Restaurant Transitions: James at Mill closes; Stoby's returns; work continues on Dairy Queen in Little Rock

James at the Mill closed last week after more than two decades of providing fine dining in Johnson.
James at the Mill closed last week after more than two decades of providing fine dining in Johnson.

James at the Mill has closed. The fine-dining establishment that opened in 1994 inside the Inn at the Mill in Johnson, outside Fayetteville, focused on chef Miles James. James, via Dustin Bartholomew reports in the Fayetteville Flyer that a hospitality group led by longtime general manager Jesse Burkes bought the property and plans to use the restaurant space to build additional suites for the hotel. James, meanwhile, has been working on a second outlet of his MJ Pizzeria on Fayetteville's Crossover Road. (The first is in Springdale.) The Flyer says it'll include a wood-fired pizza oven and grill and a bakery, which will supply the Carrera Coffee Company in a separate building on the same property.

Chano's Mexican Grill, on which we first reported last week, opens Monday in the former Fonda's/Faded Rose space in the Bowman Curve shopping center, 400 N. Bowman Road, Little Rock. The menu, according to the Facebook page (facebook.com/chanosmexicangrill), will incorporate "both authentic and Tex-Mex dishes." Hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday. The phone number is (501) 747-1262.

Yes, the cheese dip is already flowing. After a Saturday benefit for Haven House, a Conway girls shelter and successful soft-opening servings earlier this week for employees' friends and family and the contractors who rebuilt it after that devastating March 19, 2016, fire, the owners of Stoby's Restaurant, 805 Donaghey Ave., Conway, quietly threw open the doors all the way Wednesday. Hours are 6 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday. The phone number is (501) 327-5447.

And speaking of post-fire recoveries, the Facebook page for Three Sams BBQ and Catering, 10508 Mann Road, Mabelvale, also destroyed by a March 2016 fire, reports that the smoker has been installed and the new signs are ready. Co-owner Annette Jones has been selling barbecue sandwiches, barbecue-stuffed potatoes and desserts out of the restaurant's catering truck, 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday. Still no firm word on just when the reopening will take place. We've consistently gotten either no answer or a busy signal at the listed phone number, (501) 407-0345.

Owner Margie Raimondo says her Southern Table, formerly Kent's Artisan Cheese, 323 S. Cross St., Little Rock, is in its soft-opening phase, with a grand opening set for Sept. 6. It will offer a tapas-style "boards and bites" menu of "food meant to be shared," primarily charcuterie boards featuring seasonal cheeses and cured meats, and local beers and wines from Raimondo Winery in Mountain Home. Hours will be 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday-Saturday. A phone number is pending.

Work is visibly continuing on the interior and the parking lot of the DQ Grill & Chill, 6100 W. 12th St., Little Rock, and the the restaurant's Facebook page (facebook.com/Dairy-Queen-443916869334058) was still predicting as of Aug. 9 that it will meet its Aug. 26 target opening. Franchisee Blake Lively did not return calls by Tuesday morning's deadline. Hours will be 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday.

After our report last week on the closing of the Burger King, 403 E. Broadway, North Little Rock, we got a couple of helpful updates, including one from the franchisee, Dominic Flis, who says the project is, in fact, a tear-down and rebuild with a target to reopen sometime in November.

Taco Bueno is holding a "hiring event," 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday at the Baymont Inn, 110 E. Pershing Blvd., North Little Rock, seeking "Salaried and Hourly Managers" for its pending North Little Rock and west Little Rock outlets. The two outlets will be the fifth and sixth in central Arkansas for the Farmers Branch, Texas-based chain. Applicants will be able to see the North Little Rock restaurant, still under construction, from the hotel, which is across the Interstate 30-Interstate 40 interchange where Main Street meets John F. Kennedy and Pershing boulevards, adjoining a Murphy Oil gas station. Meanwhile, the Little Rock Planning Commission on July 20 approved the site plan for the west Little Rock restaurant, in the Markham Center Square shopping center, 9101 W. Markham St. at John Barrow Road. Filing for a building permit with the Planning Commission would be the next step, but apparently that hasn't happened yet.

