Favorite restaurants in Little Rock? (El Dorado, Casa: university, living in, sushi)

[bchris02]

Whats everybody's favorite restaurants in Little Rock, preferably locally owned? Most of my friends will only eat at generic chains like Chilis and I am trying to get them to branch out a little bit.

A few of my personal favorites are Fantastic China, Leo's Greek Castle, Damgoode Pies, Arkansas Burger Co, and Shogun (its not the best sushi but they have an excellent dinner special). I think most of the good restaurants are east of I-430.

[strumpeace]

I'm not well-off, so I don't have any experience with fine dining in the area. However, here are some of my favorite less-expensive places in no particular order (and I'll steal a couple of bchris's for starters):

Fantastic China
Leo's Greek Castle
Young's Catfish
Julie's (which appeared to be closed when I drove by it last weekend)
Trio's
Whole Hog BBQ (originated in Riverdale; has now spread to other locations, including Memphis)
Fu Lin
Bruno's Little Italy
Senor Tequila

[Robert_J]

The Faded Rose was my favorite when living in LR and I sometimes will stop in for dinner if I am travelling through. The Buffalo Grill is nice for lunch as is the Purple Cow.

-Robert

[jenni-b]

La Hacienda
El Dorado
Taqueria Karina
Casa Manana
Oyster Bar
Saigon Cuisine
Van Lang
Fantastic China
Fu Lin
Star of India
Layla's
Ciao
Vino's
Faded Rose
Sims Barbecue
Buffalo Grill
Community Bakery
Doe's
Loca Luna
Rumba

[InLondon]

Oh wow, thanks guys for the great list!

[InLondon]

Are any of these places in the Chenal area??

[jenni-b]

La Hacienda is right on Chenal, next to Staples and the Guitar Center, and Fu Lin, Faded Rose, and Buffalo Grill are on Bowman. Star of India is at Shackleford and Markham. also in WLR: Casa Manana and Saigon Cuisine are on Cantrell between Mississippi and University, and Layla's is on Rodney Parham, near Green Tree nursery.

Midtown: Van Lang and El Dorado are near UALR. Oyster Bar is at Markham and Kavanaugh. (Pizza D'Action is right there too and also good.) Loca Luna is in the Rebsamen Park area. (Faded Rose also has a location in this area.)

Sims Barbecue has locations midtown on Barrow Road, in SWLR on Geyer Springs, and downtown at Broadway and Roosevelt (conveniently a block from me!). Taqueria Karina is also in SWLR, on 65th St.

Community Bakery, Doe's, Rumba, Ciao, and Vino's are downtown.

[jenni-b]

Purple Cow also has a location on Chenal, and Bruno's is on Bowman across from Fu Lin/Buffalo Grill/Faded Rose. and there is a Senor Tequila location at the other end of Bowman, close to Kanis.

also in WLR: Trio's is on Cantrell west of Mississippi, in Pavilion in the Park. Damgoode Pies has a location near Casa Manana and Saigon Cuisine on Cantrell east of Mississippi.

Leo's and another Damgoode Pies are in Hillcrest. Shogun is on Cantrell down near Rebsamen Park. (for sushi I prefer Sushi Cafe (Heights), Hanaroo (downtown), or Gina's (Highway 10 west of I-430).

we kind of dissed NLR, y'all! there are some good restaurants in Argenta. Cregeen's comes to mind, as does Starving Artist. and there are some great taquerias in Levy.

[bchris02]

Originally Posted by jenni-b

we kind of dissed NLR, y'all! there are some good restaurants in Argenta. Cregeen's comes to mind, as does Starving Artist. and there are some great taquerias in Levy.

Does Cregan's actually have decent food or is it more of a bar?

[Robert_J]

That is a great list above. I wish I could find Chinese food in the Memphis area like Fu Lin's. A calzone and a micro-brew from Vino's is GREAT!!!

My only disagreement is Doe's. The LR location is good but it is a poor imitation of the original in Greenville, MS. I would much rather have a 32 oz porterhouse cooked by Little Doe himself.

-Robert