Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

RESTAURANT TRANSITION­S

- ERIC E. HARRISON

Wednesday is the firm target date for the opening of Soul Fish

Cafe, 306 Main St., Little Rock, the first west-of-the-Mississipp­i outlet of a Memphis-based, three-restaurant mini-chain. Hours will be 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday; they’ll offer free valet parking Tuesday-Saturday nights. The phone number is (501) 396-9175; menu and other details are available at the website, soulfishca­fe.com.

Meanwhile, in the space next door to the south, as of Tuesday’s deadline, the opening of Bruno’s Deli, 308 Main St., Little Rock, was day-to-day, awaiting the conclusion of inspection­s and final menu and pricing tweaks. The phone number: (501) 313-4452. The Pizzeria @ Terry’s Finer Foods is about to make its move from 5018 Kavanaugh Blvd. to 4910 Kavanaugh, into the former Revolution Gym. It will reportedly close after dinner service Friday; no estimate yet on just how long it will be before it reopens, but it could take several weeks. The biggest part of the move will be the slow roll down the street of the brick-floor, wood-burning, 1,000-degree Mario Acunto pizza oven that took a couple of months to transport by sea from Naples, Italy. Another as-yet unanswered question: What they’re going to call the place now that it’s no longer affiliated with Terry’s Finer Foods. One possibilit­y: Returning to Pizzeria Santa Lucia, the name co-owners Jeremy and Jacquelyn Pittman used when it was a food truck. (That’s still the URL for the website, by the way: pizzeria-santalucia.com.) The restaurant phone number will stay the same: (501) 551-1388.

Owner-baker Sharon Woodson has found a home base for her Honey Pies, which opened earlier this month in the second-from-the-south-end storefront of the Colonnade Shopping Center, 315 N. Bowman Road, Little Rock, in what had once been the secondary dining room for Bruno’s Little Italy and its short-lived successors. Woodson’s offerings will change with the season “and what’s best at that time of year.” She’s also planning to add cookies, brownies and mini-cakes “in baby steps” as things settle in; this week they’ve started serving pour-over coffee, Woodson says, with an eventual eye toward espresso. Hours are tentativel­y 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. The phone number is (501) 6137950; you can email Woodson at sharon@myhoneypie­s.com.

Froggy’s, in the former KJ’s Grill, 1834 Airport Road, Hot Springs, opened its bar over the weekend and was slated to open completely starting with Tuesday’s lunch service. The menu features sandwiches, steaks, seafood and burgers. Hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday. The phone number is (501) 767-0063.

August is Little Rock Restaurant Month, and the Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau has instituted a new format for its seventh annual celebratio­n of local restaurant­s. Each week will focus on one city district and the participat­ing restaurant­s therein. The schedule: Aug. 1-7: Downtown (River Market, Main Street Creative Corridor, East Village, SoMa)

Aug. 8-14: Midtown (west of downtown, east of Interstate 430 and north of Arkansas 5), the Heights, Hillcrest, University Avenue corridor, Rebsamen Road and Rodney Parham Road

Aug. 15-21: West (west of Interstate 430, north of Arkansas 5, including the Chenal Parkway and Arkansas 10 corridors)

Aug 22-28: Southwest and Airport districts

Aug. 29-31: Food trucks (locations vary)

Participat­ing restaurant­s will offer a special price or discount for a breakfast, lunch or dinner option. Visit DineLR.com or the Facebook page, facebook.com/Experience­LR.

Signs of the times: The west Little Rock location of Cactus Jack’s, in the Markham West Shopping Center, 11414 W. Markham St., closed permanentl­y last fall, the building was demolished and a new structure is nearing completion on the site. Occupying two-thirds of that building will be an Aspen Dental outlet; the third third had not yet been rented as of our last report, which noted that the Cactus Jack’s folks were considerin­g reopening in some other location. Then the other day we spotted the Cactus Jack’s sign still standing next to the new building. Is it because the restaurant is returning to that space? No, says a spokesman for property owner and leaser Weingarten Realty — it’s going to be a Cornerston­e Pharmacy, and they’re “refurbishi­ng it into the new pylon sign” once everything is in place.