An Aug. 24 opening date for Kamikaito by Kiyen's, Sixth and Main streets, North Little Rock, was still, by deadline, a moving target. The folks at Kiyen's Seafood Steak and Sushi, 17200 Chenal Parkway, Little Rock, tell us that while they expect it to be open for lunch and dinner and possibly Sunday brunch, owner-chef Kiyen Kim still has not fixed the operating hours (it could stay open until midnight and serve alcohol until 1) or revealed yet just what he's got in mind for the menu. His west Little Rock operation (kiyens.com) serves sushi and Japanese, Korean and Asian-fusion dishes. The new place did not have, as of last check, a listed phone number; the one at the west Little Rock restaurant is (501) 821-7272.

One of our eagle-eyed readers reports that if any work at all was being done on the pending Captain Hooks Fish & Chicken, 6725 John F. Kennedy Blvd., North Little Rock, next to Indian Hills Shopping Center, it apparently stopped sometime in June when the city plastered the door with "notice of public nuisance" signs because the owners weren't properly taking care of the green space on the property. Meanwhile, the streetside "coming soon" sign blew down during a recent storm and has not been replaced or re-erected. The establishment does not have a Facebook page, website or listed telephone number, nor have we been able to track down Mohammed Yafai, listed as the business owner with the state Secretary of State's office. If anything does develop there, we'll let you know.

Cafe Brunelle, in the Promenade at Chenal, 17819 Chenal Parkway, Little Rock, was scheduled to reopen Tuesday after a monthlong "restructure" with new menu items, management and staff. Hours are 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. The phone number is (501) 448-2687; the website is cafebrunelle.com.

Indian Market has opened in the strip center where Chenal Parkway meets West Markham Street (12312 Chenal Parkway, Little Rock), next to Firehouse Subs. The Facebook page displays a logo self-describing it as "The Largest Desi Grocery Store in Arkansas." There isn't a restaurant yet; we're told there might be one a couple of months down the line. Hours are 10 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. The phone number is (501) 916-9277.

Ready Construction Services has filed a $3 million building permit for the Saltgrass Steak House, 10 Anglers Way, Little Rock, a new development under construction, apparently in the vicinity of the Bass Pro Shop. A second Saltgrass Steak House is supposedly in the works for 6040 Warden Road, where North Little Rock meets Sherwood. Jeff Cantwell, Saltgrass' executive vice president of development, says the target date for that restaurant is "this winter"; the Little Rock outlet will follow "in early 2018." Saltgrass, a subsidiary of mega-chain Landry's Inc., has a number of outlets in Houston, a number of outlets in other parts of Texas and some in Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri (there's one in Branson), Nevada and Oklahoma.

The Argentinian Coffee & Wine Bar is now open at 328 Central Ave., Hot Springs, on Bathhouse Row (opposite the Superior Bathhouse). Hours are 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 or 9 p.m. Sunday. The phone number is (501) 623-2777.

Target opening date is now the first quarter of 2018 for the Little Rock outlet of New Orleans-based dine-in movie-theater chain Movie Tavern, under construction in Little Rock's Gateway Town Center, where Interstates 430 and 30 meet. The theater is still expected to offer, besides approximately 1,100 recliner seats to view 11 screens, a full-service lobby bar and a menu of chicken wings, mac and cheese, burgers and pizza, plus breakfast options for early showings.

And Donnie Ferneau Jr. will be cooking "live" for the Donnie Ferneau Pop-Up Dinner With Legacy Wine & Spirits (the liquor store is providing wine pairings and signature cocktail demonstrations), 6-9 p.m. Aug. 26 at Wildwood Park for the Arts, 20919 Denny Road, Little Rock. Tickets are $50 in advance (tinyurl.com/ferneaupopup), $65 at the door.

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 08/17/2017

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