Travel & Leisure magazine has put out its list of "The Best Farm-to-Table Restaurant in Every State." The selection criteria: "We consulted with the country's top food bloggers and experts (and did plenty of foraging ourselves) to uncover the best eco-friendly restaurant in every state," plus Washington, resulting in 51 establishments that "stand out from the pack by not only creating exciting innovative cuisine with a locally sourced menu, but also by applying that same eco-minded culinary philosophy to every aspect of the operation." The pick for Arkansas: Trio's, citing founder/chef Capi Peck's "commitment to locally grown produce [that] is well known in Little Rock and throughout the Land of Opportunity."
Honey Pies is the latest mobile food service to move into regular quarters, with a target opening in the next couple of months in a 600-square-foot storefront -- formerly Bruno's Little Italy's second dining room -- in the Colonnade Shopping Center, 315 N. Bowman Road, Little Rock. (Neighbors include Lulu's Latin Rotisserie & Grill and Bash Burger Co. -- another recent food-truck-to-storefront transition -- and a Little Caesars outlet.) Owner Sharon Woodson says her operation isn't exactly a food truck -- more like a table and a canopy she sets up where food trucks gather, and she's making the move based on family needs (with a 6-year-old, a little stability is a good thing). She says she'll start small -- pies and coffee -- and eventually a fully operational, full-service bakery, ice cream parlor and coffeehouse. Hours, tentatively, will be 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday but much will depend, Woodson says, on how the employee situation works out. The business phone number will remain is (501) 613-7950; the Facebook page: facebook.com/myhoneypies.
Refined Ale Brewery, 23rd and Cedar streets, Little Rock -- Arkansas' first and only black-owned brewery, says CEO Windell E. Gray and also "Arkansas' finest chemical-free craft brewery" -- has obtained permission from the Alcohol Beverage Control to open and sell its bottled products, noon-5 p.m. seven days a week. The brewery, which opened March 1, 2009, produces, under its own brand, Red Label and Golden Light beers and a malt liquor, and under the Arkansas Premium Craft brand an Irish-style stout and a pale ale. You can also get food and from-scratch desserts from the next-door Wayne's Catering. Call (501) 280-0556 or visit the Facebook page.
Ryan Hamra has signed a deal with Potbelly Sandwich Shop that gives him the exclusive franchise for all of Arkansas. He'll open at least four more outlets around the state, in addition to the one he already operates in the Park Avenue Shopping Center (where its neighbors include Newk's Eatery and Panera Bread as well as Target) on University Avenue in Little Rock. He'll open the next one in Little Rock as well -- location still TBA -- sometime before the end of 2016. "I'm diligently searching day and night" for locations, he says. And expansion plans definitely include Northwest Arkansas. While his contract specifies that he open at least one outlet per year for four years, "if I find a location that's right, I'm going to jump on it right away." Unlike many chain/franchise operations that require the same or similar footprints in all their stores, Potbelly wants its franchisees to tie the setup to the neighborhood where it's located -- the Potbelly shop on University Avenue has a lot of Catholic High items incorporated in its decor, for example. (In Northwest Arkansas, Hamra says, any place will have to be "heavily tattooed in Razorback.") Visit Potbelly.com. Hamra also holds the area franchise for Blue Coast Burrito, which currently has only one central Arkansas outlet, 4613 McCain Blvd., North Little Rock.
EJ's Eats & Drinks, 523 Center St., Little Rock, is expanding its 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday brunch menu, adding omelets, pancakes and additional sandwiches and additional Benedicts. Weekday hours are 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday. Call (501) 666-3700 or visit ejslittlerock.com or their Facebook page.
La Hacienda, 3024 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, has announced it will close starting this month for renovations -- a major face-lift for kitchen and dining room -- and planning to reopen in mid-August. Fernando Alvarez says he's waiting on his architects to establish the exact dates. The phone number is (501) 661-0600. This won't affect the two other central Arkansas La Haciendas -- the original, 3836 Central Ave., Hot Springs, and in the Ferguson Plaza Shopping Center, 17401 Interstate 30 (on the frontage road), Benton, which will remain open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily. And two other central Arkansas Alvarez family scions will still be serving: Cotijas, 406 Louisiana St., Little Rock, and the newly resurrected La Casa Real, 3700 John F. Kennedy Blvd., North Little Rock.
Andres' Coffee Shop -- Honduran Style, which started out on John F. Kennedy Boulevard in North Little Rock's Park Hill before moving to McCain Mall, 3929 McCain Blvd., closed "temporarily" in January and announced the same on its Facebook page, but there are no visible signs that it will actually reopen, aside from the phone number, (501) 758-6317, sending calls to a voice-mail box instead of returning a disconnect notice. A mall spokesman confirms that, "Yes, the coffee shop is closed," and "the space is not yet occupied by a new tenant."
Taco Beer Burrito opened May 5 in time for Cinco de Mayo, next door to Blue Canoe Brewing Co. in the former Brown Sugar Bakeshop space, 419 E. Third St., Little Rock. Arkansas Online reports the taproom/Mexican restaurant will incorporate Blue Canoe's beers into the tacos and burritos, according to co-owner Ida Cowan: "It's kind of like street trucks but indoors," she said of the food selection. "Our meat is going to be chuck roast, beef and chicken, and that's slow cooked for six to eight hours in our beers." The menu, which includes gluten-free and vegetarian options, will offer three tacos, four burritos, four salsas, a yellow cheese dip and two desserts, plus four kinds of margaritas on tap. Hours will be the same as the brewery: 4-9 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 4-10 p.m. Friday, 1-10 p.m. Saturday and 1-8 p.m. Sunday, with eventual plans to open for lunch. Call (501) 246-5315 or visit the Blue Canoe Facebook page.