When 26-year-old James Mann parked his burger-centric food truck outside Keller Williams Realty for a trial run a year ago, he had no idea what kind of reaction he would inspire.  The line was long. The burgers sold out. That was a good sign. Even better was the customer response to the menu he’d spent the previous summer developing — while juggling two other jobs.  “Don’t change a thing,” they told Mann. He hasn’t, and his Pettaway Square-based Smashed N’ Stacked truck has been a hit. It’s no wonder. The burgers are glorious and creative and the shoestring-style fries — plain or loa ..read more

Like Dorothy taking her initial steps into Oz, the colors are the first thing you notice when you walk into Taqueria El Palenque. Reds, blues, oranges and yellows in shades that would make a Crayola box jealous explode from every booth and table. An adobe church is painted on ceramic tiles below the pass from the kitchen to the dining room. On the back wall of the main dining room, a tangerine-colored background sets off the indigo denim of a man kneeling in a fresco-style painting and … wait … is he holding a rooster? Yes. Yes, he is. Don’t make it weird. In fact, look a little closer and you ..read more

The early aughts were a weird culinary moment. Britney Spears was shilling for Pepsi Blue, Rachael Ray was introducing “sammie” and “yum-o” into the zeitgeist, Carrie Bradshaw had ignited a cupcake boom with a single “Sex and the City” scene, and people still reliably pronounced the word vegan as if it rhymed with “Reagan.” And somewhere in Fairbanks, Alaska, a young Trisha Billings was telling her grandmother (an educator named Montean Jackson) that she’d like to open a cafe when she grew up. Utopia, she’d call it.  Billings, who moved to Arkansas from Alaska in 2013, had forgotten most ..read more

  Dining at Pizzeria Ruby requires enough patience to reckon with a mighty crowd. Chef Michael Robertshaw and Meredith Butler, his business partner and significant other, are responsible for one of the hottest spots in Northwest Arkansas. And that’s saying something, given the sizzling streak the region’s culinary scene has been on lately. Pizzeria Ruby’s pies are served in one standard size — 18-inch — and they’re straightforward and delicious. The pasta is impeccable. The ingredients sing the siren song of superiority. And all of it can be enjoyed in a minuscule municipality few take no ..read more

Generally thumbing our noses at the suburbs is what we Little Rockers do best while maneuvering down Interstate 30 on the way to Hot Springs, and who can blame us? There’s plenty to lodge grievances about in the Benton-Bryant belt, particularly as seen from the highway: retail and architectural banality, an excess of gun shops, a giant billboard next to an Applebee’s that shouts “WARNING: PREPARE TO MEET GOD.” Then again, Benton gave us musical gem Adam Faucett. And NFL player-turned-zydeco legend Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes. And scenes in “Sling Blade” and “White Lightning.” And, we discovered rece ..read more

The face of Yeyo’s Mexican street tacos was born to migrant farmers in California, raised in Michoacán, Mexico, and is now happy at home in Northwest Arkansas. The 52-year-old father of three is farming with family and wowing people with tastes tied to his deeply held heritage. Chef Rafael Rios has grown to prominence since moving to the area 16 years ago. He and his family started farming in Northwest Arkansas in 2006. They were selling produce at local farmers markets, but didn’t open their first food truck until 2012. Just a few years down the road, Rios has been nominated for two James Bea ..read more

First it was an Instagram story of Chilean bass at One Eleven from a service industry professional I follow. Then it was another post from a service industry friend on his anniversary at One Eleven, using a knife to cut through a large red mushroom that turned out to be a forest cake in what has to be one of the most intriguing yet deceptive desserts in Little Rock. The best restaurant tips come from service industry people, and when they’re outside of their places of employment sharing stories from other restaurants, follow the scent. One Eleven at the Capital (formerly Ashley’s) reopened for ..read more

If the tryptophan in your oven-roasted turkey helps the body produce serotonin, is Thanksgiving dinner medicinal? We’re hoping so, ’cause it’s gonna take a heap of serotonin to get through that 73-frame slideshow of your cousin’s kid’s second-grade graduation, and even more to stomach your brother-in-law’s meticulous explainer on why the Democrats are responsible for Kroger being out of miniature marshmallows.  That said, we thought we’d offer a little extra holiday sustenance for the Arkansas medical marijuana patient, so we asked Trevor Swedenburg, vice president of culinary operations ..read more

Italian food is comfort food, right? We all like Italian. It can be simple, quick and satisfying — your basic pizza, spaghetti, lasagna — or it can be a careful and complex combination of flavors that makes one savor each bite slowly between the “mmmmm“ and the “oh, you gotta try this.” Please immediately place George’s firmly in the latter category. George’s is a brand-new upscale Italian restaurant in the Heights (5510 Kavanaugh Blvd.), in the location previously occupied by the late and lamented Café Prego. Owners Mary Olive and John Stephens have renovated it beautifully, but longtime p ..read more

On July 6, Three Fold Noodles & Dumpling Co. opened its highly anticipated West Little Rock location in the Pleasant Ridge Shopping Center at 11525 Cantrell Road. The restaurant’s move to West Little Rock took a winding path, transpiring after owner Lisa Zhang’s dreams of opening Haybird —  a 9,000-square-foot facility on Rebsamen Park Road that would incorporate three concepts: Chinese fried chicken, a sake brewery and an Eastern pantry — were dashed by the coronavirus pandemic. Three Fold had purchased the land on Rebsamen Park Road next to Pizza Cafe where the antique store Marshal ..read more