calitexan

Hey everyone,
I'll be going to Little Rock for the weekend soon, and need some suggestions. I'll be staying in the Marriott Courtyard Downtown, which is on President Clinton Ave. We're near River Market and my boyfriend doesn't want to do too much driving. Anyone have ideas for REALLY good food nearby, within walking or short-driving distance? We're also on a bit of a budget, so $20 or less per person is where we're aiming. We don't necessarily care if the atmosphere is shabby as long as the food is good and the word "infested" doesn't come to mind when we walk inside. lol. Thanks!

richbutnot

We spent a weekend there in April and all we could find downtown was bar type food or $40 per person restaurants. Not much in between. We ate at Vermillion Water Grille which was excellent. I think it was $60 for the two of us. It is within walking distance of the Marriott.

sfamylou

We were starving, and every nice-looking place had endless waits. So, we went to Flying Saucer and had bar food. But...the sandwiches were really really good! The beer was good and the service just great. We were with our kids, and we enjoyed it. Great 80s music, too!

calitexan

Thank you both for the info. I'll be sure to try Flying Saucer. I was starting to think I'd get no responses at all!

happytourist

It may be on the top end of your budget, but Nu Cuisine and Lounge at 225 E. Markham is a wonderful restaurant. It's easy walking distance from your hotel. At the lower end, Bosco's (500 Pres Clinton) has good beer and sandwiches.

jw

I had a good meal at Juanita's (Mexican/Southwestern) while in LR on business a few months ago. I'm not sure where it is in relation to your hotel, but I don't think it would be a long drive. If the Flying Saucer is similar to the one in Nashville then it would be a good place too.

Lee4

Hey! You can find good food in downtown LR--I promise. The Flying Fish (a different place from the Flying Saucer) is one of my favorite places! I believe it's located right next to your hotel. They really have great shrimp and catfish, if you like that type of thing. They have other types of seafood too (oysters, several kinds of fish) and you can get things grilled, fried, etc. When my husband and I eat here, I think we usually spend around $25-27 for both of us. So, this place is affordable too.

The River Market is just a bit further down the street and is a great place for lunches (and within your price range). There are several different vendors inside the building with various types of food--barbeque, soup/salad, Japanese, Middle Eastern, Mexican, bakery, etc. This would be an easy walk from your hotel.

If you go a bit further up Pres. Clinton Avenue and cross the street, walking/or driving towards the convention center and Peabody hotel, you'll find my favorite pizza place--Iriana's. I think this is the closet thing we have to NYC pizza, and the cheese bread sticks are SOOO good! All of the food is delicious and the prices are great (they have salads and sandwiches too). You can usually spend under $6 or 7 for lunches here and they are also open for dinner. The have lunch specials every day, along with what's on the regular menu. At night, they're still affordable--you just order off the regular menu then too. If I think of any other places, I'll post later. Have a great trip and welcome to Arkansas!

calitexan

Thanks to EVERYBODY who responded and gave me the names of all these great places! And special thanks to you, Lee4, for hitting the nail on the head with the Flying Fish...I nearly drooled on my keyboard. I really appreciate it and now I feel like there's real hope for my stomach next weekend! THX AGAIN Y'ALL!

calitexan

I keep seeing reviews for this place Brave New Restaurant. Is the food creative, really delicious, or does the place just have a good atmosphere?

Lee4

Brave New Restaurant is good--I'm not sure if it's what I'd call "creative" but then, I'm not exactly into that (I just asked my husband for his opinion--he says they are creative--but then he added "weird!"). I haven't eaten there in the past year, but I've always enjoyed it when there in the past. The food was delicious and the atmosphere is rather calm and quiet. This place is more on the expensive side, so keep that in mind. Another unusual thing--it's on the 2nd floor of a building and you walk into this tiny hallway type area, then go up in the elevator to get there. If you didn't know what you were looking for, you might think you're in the wrong place.