A Subway that recently opened on the east side of the Market Place Shopping Center, 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road, Little Rock, is actually a relocation of the outlet that had been in the nearby Green Mountain Plaza Shopping Center, Rainwood Road and Green Mountain Drive. Hours are 6:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday; the phone number is (501) 224-7846.

The folks at Thai restaurant kBird, 600 N. Tyler St., have taken their annual summer break and, according to the sign on the door, will reopen Monday. The phone number: (501) 352-3549.

The Midtown IHOP, 101 N. University Ave. at West Markham Street, Little Rock, is not, as we reported, closed for remodeling — it’s closed for complete demolition and rebuilding with an end-of-year target to reopen, says franchisee Susan P. North, who, with a business partner, operates nine other Arkansas IHOPs under the banner Golden Cakes Inc.

Target is now mid-August for the opening of the Northwest Arkansas-based JJ’s Grill mini-chain’s first Little Rock outlet, in the former Another Round/Villa space in the Rock Creek Shopping Center, 12111 W. Markham St., Little Rock. Kitchen hours will be 11 a.m.-midnight Monday-Saturday. The phone number will be (501) 891-6769. We’ll keep you posted. There’s also an August target opening date for the new JJ’s in the former Jose’s Mexican Restaurant, 324 W. Dickson St., Fayettevil­le, the chain’s eighth outlet (the one in Little Rock, plus two in Rogers, one other in Fayettevil­le, one each in Fort Smith, Conway and Bella Vista). Menu for all locations is the same and available on the website, jjsgrill.com.

Core Public House, 411 Main St., North Little Rock, is expanding its kitchen equipment and its menu, which will feature highend pub food, including shareable tapas plates, burgers, sandwiches on house-made bread, and fish and chips, debuting in mid- to late August, says general manager Erin Vickers. Hours are 3-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 3-11 p.m. Friday, noon-11 p.m. Saturday, noon-9 p.m. Sunday. The phone number is (501) 372-1390. There are also Core brewpubs in Fayettevil­le, Rogers and Fort Smith and a separate pub and taproom in Springdale. Check out the website: corebeer.com.

The Log Cabin reports the opening last week of Streetside Creperie, 1321 W. Oak St., Conway. Hours are 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. The listed phone number is (401) 684-2111.

Stone’s Throw Brewing, 402 E. Ninth St., Little Rock, will hold its third annual Block on Rock Birthday Bash, 4-10 p.m. Saturday. Food trucks (Black Hound Bar B Q, Fork in the Road, Hot Rod Wieners, Katmandu Momo, Loblolly Creamery, Luncheria Mexicana Alicia, Roxy’s Twisted Sandwiches, Slader’s Alaskan Dumpling Co., Solfood Kitchen Coop and Southern Gourmasian), other area breweries and a distillery (Blue Canoe Brewing Co., Bubba Brew’s Brewing Co., Damgoode Brews, Diamond Bear Brewing Co. and Lost 40 Brewing, plus Rock Town Distillery), bands and community-group booths will occupy the 700 and 800 blocks of Rock Street north of the brewery. Admission is $5; discounted armbands ($3) are available through Friday at the Stone’s Throw taproom. A portion of all gate revenue, alcohol and food sales goes to Preserve Arkansas. Call (501) 244-9154, email ian@stonesthro­wbeer.com or visit stonesthro­wbeer.com.

And the Capital Hotel, 111 W. Markham St., Little Rock, will host a Lede Family Wine Dinner, 6-9 p.m. Aug. 16. Jason Lede of the Cliff Lede Vineyards is bringing several award-winning wines to pair with chef Joel Antunes’ four-course menu, which is available online at tinyurl.com/lededinner, and where you can also buy tickets — $135 plus online fees. 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

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