Richard Harrison, who owns and operates Pizza Cafe, has purchased Browning’s with partners David Ashmore and Wally Roland. Harrison says the group will retain all the staff (including longtime manager Greg Phelan), the Mexican side of the menu and, he hopes, the clientele. “I’ve had people calling me threatening to literally shoot me if I change the Saltillo plate or the hot sauce,” Harrison said. The American side of the menu, however, will change, Harrison said. He plans to add breakfast, in the tradition of old Heights standby Bard’s, as well as tweak the plate lunches and hamburgers and likely add steaks. The group will also add a bar, Harrison said.
Jason and Paula Morell, the proprietors of Starving Artist Cafe, have signed a lease on a space at 411 Main St. in the Argenta district of downtown North Little Rock for a new restaurant. Paula Morrell tells us the cafe will likely open sometime this summer. The locale will feature a “New Orleans-style courtyard” with outdoor dining and a full bar. Morrell said that she and her husband were still “crunching numbers” to determine whether Starving Artist, at 416 Seventh St., will stay open.
We hear from the ladies at Bella Boutique in the Heights that a cupcake shop, Cupcakes on Kavanaugh, will be opening next door sometime in March. We’ll keep you posted.
In our review of Ashley’s on Dec. 27, we neglected to mention that the Capital Hotel restaurant serves breakfast on Sunday.