
Valhalla Restaurant & Axe Throwing is located in the rear of the beautifully renovated, century-old Palace Theatre in historic downtown Benton. Enter on the right side of the building. Scroll down for a TLDR summary of dates and links in this article.
Live music at Valhalla every week? Yes please! All through Spring and Summer, this new* restaurant, at 224 W. South Street in historic downtown Benton, will host live musical artists on Thursday nights beginning at 6 p.m. Watch their Facebook page to see who’s playing each week.
Is Valhalla Restaurant and Axe Throwing new?* Yes and no. Owners Shawn and Denise Hipskind opened for business in April 2020, but because they opened during a pandemic, they saved their grand opening to coincide with their one-year anniversary. Watch their social media for an update on how they will be celebrating the grand opening and anniversary on April 8th – 10th. It’s amazing how far this property – formerly the Saline County Library – has come, since the Hipskinds purchased it in May 2019. See this previous article for a photo gallery and some history.

Left: City Attorney Brent Houston and Benton Mayor Tom Farmer present Palace keys to real estate developer Shawn Hipskind in May 2019. Right: Palace renovations as of Feb. 2020. Click image to enlarge.
Besides the new addition of live music, Valhalla already has a lot going on, with tasty brick oven pizzas on 48-hour aged dough made in-house, artisan sandwiches, specialty salads, several kinds of wings, and a full-service bar with craft beers and cocktails.
Valhalla has some other special announcements of things to come. As of Friday, March 26th, they will have later closing times. On Wednesdays and Thursdays they’ll close at 9 p.m., and on Fridays and Saturdays, closing time will extend to 11 p.m. They’ll also have a special bar food menu that is available after 9 p.m. on the weekends – Raider Tots, Fried Thiccles (pickles) and all those delicious wings.
Don’t forget about Sunday brunch hours, 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. They offer breakfast pizza, giant cinnamon rolls and choose between a sweet or savory charcuterie board that feeds 2-3 people. Don’t miss the special Easter brunch planned for Sunday April 4th, with french toast and pickled deviled eggs.
And then there’s the spacious outdoor section. They have a covered patio for dining and an uncovered area with more seating and yard games like baggo, ping pong, giant Jenga and Connect Four. The outdoor area is family-friendly and dog-friendly.
There’s more upstairs, with three lanes of axe-throwing and three bed and breakfast apartments for rent for a party or for overnights.
You can go to Valhalla’s website to reserve axe throwing or order food for dine-in or take-out. Or you can call (501) 316-4082.
Too Long, Didn’t Read:
- Thursdays now through Summer – Live music after 6 p.m.
- Mar 26th – Open later!
– Wed & Thu, 11-9
– Fri & Sat, 11-11
– Sun, 10:30-2:30
– Closed Mon & Tue - Apr 4th – Easter brunch
- Apr 8th & 10th – Grand Opening/One-Year Anniversary
- Get info and order food or reserve axe throwing at valhallabenton.com or call (501) 316-4082.
- Keep up with specials, live music announcements and more on Valhalla’s social media at facebook.com/valhallabenton or instagram.com/valhallabenton.
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