In case you missed Cyd King's report in Friday's Business section, Juanita's Live Music LLC, managed by Reed Lewallen, has put up for sale the name and restaurant equipment of Juanita's Mexican Cafe and Bar, 614 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, with an asking price of $159,000. The building stays in the hands of owner/landlord Dennis Long and the music side of the business will remain in Lewallen's hands. "The owners have families now, and the restaurant portion of the business takes a lot of time and expertise," a news release from the Davidson Law Firm noted. "New restaurant management will allow the owners to focus on the live music concerts and other business interests."
Mark Abernathy, now owner of the Loca Luna and Red Door, 3519 and 3701 Old Cantrell Road, respectively, and a couple of partners opened Juanita's in 1986 at 1300 Main St. (now occupied by Oxford American magazine and South on Main). It moved to the River Market District five years ago into a space that had failed to support a couple of establishments, most recently Bill Street Bar and Grill.
Speaking of Loca Luna, Abernathy says work is "in full swing" on the "bold Arkansas bistro's" rain-delayed makeover, which he expects to be complete by the end of July. "We're working on the outside, we're working on the inside, and the menu is almost done," he says. He has been keeping the establishment open during construction -- "I decided not to close; I didn't want my folks to be laid off for a week, and the customers don't seem to mind, we're working around them, and they've been digging watching the transformation." But he will shut down all day Monday for the repaving of the parking lot and some interior painting.
Among the "great new menu items" he has been working on are chicken fried chicken skins; "we're changing up our grilled items some," including a 31/2 pound Tomahawk (bone-in) rib-eye; and a Creole cornbread smothered with crawfish etouffee. And he's adding some pizzas to the list -- "We had the [area's] first wood-fired brick oven, and we're not losing that," he explains. "Two-thirds of the menu is staying [the] same; we're going into [our] 19th year, and there are some items that have been on [the] menu since then, because people love 'em." He's also revamping the bar setup, adding a number of craft beers on tap, cans and bottles, and more liquor. "Arguably we've got the best-stocked bar in the state," he says.
Hours are 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday, 5:30-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 5:30-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5:30-9 p.m. Sunday. The phone number remains (501) 663-4666; the website is localuna.com.
Abernathy is also making menu changes for all three meals at next-door Red Door, specifically "a cool new breakfast item, the Big Bad Biscuit served in a hot pan." The construction of the cat-head biscuit changes daily; he recently offered up one with cream gravy, fried oysters, a poached egg and pepper jelly.
Owner Jerry Barakat says the target date for the debut of brunch at Kemuri -- Sushi, Seafood, Robata, 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd., Little Rock, is July 26. The phone number is (501) 660-4100. We'll keep you posted.
One of our sharp-eyed colleagues has spotted a Hardee's replacing the Burger King inside the convenience store portion of the Shamrock station at 3900 E. Kiehl Ave., at Brookswood Road, Sherwood. There are, on the Little Rock-North Little Rock axis, two other 24-hour Hardee's outlets -- a free-standing place at 4901 John F. Kennedy Blvd. at McCain Boulevard in North Little Rock, and one at the Loves Travel Stop, 11700 Interstate 30, near the Bass Pro Shops in the Otter Creek Road interchange, Little Rock.
You will recall we reported some time ago that Tequila Express, which had opened in December in the former D'Carlo's building, 12325 Stagecoach Road, Little Rock, had closed at the end of May without our even knowing it was there. Now our colleagues at Sync report speaking to a man who identified himself as the owner, who told them the restaurant has been closed for remodeling and will reopen this month, with the addition of an ice cream-soda fountain counter "and other new features." A call to the listed phone number, (501) 747-2250, still produces a recording that it has been changed to an unknown number.
The Flying Saucer, 323 President Clinton Ave., in Little Rock's River Market District, will introduce Stone's Throw Brewery's Anniversary Barrel-Aged Stout for a pair of fundraisers, contributing $1 from each purchased glass to the ALS Association during Ales for ALS, starting at 5 p.m. today (Stone's Throw will also have representatives at a brewer's table with giveaways), and the Arkansas chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 5-8 p.m. July 23 (brewery swag will be raffled off every half hour; raffle tickets are $2). Call (501) 372-8032 or visit the Facebook page, tinyurl.com/pyo2stk.
Louis Williams of Next Level Barbecue and "the Ronin Chef," T. Porter Montgomery, will be selling classic barbecue and barbecue fusion sandwiches (Reubens, Cubanos and Porter's signature "Hamsfire" pulled pork) at Reels and Grills, a Hot Springs Village summer series showing films selected for the 23rd annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (Oct. 9-18). Suzanne Crocker's documentary All the Time in the World will be shown at dark (around 8 p.m.) Friday in Grove Park, 1105 DeSoto Blvd., Hot Springs Village. The documentary follows a family of five that spends nine months in the Yukon wilderness, leaving behind cellphones, clocks, computers, the Internet, television, electricity and running water. Admission is free; sandwiches will cost $5-$8. Call (501) 620-4520 or visit tinyurl.com/nnoyxn3.
There are 10 Arkansas restaurants on Wine Spectator magazine's 2015 Restaurant Wine List Awards (in the magazine's Aug. 31 issue, on newsstands July 21), which highlights eateries worldwide that offer the best wine selections. All of them carry the one-glass designation of the magazine's entry-level Award of Excellence, the lowest and least exclusive of three levels, and are holdovers from the 2014 list: Anderson's Cajun's Wharf, Capers, Ciao Baci, Copper Grill and So Restaurant-Bar in Little Rock; in Northwest Arkansas, Bordino's and Vetro 1925 in Fayetteville; Local Flavor Cafe in Eureka Springs; and River Grille in Bentonville; and Postmasters Grill in Camden. Two 2014 restaurants fell off the list -- Little Rock's Sonny Williams' Steak Room and the Ruth's Chris Steak House in Bentonville. No new places made it.
Meanwhile, Wine Enthusiast magazine has listed its 100 favorite wine-savvy restaurants across the country (tinyurl.com/pp5drzg). Its Southern region list includes 19 restaurants -- none of which are in Arkansas.
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 07/16/2015