You will recall our report last week that Aloha Poke is pending for the former Lulav/The Veg space, 220 W. Sixth St., Little Rock. Now we learn that it'll have a competitor: Poke Hula, going in at 425 E. Third St., formerly the Blue Canoe Taproom, in the River Market District. The Facebook page (facebook.com/pokehula) offers this exclamatory post: "We will be opened after the first of the year! We are getting everything set up as we type this! If you like our Facebook page you will be one of the first to know!" It also offers a sneak peek at the menu; expected operating hours (10 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday-Sunday); a web address (pokehulaar.com); and a phone number, (501) 246-3368, at which we could not get an answer by deadline.
Co-owner Kristi Pruett confirms the pending sale, not yet finalized but expected to be so as of Monday, of EJ's Eats & Drinks, 523 Center St., Little Rock. Since the sale is in progress, she would not identify either the buyer or any details.
Meanwhile, something -- we also don't yet know what -- is moving into the next door space, 521 Center St., most recently former Jerky's Spicy Chicken and More. Over the weekend, we saw equipment being loaded through the front door, and one of our eagle-eyed correspondents spotted a sign on the door indicating an application for a liquor license is pending.
Franchisee Danny Gililland of Sweet "P" Enterprises reports a planned Jan. 8 opening for the Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen at 12201 Maumelle Blvd., North Little Rock, just south of the Maumelle city limits.
Arkansas Online reports you should look for a January opening, slightly later than the original by-year's-end estimate, for the Movie Tavern, in the Gateway Town Center, where Interstates 430 and 30 meet, Little Rock. That's according to the website for the Dallas-based chain (movietavern.com). They're hiring for servers, box office attendants and bartender(s).
We had pretty much decided not to list New Year's Eve/New Year's Day openings, but this New Year's Eve dinner-for-two, three-course listing from The Southern Gourmasian, 219 W. Capitol Ave., Little Rock, drew our eye. The menu includes a sweet potato beignet, a crispy calamari salad, braised beef brisket in a tamarind fig glaze, chicken "pot pie," crispy pork belly with potato dumplings, and some pretty impressive desserts. Seatings are available 5:30-9 p.m.; it's $30 per person. For reservations, call (501) 313-5645, email justin@thesoutherngourmasian.com or send a message through the Facebook page (facebook.com/TheSouthernGourmasian).
SQZBX Brewery & Pizza Joint (pronounced "squeezebox") is up and running at 236 Ouachita Ave., Hot Springs, in a building that formerly housed a piano store and using parts of the pianos husband-wife owners Zac Smith and Cheryl Roorda have repurposed into parts of their bar and some lighting fixtures. Roorda also confirmed to the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record that her workforce includes several employees from the Hot Springs outlet of Dixie Cafe, who were thrown out of work when the whole chain went blooey, with only two days notice, earlier this month. The list includes Barbara Cordero, a 17-year Dixie Cafe veteran (who answered the phone when we called earlier this week), and her husband, a former Dixie Cafe general manager. Hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday. The phone number is (501) 609-0609.
And from our mea culpa department: We errantly reported last week that Larry Carter, operations manager of Larry's Pizza, was also its namesake. That's actually founder Larry White of Bryant, Carter's brother-in-law. And a recent Style section piece on the area availability of ramen contained an error: "tonkatsu" in Japanese means a pork cutlet. The pork-bone broth that is a principal ingredient in many preparations of ramen is "tonkotsu."
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 12/28/2017