TRANSITIONS

Gail's Diner, formerly the Starlite Diner, 250 E. Military Drive at MacArthur Drive, North Little Rock, is on track to open Saturday, serving breakfast and lunch, 6 a.m.-3 p.m. daily (owner Gail Dawn may tweak the hours slightly once the place is up and running). The menu will feature country breakfast, burgers, sandwiches, pizza and home-cooking dishes. The phone number is (501) 747-2193.

Le Star Pizzeria, 4216 E. Kiehl Ave., Sherwood, has closed and the phone number, (501) 992-0300, has been disconnected. One of our sharp-eyed colleagues spotted a sign on the side of the building touting its eventual replacement as a "New York-style pizzeria," but we have no other details. We will, however, keep you posted.

Burger Fix, 1800 Club Manor Drive, Maumelle, has also closed. According to an Oct. 11 posting on its Facebook page, "We tried hard to make it work here in our home town but the unpredictable sporadic sales and constantly rising expenses don't create a successful business venture." The owners have also used the page to thank other area businesses, present and future, for pitching in and helping find jobs for the restaurant's employees.

A sharp-eyed colleague spotted a "For rent" sign on the front of the building that has housed Nom Noms Mexican Grill N Chill, 3371 Central Ave., Hot Springs. Co-owner Rafael Alvarez, speaking from the restaurant's recently opened second location in McKinney, Texas, says the restaurant is temporarily closed during the search for a new Spa City location. "We're seeing what opens up," he explains, during Hot Springs' slow winter season, and hopes to be in a new spot by the time the racing season heats up the area restaurant business come January. Meanwhile, the restaurant phone number, (501) 623-8588, remains connected to a voice mailbox.

Something called Nashville Rockin Grill is under construction in the two storefronts that until recently housed an art studio at 10832 Maumelle Blvd., North Little Rock, next door to Morningside Bagels. The state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board lists a William M. Bray as having filed for a hotel/restaurant mixed drink license.

Lots of places, downtown and elsewhere, strive constantly to boost their dinner business, but at EJ's Eats & Drinks, 523 Center St., Little Rock, they've got an actual named game plan, the "Dine Downtown" project. Co-owners Glynda Tarpley and Jim Miners brag in a recent news release that it's bearing fruit and that EJ's has been experiencing an increase in post-3 p.m. weekday business. The phone number is (501) 666-3700; the website, ejslittlerock.com.

Acadia, 3000 Kavanaugh Blvd. in Little Rock's Hillcrest neighborhood, Poynter has installed its fall menu, including a grilled-chicken-and-peanut stew with coconut milk, ginger, cilantro, bell peppers and onion, and a jerk-spiced pork tenderloin with creamy black bean, corn and cumin rice and a cilantro-lime slaw. The autumn edition of the perennial sea scallops dish involves tomato-Jack cheese grits and a bacon-espagnole sauce. And in case we've neglected to mention it, the restaurant has expanded its fixed price option through the week -- $25.75 per person, your choice of three courses (soup-first course-entree, soup-entree-dessert or first course-entree-dessert; $32.75 if you're ordering the pan-seared 6-ounce beef tenderloin, now prepared with a bleu cheese demi-glace, served with sriracha mashed potatoes). Hours are 5:30-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday. The phone number is (501) 603-9630.

And speaking of new fall menus, Chef Jeffrey Moore at Terry's Finer Foods, 5018 Kavanaugh Blvd., Little Rock, has released his, both lunch and dinner. "It is a mix of our traditional meals but with fresh pairings of veggies," says co-owner Lex Golden, "and also a couple of French stews (Coq au Vin and Beef Bourguignon) and new desserts (including a bourbon-poached pear with goat cheese, Marcona almonds and a red wine caramel)." Among the lunch items that leaped out at us: a turkey, pear and brie crepe with bechamel and field greens and the Hachis Parmentier "French Shepherd's Pie" with seasoned ground beef. And they're still offering a range of items that once graced the menu at Cordell's, including the tuna, chicken and potato salads and the Top Roast Sirloin, Dean's Famous and Secret Recipe.

For dinner, we also spotted sauteed chicken breast with Dijon jus or Roquefort beurre blanc, and a veal chop pommes puree with creamed spinach and green peppercorn beurre blanc -- and yes, they've kept the Dover Sole Meuniere. Hours are 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. The phone number is (501) 663-4154.

South on Main, 1304 Main St., Little Rock, is the only Arkansas restaurant among the 50 Southern eateries that Nashville, Tenn.-based food writer Chris Chamberlain lists as making the best pig dishes in his latest book, The Southern Foodie's Guide to the Pig. Chamberlain praises Chef Matt Bell's "Refined Southern" focus, discusses the menu at some length and includes a recipe for the restaurant's Bacon Salad With "Deviled" Egg. The book, $24.99, came out in September from publisher Thomas Nelson.

And we heard from Piro Pizza partner Jason (not Josh) Neidhardt, who confirms that the restaurant, at 1318 S. Main St., Little Rock (its neighbors on that block include South on Main and Midtown Billiards), is on track for a November opening, and noted that his partners include Bart Barlogie Jr. and Eric Nelson, but no longer Jamie Moses, who, he says, "is no longer involved with the project." Updates on the project will appear on the Facebook page, facebook.com/piropizzalr; we stand corrected and we'll keep you posted.

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, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203. Send email to:

eharrison@arkansasonline.com

Weekend on 10/16/2014

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