Restaurant Transitions: New burger food truck; fire at Midtown Billiards; Stoby's reopening progress

Mama Bea’s Burgers, eventually expected to open in North Little Rock, meanwhile operates a food truck at Bowman and Kanis roads, near the former site of the restaurant — the sign for which has apparently survived.
Mama Bea’s Burgers, eventually expected to open in North Little Rock, meanwhile operates a food truck at Bowman and Kanis roads, near the former site of the restaurant — the sign for which has apparently survived.

There was a lot of talk at the farewell dinner for 1620/1620 Savoy, 1620 Market St., Little Rock, a couple of weeks ago about what was going to happen to the building. Now we know that Jim Keet and his family, who operate three current and one pending area Taziki's restaurants, have bought the building, contents and equipment from Rush Harding III in a deal set to be consummated today. And he has formed a working partnership with a Little Rock culinary legend -- Louis Petit, who has been in Florida for several years helping his son Louis Petit Jr. with the popular and aptly named Louis Louis on the Gulf Coast near Destin. Petit, of course, started out at Jacques and Suzanne's, and ran or was involved in several area restaurants, including Piccolo and Cafe Prego.

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Mama Bea’s Burgers, eventually expected to open in North Little Rock, meanwhile operates a food truck at Bowman and Kanis roads, near the former site of the restaurant — the sign (shown) for which has apparently survived.

Together they're creating Petit & Keet Bar & Grill, with a mid-November target to open. Keet says they'll do some physical renovations to the building, including taking out some walls to combine the rear casual bar area and patio into a display space that will be called Keet's Corner Bar. Petit will continue to live in Florida but will be responsible for initially developing the decor and the menu. The place will be what Keet calls "polished casual," not white-tablecloth; there will be a limited menu created through Petit and a collaboration of area chefs (look, for example, for a veal dish that hearkens back to "Jack & Suzie's") at reasonable prices. Hiring will commence shortly for management, kitchen and front of house staff.

Midtown Billiards, 1316 Main St., Little Rock, the South Main late-night (until 5 a.m.) pool hall, bar, burger joint and hot spot, got really hot Monday morning. The Little Rock Fire Department responded just after 11 a.m. to a blaze -- according to some reports, a grease fire, although the Fire Department says that the cause is under investigation. General Manager David Shipps said it started about 20 minutes after he and other bar staff left Monday morning; it took firefighters 20 minutes to extinguish it. Shipps says it appears that most of the damage was in the first-floor kitchen, plus "[a] lot of smoke damage." He says he plans to reopen: "We will rebuild. We will be back. We're down, but we're not out." The fire also caused smoke damage to next-door Raduno Brick Oven & Barroom, 1318 Main, which is closed on Mondays; the restaurant's Facebook page included this post late Monday: "We will be working diligently to open back up as soon as possible, and will keep you updated as to when that will be." Meanwhile, South on Main, at the north end of the same block, was not directly affected, except for the traffic snarl Monday morning caused by firetrucks, etc., and has continued to serve during normal business hours.

And speaking of fires, we've got an update on the planned rebuilding of Stoby's, 805 Donaghey Ave., Conway, charred by a March 19 blaze to the point at which it was more practical to tear it down and start over. Co-owner Patti Stobaugh says in a recent Facebook post that the "next update will be when the framing is started. Today David & I met with our architect, Steve Hurd, to look at interior elevations, finishes, etc. The engineers have a bit more work to finish up before our builder will be able to get his hands on the final plans." They'll be doubling the dining space, which Stobaugh says has required extensive design planning for the kitchen. The restaurant, which opened in 1980, is a Conway landmark. In the interim, the Stobaughs have been operating Stoby's Express at 1310 Prince St., Conway, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday. The phone number is (501) 327-6161; the website, stobys.com.

Arkansas Fresh Cafe, 304 N. Reynolds Road, Bryant, announced last week via its Facebook page that it will shut its doors at the end of service Friday. "We've had a great run, and deeply appreciate the support from our loyal patrons over the past years." Parent company Arkansas Fresh Bakery and sister company Cocoa Rouge, its luxury chocolatier, will apparently continue to operate. The phone number, for at least one more day, is (501) 213-0084.

