TRANSITIONS

Flying Fish of Little Rock, 511 President Clinton Ave., took in $3,315,960 in 2014.
Flying Fish of Little Rock, 511 President Clinton Ave., took in $3,315,960 in 2014.

In case you missed this in print or online last week, our crack web staff reported that Little Rock businesses sold more than a half-billion dollars' worth of prepared foods and nonalcoholic beverages in 2014, a new high sales mark.

The Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, which collects the city's 2 percent tax on the sales, reported that restaurants, food trucks, private clubs, concessionaires and caterers sold a combined $501.9 million last year, about 5.4 percent higher than $476.2 million reported in all of 2013.

The Chick-fil-A outlet at 6201 W. Markham St., across from Park Plaza, was the year's top-selling restaurant, bringing in $4.63 million. Two other Chick-fil-As (or should that be Chicks-fil-A?) at 12500 W. Markham St. and 11525 Cantrell Road, were No. 4 and 7, respectively.

With $4.62 million in sales, the multiple restaurants in the concourse at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport had the second-highest sales total; Cheddar's Casual Cafe, on South University Avenue, was the highest among individual, full-service restaurants, with a take of $4.23 million.

Meanwhile, here's the 2014 list of the top 25 full-service, nonlarge chain restaurants in Little Rock (for these purposes, "large chains" are restaurants with more than 15 locations):

25.) Tokyo House, 11 Shackleford Drive, $1,466,872

24.) U.S. Pizza Co.-Hillcrest, 2710 Kavanaugh Blvd., $1,491,914

23.) Sonny Williams Steak Room, 500 President Clinton Ave., $1,514,949

22.) U.S. Pizza Co.-Rodney Parham, 9300 N. Rodney Parham Road, $1,658,904

21.) Faded Rose, 1619 Rebsamen Park Road, $1,666,053

20.) Shotgun Dan's-Markham, 10923 W. Markham St., $1,742,162

19.) Whole Hog Cafe West, 12111 W. Markham St., $1,758,416

18.) Butcher Shop Steak House, 10825 Hermitage Road, $1,783,159

17.) Panda Garden, 2604 S. Shackleford Road, $1,802,324

16.) Izzy's, 5601 Ranch Drive, $1,808,909

15.) Cache Restaurant, 425 President Clinton Ave., $1,855,549

14.) The Purple Cow, 11602 Chenal Parkway, $1,935,080

13.) David's Burgers-Bowman, 101 S. Bowman Road, $1,969,423

12.) Community Bakery, 1200 S. Main St., $2,007,121

11.) Arthur's Prime Steakhouse/Oceans at Arthur's, 27 Rahling Circle, $2,073,053

10.) Franke's, 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road, $2,104,185

9.) ZaZa Fine Salad & Wood Oven Pizza Co., 5600 Kavanaugh Blvd., $2,128,524

8.) Big Orange Burgers, Salads, & Shakes, 17809 Chenal Parkway, $2,190,076

7.) Anderson's Cajun's Wharf, 2400 Cantrell Road, $2,236,866

6.) Whole Hog Cafe, 2516 Cantrell Road, $2,241,019

5.) Corky's Ribs & BBQ, 12005 Westhaven Drive, $2,257,970

4.) Local Lime, 17815 Chenal Parkway, $2,340,637

3.) Ya Ya's Euro Bistro, 17711 Chenal Parkway, $2,594,906

2.) Big Orange-Midtown, 207 N University Ave., $2,918,177

1.) Flying Fish of Little Rock, 511 President Clinton Ave., $3,315,960.

...

What management cites as an overwhelming influx of customers with the opening of Boulevard Bistro and Bar, conjoined with the original Heights location of Boulevard Bread Co., 1920 N. Grant St., Little Rock, has prompted them to shut down their fledgling Sunday brunch for a few weeks while things settle down and they construct a new brunch menu. The bakery/deli portion of the establishment will be open 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays; the phone number is (501) 663-5949. And we'll keep you posted.

At least six food trucks -- Beast, Pie Hole, Waffle Wagon, Hot Rod Wieners, Katmandu Mo Mo and Southern Gourmasian -- will be parked and vending at Chenal Pointe at The Divide, 6400 Divide Parkway, Little Rock, as the apartment complex hosts the First West Little Rock Food Truck Festival, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday. The complex is at the end of The Divide Parkway, off of Cantrell Road, near its intersection with Chenal Parkway. Call (501) 786-2526.

American Pie Pizza's Lakewood branch, 4830 North Hills Blvd., North Little Rock, will host a wine tasting with sommelier and Democrat-Gazette wine columnist Lorri Hambuchen at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. The $23 cost includes five wines and light appetizers; seating is limited and you must have a reservation -- call (501) 753-0081.

And it's time again for the Sam's Club National BBQ Tour, kicking off Saturday in Kissimee, Fla., with 750 teams competing (under Kansas City Barbeque Society rules) with a total purse of $500,000, $50,000 of which will go to the grand champion. None of the 25 local qualifying events or five regional finals will be in Arkansas on the fifth annual tour -- the closest is May 30 at the Sam's Club on Indian Lake Boulevard in Hendersonville, Tenn. -- but the finals will take place Oct. 10 at the Sam's Club headquarters in Bentonville. A complete tour schedule is available online at kcbs.us/samstour.

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 02/19/2015

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