The "Grady's" signs are up and lighted on the building exterior, and we'd love to give everyone a target opening date for the second location for Grady's Pizza & Subs, in the former Ponchitos Mexican Grill in the Kmart parking lot, 10901 N. Rodney Parham Road, Little Rock. But we can't. The managers at the original location (6801 W. 12th St., Little Rock) say they don't have a clue, and by deadline, nobody returned a message we left on the voicemail at the number they gave us -- (501) 904-2822.
Target opening date and time for La Madeleine: French Country Cafe, 12210 W. Markham St., Little Rock (near Home Depot, Target and Chick-fil-A), the first Arkansas outlet of the Dallas-based chain/franchise, is 6:30 p.m. April 21, and the guy who answered the phone -- (501) 221-7777 -- seemed pretty definite about it. Hours will be 6 a.m.-8:30 p.m. daily.
One of our sharp-eyed correspondents discovered in Jed Portman's "Southern Agenda" column in the April/May issue of Garden & Gun magazine a blurb about the impending arrival "in late April" of The Shack: "Bill and Hillary still lived in Little Rock when the Shack closed its doors in 1988 after 54 years in the barbecue business. It's a pretty safe bet that the then governor and barbecue nut was a fan. And he had plenty of company: The slaw-topped sandwiches from the little shack -- first located in 1934 in the shadow of downtown's Capitol building, later displaced in the late 1950s a few blocks over by a road-building project -- had become legendary in Arkansas. Half a dozen restaurants in the area claim to have inherited the Shack's recipes and methods, but only one man actually did -- Joe Finch.
"And now, restaurateur Tim Chappell [owner, by the way, of nearby Gusano's Chicago-Style Pizzeria] is working with Finch to bring the smoke-licked legend back to life, vintage recipes intact. The new three-story building, projected to open for its first customers in late April, will be larger than any previous incarnation of the famous joint, but Chappell promises not to mess with the essential elements of the beloved sandwich: lightly griddled buns, hickory-smoked pulled pork, thin-sliced slaw, and that thick, sweet Memphis-style sauce, steeped in decades of Natural State history." The website, theshackisback.com, offers no such specifics; neither does the phone number, (501) 404-2020, which only returns a terse new voicemail message. Nor is the announced location, 402 E. Third St. in Little Rock's River Market District, a three-story building.
Former Benton-based food truck BASH Burger Co. has gone completely brick and mortar and is now up and running at 315 N. Bowman Road (for 21 years Bruno's Little Italy and subsequently the short-lived Dona's Little Italy and Bruno's Italian Bistro). Hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday. Their "full-blown" menu was set to debut Wednesday, including their trademark monster fresh burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches and wings. The phone number, too, is up and running: (501) 904-2694.
And speaking of former/current food trucks, Southern Gourmasian, which still operates a food truck but now also focuses on a brick-and-mortar location, 219 W. Capitol Ave., Little Rock, has extended its operating hours: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday, with "special events, etc." taking place on weekday evenings. The phone number is (501) 313-5645.
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In Spa City restaurant news:
• The Hot Springs location of Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes, 3954 Central Ave., Suite G, has closed and the phone number, (501) 520-5000, has been disconnected. One of our sharp-eyed correspondents spotted a sign on the door that says "Temporarily Closed" and signals the approach of some new restaurant.
• Doc N' Maggie's Pizza Pub and Grub, either formerly or in some way still affiliated with Jim's Razorback Pizza, in the Temperance Hill Shopping Center, 4330 Central Ave., has added music on the weekends. The phone number is (501) 525-1616.
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With crawfish season in full boil, Loca Luna and Red Door, 3519 and 3701, respectively, Old Cantrell Road, Little Rock, have started offering regular Thursday evening crawfish boils featuring crawfish, corn, potatoes and sausage, with a special craft beer discount. The crawfish boil price is $8.50 a pound; portions average 1.5, 2.5 and 5 pounds. The phone numbers are Loca Luna, (501) 663-4666; Red Door, (501) 666-8482.
Stone's Throw Brewing, 402 E. Ninth St., Little Rock, is expanding its service in terms of time and space -- the latter via the addition of a formerly separate storefront (formerly a barber shop, most recently Ninth Street Vintage) that makes possible increased seating for the taproom, and a new cooler that adds six taps for draft beer and cider, making as many as 14 of the brewery's products available for customers. Kimberly Cabinets of Cabot has created a smaller version of the taproom's existing red oak bar for the annex. And the setup allows them to shut off the annex from the main taproom to host private parties. And as for the former, the taproom will now be open Tuesdays -- hours are now 4-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 4-10 p.m. Friday, noon-10 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday. As the taproom lacks a kitchen, food trucks provide the provender. Current beer selection, food-truck schedules and forthcoming events are available online at stonesthrowbeer.com. The phone number is (501) 244-9154.
Just a heads up: the 42nd annual Little Rock Farmers Market opens May 3 in the River Market pavilions, behind the Ottenheimer Market Hall, 400 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock. It'll be open from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesdays through July 26 and Saturdays through September, shutting down for the season Sept. 24. Call (501) 375-2552 or visit rivermarket.info or the Facebook page (facebook/LRFarmersMarket).
And Little Rock's Rock Town Distillery's Arkansas Rye Whiskey last month won a gold medal at the 2016 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Check out the details at sfspiritscomp.com/results/overview.
Email:
eharrison@arkansasonline.com
Weekend on 04/07/2016