LR's Main Street corridor draws 2 more restaurants

Two restaurants are planned for downtown Little Rock in the resurgent Main Street corridor.

Chris Tanner, owner of Cheers in the Heights, said Thursday that he will open Samantha's Tap Room and Wood Grill in the Mann on Main building, possibly by the end of the year.

Justin Patterson, owner of The Southern Gourmasian, a mobile restaurant, will make a home in the Sterling annex building at 219 W. Capitol Ave., he said.

Both restaurateurs said they chose those sites because of the boom in the reclamation of historic buildings, which now stands at $74.5 million in private investments and will approach $100 million with $22 million in tax revenue earmarked for establishing the Little Rock Technology Park.

Tanner said he has signed a lease for the entire 4,700 square feet on the ground level of the Mann on Main at 322 Main St., the last available piece of the mixed-use building restored by Moses and Tucker Real Estate and the Doyle Rogers Co. The rest of the space is leased to government agencies, 19 tenants in loft apartments and Bruno's Little Italy.

An existing mezzanine will be extended to create a private dining space, he said.

There will be a 60-foot bar, but "it's not going to be an over-the-top bar. If you want a fuzzy navel, it might not be the place for you."

Apropos of the name, however, there will be plenty of beer on tap. Wine, too.

All beer and wine will be on draft -- 32 taps for beer and 20 for wine, Tanner said. The open kitchen will have two wood grills.

The cuisine will resemble the menu at Cheers, but it will be sleeker and quicker, Tanner said. "If we do a burger, which we're going to, instead of doing a 7-ounce patty, I'm going to do 3 1/2-ounce patties. They'll grill in four minutes."

"It's not going to be fine dining; it's going to be cool casual," Tanner said.

There will be a patio about two-thirds of the way across the front of the restaurant.

Parking? Maybe a valet service, Tanner said.

Tanner has owned Cheers since 2001, though it has been open since 1979. He has sold his Cheers in Maumelle but retains rights over the menu and the brand, he said.

Patterson said he will lease 3,000 square feet in the Sterling annex, which leaves about 1,800 square feet. He said that space may become a bar.

Bryan Rogers bought the building in January for $185,000. It is adjacent to the Davidson building, which, along with the Hall building, is being converted into Capitol Lofts.

There will be several retail and food spaces on the ground level of those buildings.

Patterson has operated the mobile restaurant for about two years, he said.

The permanent space will "broaden the scope of what we do. And it's going to establish our brand. There's only so much you can do with 140 square feet."

He described his food and cooking style as a mix of Asian and Southern.

Business on 07/18/2014

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