LITTLE ROCK — Ohio-based franchiser
Marco’s Pizza, which has outlets in North Little Rock and Sherwood, is on the verge of opening another in west Little Rock, 11601 N. Rodney Parham Road, in the L-shaped shopping center where Rodney Parham meets Green Mountain Drive and Hinson Road. We have a phone number - (501) 978-0022 - but were unable to get anybody to answer it (even though we sat for a long time on hold earlier this week waiting for a “representative”).
We’re apparently a couple of weeks behind the curve, but
Cozymel’s Mexican Grill
,10 Shackleford Drive, Little Rock, has closed. A note on the door says “Cozymel’s will no longer be open to the public effective IMMEDIATELY!!! Sorry for any inconvenience!!!” And no, we don’t know why. The restaurant started out as part of a national chain, a subgroup of Brinker International; the Little Rock restaurant, however, had been independently owned for some time.
Joe-D Belknap, general manager of Brady Mountain Resort and Marina in Royal, strongly objected to a mention in a Sept. 20 review of
Bruno’s Italian Bistro
of a partnership between that new west Little Rock restaurant’s Bruno Beqiri and the family thatoperates that resort, where apparently he had been working until earlier this summer. Belknap denies that the resort is in any way associated with Beqiri or the restaurant. Beqiri says he did, in fact, work for the resort until recently, and admits he has been using a credit-card machine that belonged there but is in the process of switching.
The Arkansas Local Food Network is putting on the first
Little Rock Local Food Tour, 12:30-5 p.m. Oct. 14. The event will start at the Bernice Garden Farmers Market, 14th and Main streets, Little Rock, and will wind, via foot, bicycle “and even hay riding” around the South Main Street area, “touring community gardens, restaurants, businesses, farms and artisan producer stands,” according to a news release, “with stops, samples and demonstrations along the way.” (Take your own bike and cold drink.)
The tour will end with a locally sourced, four-course dinner and show, 5-7 p.m. in the Bernice Garden, catered by the Boulevard Bread Co. team, with wine and Diamond Bear beer, plus local food stories and music provided by Tales From the South.
Tickets for the tour are $25, $10 for children 12 and under; for the dinner, $45, or sold as a package with the tour, $65, available at several downtown and South Main locations. Proceeds will gotoward the first edition of the Arkansas Local Food Network “Fresh” Local Food Directory, a list and map of central Arkansas community gardens, farms, restaurants and businesses. E-mail arlocalfoodnetwork@gmail.com or visit arlocalfoodnetwork.org.
Has a restaurant opened - or closed - near you in the last week or so? Does your favorite eatery have a new menu? Is there a new chef in charge? Drop us a line. Call (501) 399-3667 or (501) 378-3513, or send a note to Restaurants, Weekend Section, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 121 E. Capitol Ave., Little Rock, Ark. 72201. Send e-mail to:
Weekend, Pages 38 on 10/04/2012