Big Orange and Big Orange Midtown have again released the Lucie’s Rainbow Shake, aka Little Rock’s most important milkshake. The shake itself is a simple vanilla milkshake, but it’s the four-layer rainbow cake that sets it apart. Each color is found in the logo for Lucie’s Place, a Little Rock nonprofit that serves Central Arkansas’ LGBTQ homeless young adults. Those services include safe living conditions, bus passes, job training and counseling services. The work Lucie’s Place does to support and uplift some of the most neglected people in our state is worthy of praise. For the entire month of February, 100 percent of the proceeds from every Lucie’s Rainbow Shake sold at Big Orange and Big Orange Midtown will go to Lucie’s Place. Make plans to go today and to go many more times in February and support this awesome cause. Here’s our story from a couple of years ago on Lucie’s Rainbow Shake.
It shouldn’t be much longer before Hubcap Burger Company makes its debut on Cantrell Road. The restaurant is an offshoot of Cotham’s in the City, which is well known for its one-pound “Hubcap” burgers. The menu at Hubcap Burger Company will feature the eponymous burger, as well as several of the more casual items found at Cotham’s. The opening has been delayed by several major construction issues, including having to rip out and replace all the plumbing and the grease trap. We’ll be sure to stay on top of this and let you know as soon as we have an opening date.
Speaking of new restaurants, we’re still a month or two away from Flyway Brewing’s Brood and Barley gastropub in the Argenta neighborhood. The new spot is going into the space formerly occupied by Starving Artist Café and Core’s Argenta Public House. Owner Jess McMullen has been busy working with the new chef and getting the furniture situated in the dining room. Once it opens, Brood and Barley will have unique Flyway beers on tap that you can’t get anywhere else, even at the taproom down the road. Look for it this spring.
Congratulations to Abbi’s Teas and Things in Hillcrest on turning two years old this week. Owner Abbi Siler is celebrating tomorrow evening at the Hillcrest neighborhood’s traditional First Thursday sip-and-shop event. Siler tells me she’ll be sampling a few of her delicious teas and holding a couple of giveaways tomorrow evening. She’ll also have a few tea specials on the menu. Take it from this coffee lover: Abbi’s Teas and Things is a superb tea house that you really should check out if you haven’t already.
And in a story that has made the rounds this week, Westrock Coffee in North Little Rock has purchased S&D Coffee and Tea out of Concord, North Carolina. It’s a $405 million deal that makes Westrock the largest supplier of coffee and tea to restaurants and convenience stores in the United States. The combined companies will employ more than 1,700 people. S&D will continue its operations in North Carolina; Westrock has hinted it will be expanding both there and in North Little Rock in the coming months.
Haybird, a sister restaurant of Three Fold, announced with us this morning their intention to close the restaurant located at 215 Center Street on February 13th. The restaurant opened last May as a popup concept to try out a few new ideas. The owners say they are happy with the results and it will become a key part of a future concept opening next year.
And Hill Station is open for business in Hillcrest. We stopped in for a First Look at the new restaurant and found a menu firmly rooted in its unique history.
RIP Damgoode Pies
November 20, 2023
