Friday marks the long-awaited reopening of The Pizzeria, formerly the Pizzeria @ Terry's Finer Foods (and before that, when it was still a food truck, Pizzeria Santa Lucia), 4910 Kavanaugh Blvd., a block away from its former location, in Little Rock's Pulaski Heights. The city of Little Rock issued a certificate of occupancy last week to close a long-delayed permitting process. Pizza hours are 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday and 5-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday (the bar will stay open one hour longer). The restaurant phone number remains (501) 551-1388.
The folks who oversee the River Market's Ottenheimer Market Hall, 400 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, say they're expecting David's Burgers to open its outlet in the hall's eastern end cap Friday, following a long process that involved a lot of permit issues, mostly involving building out over what had been a patio. The mini-chain's home office would not confirm by deadline. Fingers are crossed.
And speaking of the River Market, Mason's Deli & Grill, about to celebrate a decade of business in the Market Hall, will mark the occasion starting today with a $6.99 (regularly $8.99) cheeseburger-fries-drink combo, plus free toppings (including cheese, sauteed mushrooms and jalapenos). How long the special will be available hasn't been determined. Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday. The phone number is (501) 376-3354.
And still speaking of the River Market, Monday will be the last day of business there for Sweet Soul, which is relocating to 501 Woodlane St., right across from the state Capitol. Hours there will be 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday. The phone number will remain (501) 374-7685.
The Keet family will open its seventh Arkansas Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe Dec. 13 in the Gateway Town Center, 10800 Bass Pro Parkway near the Outlets of Little Rock. The restaurant will seat more than 90, plus more on a "spacious" patio, and offer drive-through service. The restaurant will donate 25 percent of all opening-day sales to Festival of Stars, a toy-and-donation drive for Arkansas Children's Hospital. Hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday. The phone number is (501) 455-6228; the website, tazikiscafe.com.
Meanwhile, paterfamilias Jim Keet says a decision to expand the scope of the project has held up the start of work on Petit & Keet Bar & Grill, the collaboration between him and Little Rock culinary legend Louis Petit, in the former Restaurant 1620/1620 Savoy, 1620 Market St., Little Rock. Keet says they're in the process of corralling construction permits, that he expected work on the building to begin right after Thanksgiving, and that they now have a February target opening.
Target date for the reopening of B-Side, in the Market Place Shopping Center, 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road, Little Rock, is now the second week of December, following an interior makeover -- new floor, new coat of paint on the walls that isn't going to be red -- and a juggling of the menu by once-and-future chef Jeffrey Moore, who says he's pushing things back toward the original breakfast-brunch glory days after Nancy Tesmer opened it (originally in the storefront next door) in 2010, recognizing an unfilled need for an adult, reasonably upscale breakfast. Moore will also preserve a couple of the more popular Lilly's Dim Sum Then Some items for those customers angling more toward lunch. To recap, Tesmer announced several weeks ago she was closing Lilly's and what had devolved into a weekend-only breakfast/brunch alter ego in the same space. Then Tom and Barbara Fuge -- longtime patrons, transplanted to Little Rock from San Jose, Calif. -- stepped up and bought the restaurant with the specific intention of operating it as B-Side only. Moore says hours will be 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday; the phone number will remain the same: (501) 716-2700. Tesmer has pushed back plans to return to her hometown, Chicago, to become caretaker for her 88-year-old aunt, to guide the transition.
The long saga of struggles continues for Jerky's Spicy Chicken and More, 521 Center St., Little Rock. A sign on the door proclaims the restaurant is taking "an extended break" through Jan. 3 as a battle continues, in and out of court, between restaurant owner John Walker Jr. and the building's owners, Sixth Street LLC, and property managers, Rental Realty Inc., over still-unresolved plumbing and HVAC issues.
A big red banner on the front of the Papa Murphy's Take 'N' Bake Pizza, 7412 North Hills Blvd., where North Little Rock meets Sherwood, proclaims, "Now open!" The establishment had been closed since at least June, for reasons that are still obscure. Hours are 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday. And it has a new phone number: (501) 819-5190.
Arkansas Enterprises for the Developmentally Disabled is sponsoring a Pork Butt Fundraiser toward a new digital sign at its Multipurpose Center on Little Rock's Roosevelt Road. Order the pork butts through Dec. 9 -- cooked and packaged by Corky's, for $35, $30 each in an order of 10 or more; each 4.5-pound pork butt will feed 10-12. Delivery will begin Dec. 16. AEDD is looking to sell 300. Call (501) 681-1059 or email debbie.knight@aeddinc.org.
And the Fayetteville Flyer reports that Hannah Withers and Ben Gitchel, the folks behind the transformation of Maxine's Tap Room and the founders of Little Bread Company, along with friend A.B. Merritt, are teaming up to create a neighborhood restaurant and bar, to be called Sit & Spin, that will double as an eco-friendly, 24/7 laundromat at 737 N. Leverett Ave., Fayetteville, in a building that once housed a Pizza Hut. The menu is expected to feature slider sandwiches, made-to-order miniature doughnuts with various toppings and other noshes for while you're waiting for your undies to wash and dry. They're also planning to serve beer. (By the way, the laundry machines, the journal reports, will accept credit cards and the environmentally friendly soaps and fabric softeners will be free.) Target to open: early 2017.
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 12/01/2016