Word that Pei Wei's second Little Rock outlet was going to open Friday at the Promenade at Chenal, 17000 block of Chenal Parkway, turns out to be premature. The opening has been changed to Oct. 17.

And speaking of chains, we now have, from the chain and franchisee Danny Wintz, a target opening date of Nov. 14 for the Jacksonville location (140 John Harden Drive) of Texas-based Fuzzy's Taco Shop. The Baja-style taco shop will serve tacos, nachos, quesadillas, enchiladas, fajitas, burritos and breakfast options. The chain announced earlier this year it was also planning a Rogers outlet (4204 S. J.B. Hunt Drive) plus five more restaurants in Pulaski, Saline and Faulkner counties, including Little Rock, Benton and Bryant, within the next five years.

One of our sharp-eyed observers reported that the Corky's Ribs & BBQ outlet in Lakewood Village, 2947 Lakewood Village Drive, North Little Rock, was closed on Saturday night -- "neon sign was on but no lights inside" -- and wondered if the closure was "temporary or something more grave." Turns out it was very temporary and not grave at all; the North Little Rock restaurant and the one at 12005 Westhaven Drive in Little Rock had posted on their Facebook pages a couple of days earlier that "Our dining room will be closed for maintenance this Saturday, Sept. 17. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to serving you Sunday!" A call to the phone number, (501) 753-3737, confirmed that the restaurant has, in fact, reopened, and is operating at normal hours, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday.

A brand new Mama Bea's Burgers food truck has set up shop at the intersection of Bowman and Kanis roads in Little Rock, a mile and a half west of the spot of the former restaurant of that name, which was at Kanis and Shackleford (now the site of a Dunkin Donuts). Hours are 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday. The phone number is (501) 777-1126. That phone number also ties it to the pending Mama Bea's Burgers and Casual Dining, 300 Lake Lane, North Little Rock, and proprietor Wanda Williams, on which we reported a couple months ago. Williams says she's using the food truck to raise capital for renovations to the building, including a new air-conditioning system.

Chef Paul Uher, formerly of Chef Paul's and other Hot Springs restaurants, confirms a report from one of our sharp-eyed Spa City correspondents that he does, in fact, have a hand in the operation at Froggy's, which opened this summer in the former KJ's Grill, 1834 Airport Road, Hot Springs. He has been helping them with their menu and recipes, and his wife has been making the desserts, including the pies the Uhers have been selling out Saturdays at the Hot Springs Farmers Market. Froggy's hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday. The phone number is (501) 767-0063.

And speaking of Hot Springs, and following our ongoing coverage of the closures and remodelings of several central Arkansas Wendy's outlets, The Sentinel-Record reported last week that the former Wendy's at 249 W. Grand Ave., which had been vacant since New Year's Day, will become a Hardee's sometime in early 2017. Making the announcement was Nick Shurgot, president and chief executive officer of Saddle Peak LLC, which owns and operates 15 Hardee's across Arkansas and 22 others in Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. Shurgot said he is also looking for a Central Avenue address to house a second store.

And still speaking of the Spa City, Craft Beer Cellar Hot Springs, 120 Ouachita Ave., Hot Springs, has set a soft opening, 5-10 p.m. Sept. 30, including a sneak peek at the shop and a chance to meet owners Justin and Jennifer Schalow and the shop's "Beer Geeks," plus tastings from craft mini- and microbreweries Bubba Brew's, Flyway Brewing and Lagunitas and "yummy food." It precedes the shop's 11:30 a.m. Oct. 1 grand opening celebration -- gifts for the first 100 customers, tastings from the same breweries plus Blue Canoe Brewing, beer trivia and a drawing for a Yeti cooler "filled with good beer surprises." Regular hours will be 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, noon-6 p.m. Sunday. The phone number is (501) 881-7232.

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 09/22/2016

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