A tuba player walks into a bathhouse (and turns it into a brewery)
A tuba player walks into a bathhouse (and turns it into a brewery)
Where to eat — and how to bathe — when you’re in Southwest Arkansas’ coolest little town.
Rose Schweikhart has a master’s degree in classical tuba, and now she runs a brewery in a bathhouse in Hot Springs.
It’s an almost impossible story when you think about it: A homebrewer with no business experience convinced the U.S. Department of the Interior to let her turn a historic building on National Park land into a brewpub serving beers made with the same thermal spring water that made the city so famous in the first place.
It was a years-long process, but in 2016, Superior Bathhouse Brewery opened in a 100-year-old building on Central Avenue that had been vacant for 30 years. It’s now a full service restaurant with top-notch food — think burgers, banh mi, fries and interesting dipping sauces — and a full-time brewer who keeps about 18 beers on tap.
We’re taking a deep dive into Hot Springs this week, first with an overview of the history. Today, I’m sharing some insights about where to eat and how to navigate the baths and find a hot springs experience that’s right for you. (The thermal mineral water is free to drink or collect from the city taps, but you’ll have to pay to take a bath in it. No open air bathing in the woods, sadly.)
RELATED: Changing my mind about historic Hot Springs
On Friday, I’ll tell you about a city-led endeavor to put murals on the high-profile buildings downtown and a couple of interesting art (and artist) encounters, but today, I’m focusing on where to eat and how to experience the baths.
So, if Superior Bathhouse is already on the top of your list, what else should you eat?
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