Planning: Raising McCain’s?
Asian and Mexican rotate in on Cantrell
Raising McCain’s? Central Arkansas’ first Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers location appears to be on the blocks for 4311 McCain Blvd., North Little Rock. The city Planning Commission is reviewing site plans, reports KATV. And we’ve uncovered a recent online job posting (tinyurl.com/yye8uedy) seeking a general manager for a North Little Rock location. The Baton Rouge-based chain (raisingcanes.com/locations) has four Arkansas outlets, two in Fayetteville, one each in Rogers and Bentonville, plus one in Texarkana, Texas.
The revolving door has rotated again in the strip center at 14524 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, this time with the opening of Asian Bar & Grill, offering a primarily upscale Chinese menu with a few Thai, Malaysian and Japanese items, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5-10 p.m. daily. The space had previously housed several Asian restaurants, including a sushi place; it was the final resting place of Sai Gon. Most recently and very briefly it was a west Little Rock outlet of Hawgz Blues Cafe and almost as briefly, a branch of Whole Hog Cafe, preceded by two incarnations of The Main Cheese. The phone number is (501) 673-3934; check out the menu at the website, asianbarandgrill.com.
And speaking of Cantrell Road strip-center revolving doors, Three Amigo’s Restaurante has replaced Lupita’s Original Mexican Food at 7710 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, across the street from the under-reconstruction McDonald’s. It may not represent a total turnaround, since the new menu still includes a Lupita’s Chimi, Lupita’s Nachos, Lupitas Platillos and a Lupitas Burger. Hours are 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. The phone number is (501) 247-8716. Former occupants of the space include Burger Mama’s, a Quiznos and a Japanese restaurant, Eastern Flames.
Trio’s, 8201 Cantrell Road, and owner Capi Peck, who is also a Little Rock city director representing Ward 4,
is hosting “Pastries With the Police,” 8-9:30 p.m. Saturday, with food and coffee and a chance to interact with members of the Little Rock Police Department. The restaurant phone number is (501) 2213330.
A Google search for Cupcakes on Kavanaugh, 5625 Kavanaugh Blvd., Little Rock, turns up the words “permanently closed.” Calls during business hours to the phone number, (501) 664-2253, go directly to voicemail and messages left thereupon, at least so far, have not been returned. And although the website, eatacupcake.com, still functions, there is no longer a Facebook page (“Sorry, this content isn’t available right now” is the message that comes up at facebook.com/ pages/Cupcakes-on-Kavanaugh/119034649582).
Estimated target for the opening of Yeh Mon Jamaican Restaurant, in the Bowman Curve Shopping Center, 200 N. Bowman Road, Little Rock, is now four to six weeks down the line. Owner Patrick Blackburn says he’s awaiting city inspections and some wall framing and expects things to move quickly thereafter. He’s promising a genuine Jamaican menu — including curried and jerk chicken, red beans and rice, curried goat, ox tails and brown-stew chicken and brown-stew steak — prepared by “genuine people from Jamaica.”
Meanwhile, the folks at Cantina Cinco de Mayo, owned by the Valadez family, are estimating a two-month timeline for the opening of the family’s new project, El Mezcal, under construction in the former Afterthought Bistro & Bar, 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd., in Little Rock’s Hillcrest. Partners Ramiro Valadez and Vicente Hernandez have pledged high-quality service and an upscale Mexican menu, along with a cocktail program focusing heavily on the agave-based Mexican liquor that is the restaurant’s namesake.
Owner Au Tran says he’s still having vent-a-hood installation troubles that are delaying the opening of his That Ramen Place, 5711 Kavanaugh Blvd. in Little Rock’s Pulaski Heights. The phone number is (501) 414-0284; the Facebook page: facebook.com/That-Ramen-Place-633341350431569.
Lakewood Fish & Seafood Lounge, 4801 North Hills Blvd., North Little Rock, has more than 400 pounds of crawfish in house and through at least mid-May will be offering two big crawfish specials — the Nola Platter ($19.95), which includes two pounds of Louisiana crawfish, eight ounces of boudin sausage, Cajun corn on cob, Cajun new potatoes and slaw, and All You Can Eat Crawfish ($32.95), as much crawfish, potatoes, corn and slaw you can eat. The hours are 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. The phone number is (501) 758-4299.
Meanwhile, next-door Riverdale restaurants Loca Luna and Red Door, 3519 Old Cantrell Road and 3701 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, respectively, will start offering crawfish boils today, accompanied by craft draft beer and wine specials. Loca Luna’s phone number is (501) 663-4666; Red Door’s is (501) 666-8482.
One of our eagle-eyed colleagues has spotted a sign proclaiming “Coming Soon — The Office Bar and Grill” outside the former Boot Scooters Kountry Club, 421 Broadway, Hot Springs, which closed after the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board first suspended, then yanked its the liquor license last fall in the wake of hundreds of violations.
The Conway-based Tacos 4 Life mini-chain is looking for 2,300 volunteers to pack the 544,320 meals that guests have raised in the eighth annual Conway MobilePack, March 28-30 at the Conway Expo Center, 2505 E. Oak St., Conway, Ark. Since it opened its first outlet in Conway in 2014, the chain has, through its meal donation program (each taco, quesadilla, rice bowl, salad or nachos a customer purchases equals a meal for a hungry child), come up with 2,165,831 meals in central Arkansas and 8 million meals total as a brand, which it packs and distributes through its partnership with Feed My Starving Children. Sign up for one or more twohour shifts across all three days at tacos4life.org/mymobilepack.
Historic Arkansas Museum is featuring catfish, which the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame and the Department of Arkansas Heritage has designated as the 2019 Arkansas Food of the Year, for the first dinner in its 2019 “History Is Served:
Arkansas Foodways Dinner Series,” 6:30 p.m. April 18 at the museum, 200 E. Third St., Little Rock. Chef Scott Rains of Table 28 will prepare the “Catfish Tales in Four Courses” dinner; the evening starts with a cocktail hour, sponsored by Rock Town Distillery, in the museum’s Stella Boyle Smith Atrium, with a talk by Rex Nelson, senior editor and columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Tickets are $60, $45 for museum members. Visit HistoricArkansas.org. The rest of the series: “If Reasons Were as Plenty as Blackberries: Arkansas Fruits and Berries,” June 6 with Jon Arrington of The Root Cafe and “The Genealogy of Food Traditions: The Summer Vegetable Plate,” July 11 with Scott McGehee of Yellow Rocket Concepts.
And an outlet of Jimmy John’s has opened in Siloam Springs at 3200 E. U.S. 412. Hours are 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. The phone number is (479) 373-1111; visit online.jimmyjohns.com.
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: