Keet family-run JTJ Restaurants, which operates central Arkansas Taziki's outlets as well as west Little Rock high-end Petit & Keet and Paninis and Company in Midtown, is taking over the former Canvas restaurant space inside the Arkansas Arts Center in MacArthur Park, East Ninth and Commerce streets, Little Rock. The restaurant, maintaining what has become a tradition of names reflecting things artistic (before it was Canvas it was Best Impressions), will now be called Watercolor in the Park; projected opening date is mid-November. "The new menu will feature chef-driven quality at reasonable prices," says paterfamilias Jim Keet, and "everything will be freshly prepared and of the highest quality"; catering functions for the arts center and the Terry House will be handled by "our catering departments at Petit & Keet, Taziki's and Paninis and Company." Initial hours will be 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; the Sunday brunch will come from the folks at Petit & Keet. Still not certain: what will happen to the restaurant when, sometime in the next 10 months to a year, a major reconstruction project closes parts of the Arts Center.
We're told that what's going on at the Burger King outlet at 11410 N. Rodney Parham Road, Little Rock, is major remodeling and that it's targeted to reopen in about 30 days. Calls to the phone number, (501) 224-9980, produce only a rapid busy signal.
Meanwhile, down the street, at 9624 N. Rodney Parham Road, Little Rock, the Arby's outlet, which had also gone through major remodeling, has reopened. Hours are 10 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday. The phone number is (501) 227-4618.
And La Hacienda, 3024 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, also has reopened after a brief shutdown to fix "some kinks that we think is time to iron out" after their nearly yearlong reconstruction in 2016. The phone number is (501) 661-0600.
And just up that street a bit, the Starbucks, 2815 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, on the former site of Shogun Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar, opened Oct. 10 on schedule. We don't have hours yet -- Starbucks' store locator website only reveals that it's open until 10 -- or a phone number.
Darla Huie, owner of Dizzy's Bistro, 200 River Market Ave., Little Rock, last week posted on her Facebook page that the restaurant is going "green" for its new delivery service through Waitr: "Here's what we did: Paper straws, compostable carry-out containers, paper bags, bio-bags, 1,100-day bio-foam cups. Here's what you can do: If you don't need napkins and silverware, type it in to the comments section and recycle all we send out properly." Dizzy's hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday. The phone number is (501) 375-3500.
Jacksonville, Fla.-based Firehouse Subs is adding to its menu, until the end of the year and at participating restaurants (not all its restaurants are participating, apparently) the Firehouse Pub Steak Sub, topped with a beer cheese sauce (blend of sharp cheddar and American cheeses flavored with white Belgian-style wheat ale) and crispy fried onions. They'll pair it with a bag of Rold Gold pretzels. There are two Firehouse Subs locations each in Little Rock, North Little Rock, Jonesboro, Fort Smith and Fayetteville, and single locations in Bentonville, Bryant, Conway, Searcy, Russellville, Rogers, Hot Springs, Van Buren and Jacksonville. Visit firehousesubs.com.
The recently opened IHOP, 302 S. Rockwood Drive, Cabot, is apparently one of the chain's first with a coffee bar and, we're told, an in-house bakery. Hours are 6 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 6 a.m.-midnight Friday-Saturday. The phone number is (501) 941-3300.
Food trucks and drink vendors, including Lost 40 Brewing, Count Porkula, Adobo to Go, the Arkansas Heart Hospital's "Food From the Heart" food truck and Adams Mobile BBQ, will be part of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra's "Symphony Local" festival, starting two hours before each of their "Elgar's Enigma" concerts, 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10 and 3 p.m. Nov. 11 at Robinson Center Performance Hall, 426 W. Markham St. at Broadway, Little Rock. The festival will also celebrate arts and crafts vendors and local community organizations, including Arkansas Foodbank, which will collect food donations (take 10 or more nonperishable food items and get a voucher good for one pair of tickets to any 2018-19 ASO concert). Call (501) 666-1761 or visit arkansassymphony.org/symphony-local.
Sign up now for the 16th annual Tom Daniel Holiday Chili Cook-off, 4:30 p.m. Nov. 19 in the Exchange Street Plaza, 128 Exchange St., Hot Springs. The cutoff is 35 cooks; call Suzanne Tucker at (501) 624-3370 or email her at sue@antiquesar.com to get a registration form. See the complete rules, regulations, details and prizes at HotSpringsDowntown.com. Admission to the public is $5; attendees can sample the more than 30 traditional and nontraditional chili entries and vote for their favorite entry and the "People's Choice" winner. A panel of judges, including Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist Rex Nelson, will determine first- and second-place winners (trophy and cash prize) in both categories. The annual Downtown Association of Hot Springs event also includes the turning on of the downtown holiday lights at dusk; former KATV anchor Gina Kurre will be the emcee; they'll honor retiring KATV meteorologist Ned Perme, who has served as emcee for 15 years, as the first Honorary Chair. Proceeds fund the maintenance of the downtown lights and support the Downtown Association of Hot Springs.