Natchez, in the Tower Building, Fourth and Center streets, Little Rock, will serve its last meals Friday and Saturday, chef-owner Alexis Jones confirmed last week via the restaurant's Facebook page: "This has been an incredible learning experience that I will always treasure. I would like to thank the local community for their loyal patronage and support throughout the past three years." Even the restaurant's most ardent supporters have been expecting this other shoe to drop after the restaurant ended its weekday lunch hours in mid-May, reducing its service to Friday-Saturday dinner and a Sunday brunch that never materialized. Make reservations for the two final meals at (501) 372-1167.
While it was pending, and just after it opened, there was some doubt on just how to pronounce the name of Piro Brick Oven & Barroom, 1318 Main St., Little Rock: "PEE-ro" or "PIE-ro." Co-owners Jason Neidhardt and Bart Barlogie confirmed it was PIE-ro. Which has brought them afoul of a three-restaurant Memphis minichain with a similar name: Pyro Fresh Fire Pizza. So if they'd gone with "PEE-ro" instead, maybe they'd have been free and clear, but in order to avoid any conflicts "now or during potential expansion into new markets at a later date," according to a news release, they've changing the name to Raduno Brick Oven & Barroom. According to the release: "Sticking with the Italian nature of the restaurant, 'raduno' translates to mean a place of gathering, meeting, get together, or rally." Oh, and they're also adding a new growler program to the bar menu. Hours will remain 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday. The phone number remains (501) 374-7476; they've also changed the website URL to radunolr.com, though the old URL, pirolr.com, will still get you there.
The new Slim Chickens outlet at 7831 Alcoa Road, Benton, opened July 13. Hours are 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m. daily. The phone number is (501) 408-4677. Meanwhile, Sept. 8 is the target date for the opening of the location coming to 7514 Cantrell Road (at the Keightly Drive/Mississippi Street intersection), Little Rock. We'll keep you posted.
Second week of August is the target date for the opening of the BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse at the southeast corner of the McCain Mall lot, east of the Firestone auto shop, 3941 McCain Blvd., North Little Rock. Hours will be 11 a.m.-midnight Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Friday-Saturday. The restaurant has three listed phone numbers -- (501) 753-4298, (501) 753-4265 and (501) 753-4262 -- at none of which were we able to get an answer by deadline. The restaurant will be central Arkansas' second outlet; the first opened in March 2014 in the Shackleford Crossings shopping center, 2624 S. Shackleford Road, Little Rock, (501) 404-2000. The website, bjsrestaurants.com, still does not list it as an active location.
A 3:30 p.m. ribbon-cutting July 30 will kick off the grand opening weekend of Skinny J's, in the former Cornerstone Pub, 314 Main St. in North Little Rock's Argenta District, a new branch for a mini-chain with restaurants in Jonesboro and Paragould. General Manager Sarah Reeves says the opening is contingent, as usual, on license approval and positive inspections. Hours will be 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, with music 8-11 p.m. Saturday (which means the bar will be staying open a little later). Check out the menu, which will feature burgers, fried pickles, wings, wraps, steaks and pasta dishes, at skinnyjs.com. The restaurant did not yet have a listed telephone number by deadline.
Janssen's Lakefront Restaurant, 9999 Edgemont Road, Edgemont, has opened a branch of sorts: Q BBQ, a take-out-only joint (well, with picnic-table exterior seating) in a red A-frame at 8394 Edgemont Road (the intersection of Arkansas 16 and 110), Greers Ferry. Hours are 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday-Sunday, according to the Facebook page (facebook.com/QTheRestaurant), where you can also get a look at the menu, featuring hickory-smoked pulled pork, chicken, ribs and brisket. The phone number is (501) 206-7447.
Senor Tequila owner Serginho Atilano says to expect the opening of the Conway outlet, the mini-chain's eighth, at 1117 W. Oak St., Conway (former home of Michelangelo's and the short-lived Table Mesa/Painted Table), in mid- to late August. Atilano had told the Log Cabin Democrat in late April that only a few finishing touches remained, awaiting inspections, computers and applications. Calling the phone number listed on the Facebook page and website (SenorTequilaArk.com) -- (501) 358-6382 produced only a generic voice mail message. The website lists the expected operating hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.- 10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
Samantha's Tap Room & Wood Grill, 322 Main St., Little Rock, is one of six U.S. dining-and-drinking establishments nominated for Napa Valley-based Free Flow Wines' (freeflowwines.com) 2015 Keggy Awards "People's Choice" Award, "for impressive wine-on-tap programs and for their efforts in innovation and sustainability." The other five establishments are in Queen City, Ariz.; Fairfield, Conn.; Oklahoma City; Orlando, Fla.; and San Diego. Voting will stay open until midnight July 31 at freeflowwines.com/vote-now.
And one of our sharp-eyed readers asked us, after our report a couple of weeks ago about the advent of 4-Quarter, a New Orleans-style blues and barbecue bar, in the space at 415 Main St. in North Little Rock's Argenta District, whether that had in fact, about 15 years ago, been the location of Maggie Mae's. Yes, reader, it was. It started out as a restaurant and ended up as Sidetracks, a private "alternative lifestyle" club. Before that, it was a restaurant-bar called Diamond Jim's; shortly after Maggie Mae's closed, the space became the home of the Phil Good Bar & Grill. After that, it was briefly an establishment called Bootleggers before it became Sidetracks.
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) 399-3667cq EH or (501) 378-3513cq EH, 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 07/23/2015