — earning him the possibly self-bestowed title of “The Sweet Potato Pie King” of Little Rock. One reason why those restaurants never tended to last long-term is foreshadowed in the Gazette’s Nov. 25, 1976, story about McIntosh preparing a free Thanksgiving dinner for 500 impoverished Little Rock residents at the first incarnation of his restaurant at High Street (now Martin Luther King) and Wright Avenue. As his friends will tell you, he has always been generous to a fault, and was usually broke because he gave away everything he had, including paying for at least part of the dozens of bikes, dolls and other toys he handed out to poor children every year at Christmastime as Little Rock’s premier Black Santa Claus.
In an interview with the Arkansas Times last December, Robby McIntosh said he started working in his grandfather’s restaurants when he was 11 years old and instantly developed a passion for the business. “It’s all I ever wanted to do,” he said.
Robby McIntosh first debuted the McIntosh Grill on Wheels food truck in 2020, giving away free meals to unhoused people at Union Rescue Mission’s Nehemiah House. In April 2023, he opened a second McIntosh Grill on Wheels truck and said he was considering purchasing a third when he decided to pivot and open a brick and mortar in the former Taco Bell across from University Plaza at 6223 Colonel Glenn Road.
“I kept riding past the Taco Bell building, and it seemed like it was just winking at me,” Robby McIntosh said. “I just prayed about it, and I went with my heart.”
The grand opening will include a ribbon cutting ceremony with the Little Rock Chamber and Mayor Frank Scott Jr., Robby McIntosh said. There will also be a balloon release to celebrate the life of Robert “Say” McIntosh, who died in June 2023 at the age of 79. Robby McIntosh said guests are encouraged to bring orange or white balloons.