YGFBFKitchen, MaryAnn Strange’s Southern comfort food restaurant and catering business in Conway, an acronym for “Your Girlfriend Best Friend Kitchen,” announced that its new Little Rock location will be running a series of soft openings through May 14 in preparation for its grand opening on May 16 at 27 Rahling Circle in the former Bone’s Chophouse. YGFBFKitchen won two categories in this year’s Arkansas Times Readers Choice poll including Best Fried Chicken and Best Home Cookin’ Around Arkansas. Strange’s business started out as a food truck in 2019 and has already expanded twice in Conway. We spoke with Strange in January of this year about building her culinary career from scratch and about some of the dishes that have attributed to the restaurant’s success, such as the Cajun Alfredo Egg Rolls, macaroni and cheese and collard greens simmered with smoked neckbones, Cajun Chicken Tacos and Rasta Pasta, corkscrew noodles with a Jamaican-inspired spicy cream sauce. “The common denominator — besides that signature alfredo — is an emphasis on the visual,” Stephanie Smittle writes. Expect dishes that look as good as they taste.
YGFBFKitchen’s Conway location will be closed until June while Strange and her staff make preparations for the new Little Rock location. This week’s soft opening dates are scheduled for 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. Tue.-Thu. and 11 a.m.- 7 p.m. Fri.-Sat. For more information and updates check out the restaurant’s Facebook page.