All the world's a takeout window, and all the men and women in it merely pickup and delivery diners.
We'd apologize to William Shakespeare, but we remember that he spent a lot of his summers out of town while the plague-ravaged London and authorities were shutting down the theaters in an attempt to keep it from spreading.
So while sit-down restaurant reviews are on hold for the duration, we've been dining al grab-and-go.
As is always our standard practice, we paid upfront for all meals, and we tipped generously, something we continue to encourage everyone to emulate. Hours are subject to rapid and sudden change, which is why we aren't generally listing them, but we are providing phone numbers, websites and Facebook pages. Even if you're not using them to order ahead, which many places require, for pickup or delivery, you should verify before heading out that the place is actually still open.
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Here are this week's offerings, in no particular order:
• CATHEAD'S DINER, 515 Shall Ave., Little Rock, (501) 801-0843; catheadsdiner.com; facebook.com/catheadsdiner
What we got: Chef-owner Donnie Ferneau had been working on several sandwiches as possible specials or menu additions when the pandemic started changing restaurant paradigms, so he hurried them into production as one of the mainstays — along with plate lunches that his folks plate instead of letting customers choose along a cafeteria-style line.
We finally got out to grab the one we'd been itching the most to try: The Brisket Melt ($12), featuring Ferneau's in-house (well, the smoker is just outside) chopped smoked brisket, topped with fried onions, a red-and-white barbecue sauce and a side cup of melted smoked cheese.
We enjoyed the sandwich very much, though we didn't really notice the barbecue sauce, which appears to have been applied minimally if at all. We didn't quite realize that what was in the cup was the smoked cheese, so we didn't put any of it on the sandwich, but it made for a nice side dish — very similar to, if not the same as, the stuff on Cathead's excellent mac and cheese. A portion of house-made chips accompanies the sandwich in a black foam clamshell.
How it works: Cathead's no longer allows non-employees into the restaurant, so you must place and pay for your order in advance by phone. A server brings your order out through what used to be the secondary door at the end of the line, but is now designated as the to-go door.
How it's going: We mentioned that it wasn't busy that day, but there were several customers waiting on the patio for their orders. Cathead's has eliminated breakfast and weekend brunch hours and now operates only for Tuesday-Friday lunch.
• MUGS CAFE, 5719 Kavanaugh Blvd., in Little Rock's Pulaski Heights, (501) 503-5958; mugscafecoffee.com/heights-little-rock; facebook.com/mugscafeargenta
What we got: The Grilled Cheese sandwich ($6) with tart side apple (chips are also an option). The menu offers a choice of pepper jack, Swiss or Cheddar; the kitchen was happy to make the sandwich with all three. For $1 you can add bacon, tomato or avocado. The sandwich, cut diagonally in half, was a taste treat and just gooey enough for a little bit of the cheese to spill out of the long cut edge; we daresay it would have been gooier if we'd bitten into it on the premises, but the 10-minute trip home allowed it to cool and solidify a bit.
How it works: Mugs Cafe takes walk-in orders; it took the kitchen less than five minutes to assemble and prepare our sandwich. You can also order online or by phone.
How it's going: The cafe has been doing pretty good walk-in and walk-by business in the mornings, but late on Easter Sunday's lunchtime, there was nobody in the place but us and two bored employees.
...
We hit these three restaurants that had reopened after being closed for some period:
• LA HACIENDA, 3024 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, (501) 661-0600; lahaciendalittlerock.com; facebook.com/La-Hacienda-Mexican-Restaurant-of-Little-Rock-128006836020
What we got: A lunch to-go order of Alambre al Queso ($9.99), fajita beef (or chicken) grilled with green peppers and onions and topped with melted cheese. The menu used to tag this quasi-fajita dish as the "cheese lover's delight," but no longer does so, which is probably a good idea since there's a lot less cheese on it than there used to be. Ours was fairly tender and there was a good balance between beef strips and veggies. It comes with sides of salad, La Hacienda's drier-than-most refried beans and moderately flavorful Mexican rice, plus a large bag of fresh chips and little cups of the restaurant's red and green salsas.
How it works: La Hacienda, which closed down for several weeks after the ban came down on dining-room dining, reopened, more or less suddenly, spreading the word via social media. They take walk-in orders — there' a big jug of hand sanitizer in the single westside entrance-way with a big hand-drawn sign encouraging customers to use it.
How it's going: Not as well as they expected when they reopened, apparently. Late last week, they announced via Facebook that they were cutting back to 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday-Sunday.
• CANTINA CINCO DE MAYO, 521 Center Street, Little Rock, (501) 400-8194; CantinasCincoDeMayo.com; facebook.com/5demayo3
What we got: Lunch Four ($7.95), two beef flautas (chicken is also an option) with rice, beans and salad. The flautas are very large and, in shape, more like deep-fried enchiladas than flutes, but they were delicious.
How it works: The restaurant offers curbside pickup but also takes walk-in orders. Ours took less than five minutes to come out of the kitchen. To-go orders come in a round aluminum pan with a thin silvered cardboard cover.
How it's going: One location, on Rahling Circle just off Chenal Parkway in west Little Rock, has remained open continuously during the covid-19 crisis; the other three, including this one, on Stagecoach Road in Little Rock and in Benton, recently reopened for takeout. On the day this location opened, between most downtown businesses shuttered or their employees working from home, it's understandable that we surprised the skeleton staff with our presence.
• MR. CHEN'S, 3901 S. University Ave., Little Rock, (501) 562-7900; mrchenschinese.com; facebook.com/pages/Mr-Chens-Authentic-Chinese-Restaurant/293655610684759
What we got: Small Steamed Buns ($6.95); House Tofu with meat ($8.95); Taiwanese Pan Fried Noodles ($9.95). Mr. Chen's, inside an Asian grocery in the Village Shopping Center, on the southeast corner of Asher and University avenues, was closed for a week and had just reopened when we stumbled in. Its menu centers on fresh and authentic Chinese cuisine.
The dumpling-like buns are actually small thin shells stuffed with meat and a small amount of meaty juice. They come with a garlic-soy dipping sauce similar to the one most places provide with potsticker dumplings; this is perhaps a bit more vivid than many. It's worth the usual 15-minute wait for them to come out of the kitchen. The House Tofu features large chunks of tofu wokked up with pork strips in a black bean sauce, for which we are suckers. We've tried the noodle dish elsewhere but not here — the to-go version, at least, consists of a sort of bird's nest of crisp noodles onto which one pours the contents of a plastic container — beef, shrimp and chicken with broccoli, cabbage, carrots and a couple of other vegetables in a thick brown sauce, which makes the noodles the center part of the nest, at least, pleasantly chewy.
How it works: Place orders by phone or in person; a plastic shield separates the masked counter person from the customer. There's a no-contact option — orders for pickup and delivery are stacked on a dining room table for customers and Bite Squad drivers with a sign urging folks to check the names closely to avoid possible mistakes.
Weekend on 04/16/2020