Friday will be the last day for Your Mama's Good Food, 215 Center St., Little Rock. The restaurant moved and changed owners, not necessarily in that order, from its previous location in the Catlett-Prein Tower Building, 220 W. Fourth St., Little Rock, in late 2011. The phone number, at least until Friday, is (501) 372-1811.
According to its Facebook page, the Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe in McCain Mall, 3929 McCain Blvd., North Little Rock, is opening Sept. 23. We got a disconnect notice at the phone number the page lists, (501) 218-8822, but we'll keep you posted.
An advisory for patrons of Bruno's Little Italy, 310 Main St., Little Rock: The city, which has been working on the streetscape in the 100 and 200 blocks of Main Street in recent weeks, was scheduled to close off Main between Third and Fourth streets closed to vehicular traffic and public parking on Wednesday for somewhere in the vicinity of three to five weeks, "in order to facilitate the improvements," we're told, while, according to the city, "construction crews continue working on a Creative Corridor project that includes adding a plaza with rain and light gardens in the area ... to maintain a safe working environment for construction crews and the general public." It's not supposed to affect bicycle or pedestrian traffic, but it will mean you may have an extra challenge getting from wherever you end up parking to the restaurant's front door. "Please be patient," pleads the Downtown Partnership, "the results will be worth it!"
A block away from that, the Downtown Partnership sneaked four food trucks back to the Capitol Avenue-Main Street crux Friday with very little, if any, notice, resuming the Main Street Food Truck Fridays, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Fridays through October (with the exception of Oct. 3, the day before the Oct. Main Street Food Truck Festival, which will occupy several blocks of Main Street). The festival Facebook page, facebook.com/MainStreetFoodTruckFestival, will supposedly let you know which trucks will be out there each week.
And while we're being festive on Main Street, this year's Arkansas Cornbread Festival, renamed the Landers Fiat Arkansas Cornbread Festival, will be 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov. 8 on Main between 13th and 16th streets. They're adding a showcase this year for professional restaurateurs/caterers and increasing the amounts of cash prizes for the amateurs -- Best of Show will take home $1,200; Best Traditional and Best Non-traditional winners will each receive $750. Details and registration forms are available at arkansascornbreadfestival.com/entry-forms.
And speaking of Main Street food festivals -- this one across the river in North Little Rock -- food vendors from El Salvador, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Brazil, plus salsa and mariachi music, highlight the second annual Latino Food Festival, 6-10 p.m. Saturday on the Argenta Farmers Market Plaza, 520 Main St., in the Argenta district. Sponsors are El Latino and the Arkansas Times; tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, free for kids 12 and younger. Proceeds benefit the Argenta Arts District. Call (501) 375-2985 or visit arktimes.com/latinofood.
Nearby, Diamond Bear Brewing Co. has begun offering walking tours of its new facility at 600 N. Broadway, North Little Rock, starting and ending in the Tap Room, with a guided tasting session. Tour groups are limited to 25, first-come, first-served. The tours (5 p.m. Friday and 2 and 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, plus one in Spanish at 3 p.m. on the first Sunday of each month) last about 30-45 minutes; cost is $7, including beer samples (you must, of course, be 21 or older) and a $5 souvenir pint glass. Military personnel get a $2 discount; so do national and state home brewery members. You can also set up private group tours. Call (501) 708-2739 (BREW) or visit diamondbear.com.
Just open: 610, 610 Center St., Little Rock. The menu features salads, sandwiches, burgers and daily specials, including Meatloaf Muffins on Monday, red beans and rice on Tuesday and chicken pot pie on Wednesday. Hours are 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday, 4-11 p.m. Monday-Thursday Friday 4 p.m.-midnight Friday and 6 p.m.-midnight Saturday. The phone number is (501) 374-4678.
Something called Satchmo's Bar & Grill is set to move into the revolving door space at 1900 W. Third St., Little Rock (adjacent to Warehouse Liquor on the west side of the Third Street Viaduct), that most recently has been a private club called Twelve Modern Lounge. We have no details yet, but it is an interesting choice for the name of an establishment in a town on which Louis Armstrong, whose nickname was Satchmo, teed off in no uncertain terms during the 1957 desegregation crisis.
And with this disclaimer -- we're only reporting, neither endorsing nor commenting upon, the picks, nor offering speculation on what might or ought to be on such a list -- we present Garden and Gun magazine's website posting (gardenandgun.com/article/best-Southern-burger-spots) of a "state-by-state look to our readers' favorite burger joints." On Arkansas' list (all suggestions, sayeth the site, came via Facebook): Shorty's Bar-B-Q in Conway; Feltner Brothers and Hugo's in Fayetteville; Big Orange, Buffalo Grill, Capital Bar and Grill, David's Burgers, Leo's Greek Castle and Midtown Billiards in Little Rock; Oark General Store in Oark; CJ's Butcher Boy Burgers in Russellville; and Cotham's in Scott.
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 09/11/2014