I do hope you enjoy Flying Fish--it's just SO good! One thing I forgot to mention before: if you like you're food on the spicy side, be sure to tell them to "make it snappy!" This gets red pepper added to the batter and it is just so wonderful! Plus, you get to see all the workers/cooks start chanting "make it snappy" and it's just kind of cute (I think so, anyway!). Can you tell I really like this place??? Have a great trip!

calitexan

Thanks Lee! If it weren't for you, I would have had no idea of BNR's location and probably would have given up trying to find it. I got the address for the Flying Fish and it's like three doors down from the hotel -- couldn't be better!!!!! I am so looking forward to trying it, because it's so rare that I find REALLY good seafood outside of my own home. But with a recommendation that strong I can't help but try it. Every time I read your description I drool just a little bit. lol. Anyway, thanks again and I'll tell you how it went. I can barely wait!!!

japw82

If you like BBQ, approximately two miles down Cantrell Blvd. in a strip mall that houses Office Depot and Harvest Foods is The Whole Hawg BBQ. It is very reasonably priced and has award winnning ribs, chicken, beef, pork and pork tenderloin. It is yummy. I used to live in Kansas City and Whole Hawg is right up there with the best of KC.

japw82

Also, I forgot to mention the restaurant in the Clinton Presidential Center. Their menu is on the Clinton Presidential Center Website. They have sandwiches,etc., and a Sunday brunch.

Lee4

OH! I SO agree with japw82 about Whole Hog--it's the best barbeque!! We go to Memphis quite a bit, and my husband and I have both decided we don't need to go there for barbeque anymore--Whole Hog is that great!!

About Flying Fish--I really love this place. Little Rock is totally landlocked, so good seafood is hard to come by here. I think this place manages to cook some great seafood, but I don't live in an area with access to "fresh" seafood. So, I hope I'm not setting you up for something that might disappoint you if you're used to really fresh seafood. I must say, though, that this place stays pretty busy and seems to get more popular all the time. I think that's a good sign for the quality of the food. Again, enjoy your trip and have fun eating!

calitexan

I love you guys!!!! I'm constantly on the search for delish BBQ. My boyfriend brags that his state (TX - duh, right?) has the best, but I've been on a mission to prove him wrong. Maybe Whole Hawg will do the trick! Anyways, thanks to both of you for such great recommendations, and it must be good if two people got so excited over it. lol. Thanks again and I'll report back when I'm home. I leave a week from tomorrow. Here's hopin' the weather doesn't go all California on me (it's really iffy here) and I have a wonderful trip. It would be nice to have a non-island location to fall in love with.

japw82

Hey Calitexan. Just wondered where you ended up dining in Little Rock!!

calitexan

Hey japw82, and everyone else,
I didn't really find the Whole Hog, I'm not sure if we just didn't look hard enough or what, but we couldn't find it and I was disappointed by that. I guess it would have helped if I hadn't been such a Doh-Doh by leaving the addresses of all the restaurants I wanted to go to at home. Issues... Anyway, we did go to the Flying Fish -- several times!!! It was crowded the first night, but my boyfriend and I didn't care. I got the catfish and shrimp combo, and my boyfriend got the fried oysters. He loved it so much, that when I suggested we go get a nice sit-down steak meal on our last night in town, he said "Um, can we just go get more oysters? Please?" They were well worth it. My boyfriend doesn't crave many things, but he wanted those all day and all night after he first had them. The second night I got myself some oysters, as well as fried okra (YUMMMMM!) and the seafood gumbo which unfortunately was a little too cajun style for my taste. All around, Flying Fish was awesome. We also ate at the San Francisco Bread Company as a joke (since I'm from the bay area) but it turned out to be genuinely delicious (& nutritious). I got a chicken salad wrap that was the best I've ever had! We ate at a crappy chinese restaurant in the mall on markham because the BF had eaten there before and said it had been good. Uh, no. On the last day I grabbed BBQ at one of the vendors in River Market, the one with the yellow sign. To say it simply, I've had better. That was my culinary experience in Little Rock. By the way, the Hotel wasn't too bad either, although I think I might pick a different one next time. The Marriott had clean rooms, nice staff, etc. That's all for now. Thanks for the help, everyone! I really appreciate it!

Lee4

Calitexan,
I'm so glad you enjoyed Flying Fish so much! It really is a great place--the shrimp and catfish is my favorite meal there! It's too bad you missed out on Whole Hog, but there's always next time, right?

calitexan

Hi again, LIttle Rock Recommendation folks!
Yes Lee, there WILL be a next time! How can avoid a repeat trip to Flying Fish, now that I've indulged twice?? No way! I'm salivating as I recall those meals.
I highly recommend the SF Bread Company wraps. Who'd have thought I'd go to Little Rock and find better San Francisco style wraps than t here at home near San Francisco??
Again, thank you all! People in LIttle Rock who we met during this short stay were friendly, kind, hospitable...like all you kind Fodorites who spent the time to generously offered advice.

calitexan

There was something weird about posting attempts over the weekend (one of my new questions still doesn't show) so am "topping" this in order that helpful Little Rock Fodorites have another chance to see my appreciation to them. Thanks again!!