Sit & Spin Laundromat-Restaurant Hybrid Opens on Leverett Ave

If you ever find yourself with a laundry basket overflowing with dirty clothes and maddening hunger, the perfect place just opened up on north Leverett Ave. in Fayetteville.

Sit & Spin, located at 737 N Leverett Ave., is now in the long-unoccupied Pizza Hut building after renovations that turned the place into a restaurant-laundromat hybrid, which opened in late April during the recent flooding. With the location near the University of Arkansas, the spot offers a new eco-friendly neighborhood hang out where customers can wash their clothes and grab a beer or a bite to eat while they wait.

Owned and operated by locals Hannah Withers, Ben Gitchel and A.B. Merritt, the idea for the hybrid business came together in August 2015. As the saying goes, “once a Pizza Hut, always a Pizza Hut”, the building required extensive renovations to come up to code. Merritt oversees the “Spin” side while Withers and Gitchel run the “Sit” restaurant.

“You see so many buildings in Fayetteville torn down and replaced with new buildings,” Merritt said. “I remember watching a documentary about green buildings and they said the greenest building is the one that’s already existing that you utilize. It was a process, but we did it.”

Staff Photo Nick Brothers
On the “Sit” side of Sit & Spin is a retro-styled diner that offers up a menu of sliders, fresh donuts, salads, beer and organic sodas. One of the menu hallmarks is the “slapshot” pictured in the left corner of the right basket, that is a ball of slivered onions battered and deep fried.

The eco-friendly business doesn’t sell plastic goods, recycles, locally sources as much food as possible, offers complimentary eco detergent and fabric softener, uses LED lights and offers reusable cups.

The “Sit” portion of the building operates as a retro-themed diner that offers up cheeseburger sliders, salads, pickles and fries and fresh to donuts with various toppings. There’s also a rotating menu of local craft beer, wine and organic sodas and bottled beverages. The restaurant is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. A bay door locks the restaurant off from the laundromat during the closed hours.

“What we were going to serve with the laundromat sort of started to come together when Eugene Sargent helped us create the sign for the place,” Withers said. “It has this retro Route 66 feel from that era, so there’s a classic style to the way we do sliders to the way slider places did them in the 50s in the middle of Kansas.”

The Border Burger, which is beef, sharp cheddar, pickled jalapeños chimichurri aioli is a clear highlight on the menu next to the Boss Burger, which is beef, provolone cheese, bacon and raspberry peach sauce. There’s also the vegetarian black bean burger patty available from Greenhouse Grill that can be swapped in. Another menu hallmark is the “slapshot”, a ball of slivered onions battered and deep fried, served with a side of buttermilk ranch. The menu is also rather affordable, as sliders are all under $4, salads are $8 or less, and donuts are $3 for 4.

Staff Photo Nick Brothers
There are 20 dryers and 19 washers — each given names like Tallulah and Monty — on the “Spin” side of Sit & Spin, where four of them are for oversized loads. The laundromat is self-service, with complimentary eco-friendly detergent and all the machines are wired to accept credit cards and Apple and Android Pay.

The laundromat portion of the building, “Spin”, is open 24-7 for self-service. There are 20 dryers and 19 washers — each given names like Tallulah and Monty — on the “Spin” side of Sit & Spin, where four of them are for oversized loads. The laundromat is self-service, with complimentary eco-friendly detergent and all the machines are wired to accept credit cards and Apple and Android Pay.

Local sculptor Eugene Sargent designed and built the Las Vegas-style Sit & Spin sign. Sargent’s work can be seen around town, he created the 45-foot-long worm that’s near the castle in Wilson Park, the train at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, and the butterfly bench at Leverett Elementary School.

There’s free wifi, and all of the outlets have USB ports. Withers said she hopes students in the area will use it as a place to study while doing laundry or grabbing a bite to eat.

As for the future, there’s a potential for events, Withers said. There might be a DJ night or a community clothes swap where the excess unpicked clothes are donated to local shelters and thrift stores.

For more information, check out Sit & Spin on their Facebook page.