The Dixie Cafe at 10011 Interstate 30 (at Baseline Road), Little Rock, has closed. The phone number, (501) 568-6444, had not been disconnected as of Tuesday morning, but the manager who answered it told us June 26 was the last day of operation and that the phone would be cut off shortly. Chief Executive Alan Roberts told us sales had been declining, and "we did what we could to turn that restaurant around, but it wasn't enough." It's one of the minichain's oldest links -- almost 29 years in southwest Little Rock, 12 on Geyer Springs Road before it moved to I-30 and Baseline in 1999.
Stephen Burrow, previously executive chef at Chenal Country Club and Forty Two at the Clinton Presidential Center, has signed on as general manager for Stratton's Market and Skye's Little Bistro, 405 E. Third St., Little Rock. He'll be instituting a rotating chalkboard menu in the bistro that will incorporate more of the offerings from the market, which moves a lot of local produce. The phone number is (501) 791-6700.
Eat My Catfish missed its Friday target to open in the Breckenridge Village Shopping Center, 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road, Little Rock, but Marketing Coordinator Jesica Talbert says they're looking at a soft opening sometime next week and the July 19 grand opening and ribbon cutting is firm. Tentative hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, as per the Conway and Benton locations. The phone number, not yet fully active, is (501) 222-8055; the website, EatMyCatfish.com.
Further finishing delays postponed the planned opening Tuesday of Bruno's Deli, 308 Main St., Little Rock. Bruno's Little Italy co-owner Gio Bruno says he's still not sure how much longer it'll take. The phone number will be (501) 313-4452.
An update on our report last week about the pending North Little Rock outlet of Wichita, Kan.-based Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, 4305 E. McCain Blvd., North Little Rock, which would place it in the parking lot of the center that contains Home Depot. We heard back from local franchisee Paul Hoover, who confirms reports we were getting about a second location in west Little Rock: "One of the proposed sites is next to the Home Depot in North Little Rock; the other proposed site is near the intersection of Chenal Parkway and Bowman Road. Approvals are still pending on a few items for both sites and so we do not yet have construction start dates in place, but we're excited to watch the plans come together and we hope we're able to begin construction sometime soon." We'll keep you posted. The chain has Arkansas outlets in Fayetteville and Rogers. Check out the menu at the website, freddysusa.com.
Old Mill Bread & Flour Co. has opened its River Market branch in the Ottenheimer Market Hall, 400 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock. The menu is similar to that at the main location in the Rock Creek Shopping Center, 12111 W. Markham St., Little Rock -- soups, salads, sandwiches and regular and specialty breads. Hours are 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday. The River Market's website still lists the parent operation's phone number: (501) 228-4677. Also up and running in the Market Hall: Indian Feast, serving a more-or-less standard Indian menu with lunch specials, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday. The phone number: (501) 476-4007. And Diana Long, director of River Market operations for the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, says construction was to finally have gotten under way late last week on the long-delayed David's Burgers outlet in the Market Hall's eastern end cap, with a planned opening of Oct. 1. Long says there's still one Market Hall vendor space available for rent, the one near the eastern end that Boulevard Bread had occupied after moving out of that end cap to make room for David's Burgers.
One Eleven at the Capital, in the Capital Hotel, 111 W. Markham St., Little Rock, will host a wine dinner with John Gabelhausen, general manager of Revana Wines in California's Napa Valley, 6-9 p.m. Wednesday. Cost is $135. Visit tinyurl.com/j9o3cvh to see the menu and wine pairings and to buy tickets.
Kelly Viall, a sushi chef/instructor with Birmingham, Ala.-based Birmingham Sushi Classes, who's taught beginner sushi classes "from San Antonio to Charleston" for more than four years, has, so she says, "taught over 3,500 locals to make sushi at home," will offer such a class at Stone's Throw Brewing, 402 E. Ninth St., Little Rock, 7-9 p.m. July 25. Cost is $40. Call (501) 244-9154 or visit birminghamsushiclasses.com/littlerock.html.
Springdale-based Confidential Business Intermediaries is brokering the sale in central Arkansas of a "unique sports-themed restaurant and bar. High volume with solid sales history located in a dry county and a rapidly growing Arkansas city with numerous colleges, hi-tech companies and a strong economic base." (P.S. Though the listing, at bizbuy.cbiteam.com/n913-ts, doesn't specify, that description pretty much spells "Conway.") The listing notes the business has been "[open] for three years, the business has maintained steady sales" and it is "located in a retail center with full occupancy" with "several new developments underway in the vicinity meaning traffic counts should increase in the coming months and years." (The broker won't name the establishment on the record, but a little search effort will turn up what is pretty much only one place that meets that description.) The asking price: $650,000. Interested? Call CBI at (877) 582-5200 or email buyer@cbiteam.com.
And Captain D's has opened a franchise outlet at 2207 W. Walnut St., Rogers, the ninth location in the state, and the second of six planned locations in Northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri for franchisees Brian Smith and Rodney Coats, CEO and CFO of restaurant development group SmitCo D's Inc. The first opened in Springdale in December. Hours are 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m. daily. The phone number is (479) 899-6728.
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 07/07/2016