RESTAURANT TRANSITIONS
Katmandu Mo Mo, which has been enormously popular as a food truck vending Nepalese dumplings and other Himalayan goodies, is going brickand-mortar, after a fashion: Its kiosk in the River Market’s Ottenheimer Market Hall, 400 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, was expected to open Wednesday. Owner Kyler Nordeck says it will be open, tentatively, at least, 10:30 a.m. to market close, 6 p.m., Monday-Saturday and it’ll keep the food truck operating, particularly for special events. The phone number, the same one it has been using for the food truck, is (501) 3514169. Meanwhile, the Market Hall has a still-vacant, eastend kiosk that’s supposed to eventually become a gourmet hot dog place.
And speaking of food trucks, the Downtown Little Rock Partnership is bringing back Main Street Food Truck Fridays as of April 21, 10:45 a.m.1:30 p.m. each Friday through June 23 on the plaza at Main Street and Capitol Avenue. It’s in advance of the Main Street Food Truck Festival, which this year will be Oct. 7. The first-week food-truck lineup hasn’t been posted, but you’ll be able to find it each week on Facebook (facebook. com/MainStreetFoodTruckFestival). Visit mainstreetfoodtrucks.com.
Con Quesos, a full-service, fast-casual “fusion taco” restaurant at 2016 W. Martin Luther King Blvd., Fayetteville, tentatively expects to open a Little Rock location in April 2018 at Creek Plaza within the Gateway Town Center (directly across from the still-in-progress Movie
Tavern), at the confluence of interstates 30 and 430. “We provide a culinary experience unlike any other by incorporating flavors from around the world in our tacos,” founder Omar Kasim tells Arkansas Online’s Brandon Riddle, adding that “Indian, Caribbean, Mediterranean and hibachi are just some of the many cuisines.” For example, taco options include the Santorini, with grilled chicken, feta cheese and a tzatziki sauce, and the Osaka, with hibachi shrimp, stir-fried rice and a spicy mango dressing. Three cheese dip options: one with a “Southern sweet potato flair,” one Kasim describes as “Korean spice meets Tex-Mex” and one combining “lime and the heat of salsa verde.” Kasim says the Little Rock menu will be pretty much the same, but he’s planning to provide a “more robust bar experience.” The Fayetteville restaurant number: (479) 249-8495. Shark’s Fish & Chicken,a
burgeoning chain/franchise that has been proliferating across the landscape by moving into closed and/or abandoned fast-food and fast-casual restaurants, is reportedly set to open later this month in the former Waffle House,
2512 Arkansas 161, off the I-40 Prothro Junction exit, North Little Rock. Damgoode Pies is teaming up with Loblolly Creamery to sell its ice cream by the scoop, pint (available for carry-out
and delivery) and float (with sodas and Damgoode Brews, Damgoode’s in-house brand of craft beer). Most of the news release featured quotes from Damgoode founder Jeff Trine in all capital letters, because, as Trine notes, it is “CUSTOMARY TO SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM!” Initially, the several locations will be serving these four Loblolly flavors: Double Vanilla, Little Rock-y Road, Salted Caramel, and Strawberry Pineapple Tea Sorbet, with plans to occasionally rotate flavors. Visit DamgoodePies.com.
Mama’s Gyros Grill, 3309 E. Kiehl Ave., Sherwood, has expanded its hours — now 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday — and tweaked its menu, with new items including grilled fish gyros and a grilled salmon Greek salad. The phone number is (501) 833-0306.
Bleu Flame Burger Co., 1600 Dave Ward Drive, Conway, has closed. We know this because one of our eagle-eyed colleagues spotted a sign on the door that says “We’ve closed our doors for good.” Also because a Google search turns up the words “permanently closed.” And because the phone number, (501) 2051927, has been disconnected.
Our attention, meanwhile, has been called to Las Delicias, 1815 Old Morrilton Highway (U.S. 64), Conway, which vends desserts, ice cream and frozen yogurt, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, noon-9 p.m. Sunday. The phone number: (501) 358-7577.
