FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) -- Hundreds of thousands of people will be riding into Northwest Arkansas for the Bikes, Blues & BBQ motorcycle rally this coming week.
An estimated 400,000 people attended last year’s rally. With close to half a million people staying in the area for almost a week, local restaurants are preparing for a busy week.
"They compare it a lot to the NFL season, which I’ve definitely had my fair of that in the last week or two," said Tonya Shelton, Foghorn's assistant manager. "The entire place is definitely packed from one side to the other, so we get our work cut out for us definitely."
Shelton said they have even hired more staff.
"We put an ad out on Craig’s List. We pretty much advertise anywhere that we can," said Shelton. "Anybody we know we try to get in and fill out an application if they’re personable, have any kind of experience, we have them come in."
Shelton said they ordered more silverware and, of course, more food.
"Our inventory as far as food and prep goes, we have pretty much doubled or tripled it compared to our off-season where we don’t have [the rally], NFL, football games or any home games," she said.