A DQ Grill & Chill is headed for the plot of land (formerly Brandon House Furniture) next to the soon-to-open first Little Rock CVS pharmacy, just north of where West 12th Street meets South University Avenue, according to central Arkansas franchisee Blake Lively. He says this location and one in Sherwood -- on Country Club Road near Wildwood Avenue, expected to open in late 2016 -- will be the first of about a dozen central Arkansas DQ Grill & Chills that he and partners Nelson Lively, his father, and Todd Denton have in the planning stages. In case you missed John Magsam's story in Sunday's Business section, the Minneapolis-based Dairy Queen chain is also looking at adding a lot more franchise operations in Arkansas. That includes 20 in Northwest Arkansas during the next five years.
A sign on a fenced-off area behind the Valero station, 605 E. Broadway, North Little Rock, cater-corner from Dickey Stephens Park (with a partially constructed wall inside) proclaims that a Hardee's is coming soon to that location.
Tracy McCauslin, who with her husband, Don, owns and operates TracyCakes in the Breckenridge Village Shopping Center, Interstate 430 and North Rodney Parham Road, Little Rock, says they're retiring and closing the store as of noon Sept. 30. They'll continue to produce and take custom orders for "our cupcakes, cookies, petit fours, etc.," until that date. The phone number is (501) 227-4243.
Asia Buffet Sushi, Grill, BBQ has opened in the Market Place Shopping Center, 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road, Little Rock. (Won't be hard to find -- it covers four storefronts and grand-opening streamers form a large triangle over the parking lot.) The buffet includes several Chinese food stations, a handful of "American" items (including pizza), a sushi station and a Mongolian grill. There's also a full in-house and to-go Chinese and sushi menu. Hours are 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday. A license to serve wine, beer and sake is pending. The phone number is (501) 508-5999.
A power failure closed Pizza Cafe, 1517 Rebsamen Park Road, Little Rock, part of Sunday and all of Monday, but the juice was back on as of lunchtime Tuesday. The phone number: (501) 664-6133.
Chef John Munday from Little Rock's Samantha's Tap Room & Wood Grill was the runner-up to Mississippi's representative, Chef Alex Eaton of Jackson, Miss.' Manship Wood Fired Kitchen, Saturday in the 13th Great American Seafood Cook-Off in New Orleans. Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board crowned Eaton as King of American Seafood based on his "Trio of Gulf Shrimp" dish (New Orleans BBQ Gulf Brown, Mediterranean Gulf White and Florida Royal Red). Munday's second-place finisher was "August in Arkansas," bronzed black grouper, smoked pork belly and crab rice cake with lemongrass custard and summer salsa. Third place went to Peter McCarthy of Cambridge, Mass.' EVOO for his dish of smoked Massachusetts Bay bluefish filet with corn risotto, zucchini and tomato-basil relish. Competition highlights and the 11 competitors' recipes are available online at greatamericanseafoodcookoff.com.
American Pie Pizza's Lakewood location, 4830 North Hills Blvd., North Little Rock, will host a wine-tasting class with Arkansas Democrat-Gazette wine columnist Lorri Hambuchen, 6:30 p.m. Aug. 24, featuring at least five wines paired with light appetizers. Cost is $22. Call (501) 753-0081.
Draft, a publication that specializes in beer-related news, has named the Dallas-based Flying Saucer chain, whose 16 locations include an outlet at 323 President Clinton Ave. in Little Rock's River Market District, one of the Top Six chain beer bars in the country (draftmag.com/six-best-chain-beer-bars-2016): "There are a lot of stellar beer bars in the south, but from North Carolina to Texas, Flying Saucer has set the standard since 1995." The other five: HopCat (hopcat.com) with five locations in Michigan and 11 throughout the Midwest; World of Beer (worldofbeer.com), three locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth megaplex and one in Birmingham, Ala.; Toronado (toronado.com), with outlets in San Francisco, San Diego and Seattle; Ginger Man (thegingerman.com), seven locations in Texas, including Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano and Houston; and Bangers & Lace (bangersandlacebar.com), with three locations in Chicago and Evanston, Ill.
And Nashville, Tenn.-based Logan's Roadhouse Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, according to a statement released by the company. The company will be closing 18 under-performing restaurants, but did not provide any details on locations. The chain has more than 250 restaurants in 26 states, including Arkansas outlets in Bryant, Conway, Rogers, Fort Smith and Fayetteville.
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 08/11/2016