Owner-chef Matt Fuller says he’s closing his Central Park Fusion, 200 Park Ave., Hot Springs, as of Saturday, after 10 years in business, with plans to reopen as a new establishment in late fall, to be called 501 Prime, in a former hardware store, 215 E. Grand Ave., just east of Malvern Avenue.
The name, he explains, reflects the area code, while the “prime” part reflects the shift of focus toward steak and seafood that his menu has taken in recent years while having “Fusion” in the name has actually become a negative: “After 10 years, people still think I’m a Chinese restaurant,” he grumbles.
The two-story building, which Fuller says is just a shell — “It’s never even had HVAC in it, so we’re redoing the whole thing, and it’s going to be done right,” he notes — will give him 8,000 square feet, 4,000 on each floor. Downstairs, he says, he’ll have a wine bar with its own separate menu and an a la carte dining room, primarily steak and seafood. Separating the dining room and lounge will be “what I believe to be Arkansas’ first true oyster bar,” he says — Plexiglas cases full of crushed ice with oysters on display, plus other raw-bar items. “I’ve been working with East Coast and West Coast oyster farms, establishing relationships with them so we can bring stuff in directly,” he explains.
“Upstairs we’ll have what I’m calling a whiskey bar; we’ll still have wines and things like that, but it’ll be more spirit-focused.” Also upstairs, he’ll be set up for latenight dining and also private parties and overflows during the annual Oaklawn race meet and other busy times.
Fuller anticipates that his new place will be uniquely located to take advantage of the widening work currently underway on U.S. 70 between Benton and Hot Springs, which becomes Grand Avenue when it enters the Spa City, and plans for Malvern Avenue becoming more of an ingress route into the town.
One thing he is not taking with him when he moves: the highly stylized frog sculpture out front, which, he says, is “the one thing I’ve hated the most here.” The sculpture went with the previous restaurant, the Barking Frog in that converted bank, but “I don’t own the building,” Fuller says. “I’ve never been happy with that thing out there, but it is what it is.”
Need to make a reservation for one of the two remaining days the restaurant will be open? The phone number is (501) 623-0202.
And here’s our slightly expanded list of Easter Sunday meal options. Note that the list, which we provide as a service to our readers, only includes submissions from the restaurants involved, and that the presence, or absence, of an establishment constitutes neither an endorsement nor a lack thereof. We’ve included phone numbers so you can make reservations, which we do endorse.
Crowne Plaza Hotel, 201 S. Shackleford Road, Little Rock, Easter champagne brunch, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Crowne Plaza Atrium and Cafe 201. Chef Andre Poirot is preparing coldfood, carving, omelet, waffle, shrimp-and-grits, hot entree, hot breakfast and dessert stations. $34, $30 for senior citizens (60 and older), $18 for children 6-12, free for kids 5 and younger with a paying adult, plus tax and gratuity. Reservations: (501) 223-3000, Extension 6679.
Wyndham Riverfront, 2 Riverfront Place, North Little Rock, 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Carving, waffle and omelet, entree, vegetable, salad and dessert stations. $24.95, $22.95 for senior citizens, $14.95 for children 5-11, free for kids under 5 with paying adult, plus tax and gratuity. (501) 907-4826.
The Castle on Stagecoach, 6601 Stagecoach Road, Little Rock, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., prix-fixe buffet ($75 plus tax and gratuity, half-price for kids 13-17, free for kids 12 and younger. They’ll have a strolling violinist and with specialty coffees from Koffee with a Kause, plus egg hunts for children, photo ops with the Easter Bunny and carriage rides to and from the “castle” by Little Rock Carriage Co. (501) 9600658; CastleonStagecoach.com.
All Dixie Cafe restaurants are open 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m., offering two special entrees: a shrimp platter, grilled or fried, and the Fisherman’s Feast, grilled or fried.
The Hive, in the 21c Bentonville Hotel, 200 N.E. A St., Bentonville, will offer a three-course, prix-fixe Easter Brunch with a menu from executive chef Matthew McClure, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. The $35 price includes coffee, tea and soda; “adult brunch libations” are extra. (479) 2866575.
Morningside Bagel, 10848 Maumelle Blvd., North Little Rock, will be closed Sunday to allow staff and patrons to enjoy Easter with their families. So stock up on Saturday.
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: