Transitions
the restaurant at the Clinton Presidential Center, 1200 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, will reopen Nov. 2 after a renovation and expansion with a new name — 42 bar and table. The restaurant will continue to serve lunch in the meanwhile, then start serving dinner Thursday-Saturday. Hours will be 11 a.m.-2 p.m. for Monday-Saturday lunch, 4-10 p.m. for Thursday-Saturday dinner. The restaurant phone number will continue to be (501) 537-0042; the website is dineatfortytwo.com.
Hooters of Arkansas has filed a $1.8 million building permit with the Little Rock Planning and Development Department for the construction of a location at 6 Anglers Way, Little Rock (the original address was listed as 6 Bass Pro Drive), near Bass Pro Shops and Outlets of Little Rock, just off Interstates 30 and 430. No timeline yet for when it’s expected to open. Hooters also has locations at 4110 Landers Road, North Little Rock, and 6323 Rogers Ave., Fort Smith.
Licensee Fred Weir says to look for a mid-November opening for Zaxby’s first Little Rock location, 10601 Kanis Road, Little Rock, near the Panera Bread and Dunkin’ Donuts at Kanis and Shackleford Road. It’ll be the first example of Zaxby’s latest, socalled “modern farmhouse” design, not just in Arkansas but apparently west of the Mississippi River. Meanwhile, the Athens, Ga.-based chain is donating $200,000 raised through Sept. 7 and 21 fundraisers at nearly all Zaxby’s locations to the American Red Cross for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma relief efforts.
And speaking of fried chicken, central Arkansas McDonald’s outlets, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, are letting customers taste the chain’s Buttermilk Crispy Tenders, “with a new Signature Sauce … inspired by the flavors of mayonnaise, ketchup and Rochester sauce, with herbs, and spices,” according to a spokesman. They’re available with choice of dipping sauce; for a limited time, you can get a free biscuit with the purchase of any size — four ($3.99), six ($5.99) or 10 ($9.99; prices may vary by outlet).
Arkansas Online reported this week that the Kroger Marketplace, 14000 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, has applied for a building permit to alter about 1,800 square feet of its interior to house a Starbucks kiosk. It’s just a mile west of a free-standing Starbucks at 12901 Cantrell, where it meets Sam Peck Road.
The El Porton at 12111 W. Markham St. (at Bowman Road), Little Rock, closed for a day and a half last week for plumbing and drainage repairs. It has since reopened. Hours are 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday. The phone number is (501) 223-8588.
Through Saturday, Mama’s Gyros Grill, 3309 E. Kiehl Ave., Sherwood, is honoring all members of all branches of the military (active or retired) and all first responders with reduced meal prices. Hours are 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday. The phone number is (501) 833-0306.
Beebe’s Hamburgers and Hot Dogs has opened at 2751 Dave Ward Drive, Conway, site of the former Pasta House. The menu features “100 percent, all-natural beef … never frozen” burgers, hand-cut french fries, made-from-scratch chili and “premium Boar’s Head frankfurters (natural casing), wrapped inside a warm potato bun,” according to the website, beebesburgers.com. Reportedly they plan to offer live music in the coming weeks. Hours are 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday. The phone number is (501) 358-6447.
Barbecue will be a main focus of the third annual Hog on the Hill Fall Festival, 4-7 p.m. Sunday at Asbury United Methodist Church, 1700 Napa Valley Drive, Little Rock. The festival will also feature games, a pumpkin patch, a petting zoo, a climbing wall, a cookie-baking contest and music; the church will donate 10 percent of the proceeds from the $10 barbecue plates and $5 child’s hot-dog plates and silent auction items to The Van, a nonprofit program that delivers supplies to homeless people in central Arkansas; the remaining proceeds will support United Methodist “Shared Giving” ministries, including Camp Aldersgate. Call (501) 225-9231 or (501) 831-1956.
The Oct. 2 Hot Springs Sentinel-Record lists the filing of a $1.4 million construction permit for 501 Prime, 215. E Grand Ave., Hot Springs. Owner-chef Matt Fuller, formerly of Central Park Fusion, was originally looking to open in late fall in a two-story former hardware store just east of Malvern Avenue; now he’s looking at sometime in the first part of 2018. The seemingly hefty price tag isn’t much of a surprise if you realize, as Fuller told us in July, that the building was just a shell when he took it over — “It’s never even had HVAC in it.”
He has already replaced the roof; now that the building permit is in place, he can start working on replacing the second floor. He’s hoping to have the bones in place by mid-December and he’s recycling some of the materials that are going into the building “to give it some old character.” His crew salvaged 3,500 square feet of the ship lap from the the original flat roof; he’s also repurposing material from a 127-year-old house he bought on Jefferson Avenue.
He promises a “great customer environment — this is going to be special for the state of Arkansas, period.” Particularly, he notes, “what I believe to be Arkansas’ first true oyster bar,” which will separate the dining room and lounge with Plexiglas cases full of crushed ice with oysters on display, plus other raw-bar items. “I’ve been to Vegas, and they don’t have anything like it,” he says. “There’s nothing like it in Texas. It’s a really neat feature.”
Also in the Spa City, Will’s
Cinnamon Shop has opened at 1001 Central Ave. at Olive Street, Hot Springs, serving, according to the Facebook page (facebook.com/ wills cinnamon shop), “homemade, totally from scratch cinnamon rolls” individually or by the half-dozen and dozen (“preorder encouraged”), plus “a variety of other cinnamon goodies as well as Loblolly ice cream.” Hours are 7 a.m.2 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, but the cinnamon rolls have been selling out, so it’d be a good idea to call ahead even if you’re not ordering a dozen. The phone number is (501) 538-4650.
Rachel Grady of Sassy Sweets, 104 W. McRae Ave., Searcy, was the first runner-up in the Oct. 1 Grand National Wedding Cake Competition, part of the 24th annual Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show in Tulsa. Kerry Vincent, former Food Network Challenge judge, well-known cake expert and the competition’s co-founder and director, announced at last year’s competition that this year’s theme would be “perfume.” Grady took home more than $42,000 worth of cash and prizes.
Her cake, which she titled “Garden Rendezvous,” eight tiers plus the topper, rose about 30 inches tall, and “almost all of the decorations made with royal icing, so it involved lots of hand-piping,” she says. Nobody got to eat the final product, however. “For competitions like this,” she explains, “the cakes are made on a polystyrene dummy; the outside has to be completely edible.” She spent 103 hours on it; if she were producing an edible cake in her shop, she says, it would take a whole team. The shop’s phone number, in case you’re planning to order one, is (501) 278-5463. This was her third competition, she says; in year one, “I was in the middle of the pack; last year, I placed 10th.” So yes, she’ll compete again next year. 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: