Restaurant transitions: Another Mexico Chiquito closes; DQ specials this weekend; Movie Tavern's new menu

The Mexico Chiquito at 1135 Skyline Drive in Conway is shown in this photo from the Faulkner County assessor's office.
The Mexico Chiquito at 1135 Skyline Drive in Conway is shown in this photo from the Faulkner County assessor's office.

Several readers called in following our notice last week on the closure of the Mexico Chiquito at 13924 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, to report that the location at 1135 Skyline Drive, Conway, which is still listed on the mini-chain's website, has also been closed for several weeks. We got a "not in service" recording when we called the phone number, (501) 205-1985.

The DQ Grill & Chill, 1550 Country Club Road, Sherwood, is hosting, with Pediatrics Plus, a May Fest, 4-6 p.m. Friday, featuring buy-one-get-one-for-99-cents Blizzards, bounce houses, face painting, balloon animals and outdoor games. Admission is free. That location and the one at 6100 W. 12th St., Little Rock, will be offering 99-cent Memorial Day root-beer floats all day Monday. And at the Little Rock location, 4-8 p.m. May 30, kids can eat free with the purchase of a combo meal. And look for a July opening for a location at 1000 W. Main St., Cabot.

McDonald's celebrates "National Burger Day" on Monday, with a buy-one-get-one-free offer for its new Quarter Pounders that feature 100 percent fresh beef. Customers with the McDonald's app can redeem the discount at participating McDonald's restaurants.

New Orleans-based Movie Tavern, which has a Little Rock outlet at 11300 Bass Pro Parkway, has revised its menu, now featuring, according to a news release, "two dozen exceptional new entrees, garden picks, starters and desserts. We've also enhanced a few of our customer favorites." The "new savory starters" include General Tso's Cauliflower, tomato/goat cheese fondue and roasted red pepper-hummus; among the "chef-inspired entrees": baked rigatoni with spinach and portabella, roasted salmon over Brussels sprouts cranberry walnut salad and hand-cut steak and shrimp. Order from your seat in the theater, in the bar area while waiting for films to begin or in the semi-separate "Tavern" area. The phone number: (501) 319-6799; visit movietavern.com/locations/littlerock.

PK Grills, a Little Rock-based manufacturer of high-end cast aluminum barbecue grills, will hold its third PK Grills Cookout, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. June 2 at War Memorial Stadium, West Markham Street and Fair Park Boulevard, Little Rock. Backyard cooks and professionals will gather to compete for a share of more than $10,000 in cash and prizes. Registration information and more details are available at tinyurl.com/yc9tfo37.

Little Rock's Rock Town Distillery won a gold medal for its main line Arkansas Bourbon Whiskey at the 2018 San Francisco World Spirits Competition April 13-15, and silver medals for its Straight Bourbon, Single Barrel Bourbon, Four Grain Sour Mash Bourbon and their Rye Whiskey. See the full results at sfspiritscomp.com/results/search.

In July, some details slipped out regarding plans for the 30-acre former Little Rock Sears campus at Interstate 630 and South University Avenue, when Dallas-based firm Shop Companies briefly posted on its website, shopcompanies.com/properties/shops-university-village, a site plan for The Shops at University Village, a mixed-use development, that showed a multi-story hotel, retail shops and five restaurants. That posting disappeared in a hurry once it attracted media attention, but now we have more concrete, official plans for the redevelopment, now called The District at Midtown. Shop Companies is planning about 56,000 square feet of retail that includes two hotels and multiple spaces for as yet unidentified restaurants. The multimillion-dollar project also includes a reconfiguration of an on-ramp to Interstate 630, cutting off direct westbound access from University Avenue and creating an access road. The leak in July listed several chain restaurants that didn't yet have central Arkansas outlets, including Baton Rouge-based Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers, which has two outlets in Fayetteville, one in Rogers and one in Texarkana, and Irving, Texas-based Uncle Julio's (Mexican From Scratch), which operates some 30 restaurants in seven states (Texas, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Tennessee), along with Chili's, Starbucks and Panda Express (which has restaurants in Searcy and Hot Springs). The most recent proposal doesn't list any specific eateries.

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:

[email protected]

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Democrat-Gazette file photo

In the forecast this weekend: Discounted Blizzards and deals at participating Dairy Queen locations.

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Democrat-Gazette file photo

Starring at Little Rock’s Movie Tavern is a new menu.

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Rock Town Distillery

In good spirits: Little Rock’s Rock Town Distillery won awards at the 2018 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Weekend on 05/24/2018

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