Dining WHAT’S COOKIN’
DINING CAPSULES
Cheers in the Heights 2010 N. Van Buren St. 663-5937 www.cheersith.com
QUICK BITE The wine selection is excellent, more so in quality and price than in quantity. Chris Tanner — who with his wife, Samantha, owns Cheers in the Heights and Cheers in Maumelle — used to be a salesman for Moon Distributors, so he know more than a thing or two about wine. He is also a smart businessman who would rather sell more wine at a slightly reduced margin than set ridiculously high prices and hope to move a bit of it. BRIAN CHILSON
IT MIGHT BE A LITTLE WARM, but if it weren’t you might not have ripe homegrown heirloom tomatoes, fresh corn, eggplant, summer squash and all the rest of summer’s bounty. So wear something cool and check out the Arkansas Times’ Farm to Table Dinner served Southern style June 29 at the Scott Plantation Settlement. Country Club of Little Rock Chef Brian Kearns, who proved his talent with swine at the Times’ Heritage Hog roast, will be smoking up three Old Spots from Scott Heritage Farms down the road for the main course. The tomatoes come from publisher/farmer Alan Leveritt’s farm up in North Pulaski County. The feta is from Kent Walker, the peaches from Barnhill Orchards, the vegetables from Scott Heritage and the ice cream from Loblolly. The wine is from California, varying with each of the four courses. Champagne and canapes will start the evening off at 5:30 p.m. Dinner will be over at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $110, and may be purchased at atfarmtotable. eventbrite.com or by calling Kelly Lyles at 375-2985.
NO SLOUCH: The burger from Cheers in the Heights.
The original Cheers Homey bistro continues to impress.
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JUNE 27, 2013
ARKANSAS TIMES
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heers in the Heights predates the TV show “Cheers” by a few years, so it wasn’t conceived as a neighborhood spot where “everybody knows your name.” But that’s kind of what it is. Sure, patrons flock to Cheers from all over town and beyond for lunch and dinner, but there’s a definite comfybut-trendy Heights feel to the place. A table of 40-something women whose outfits would suggest two had just finished yoga class and two had come straight from the tennis court had a waitress snap their picture as they sipped Chardonnay. Surely it was on Facebook moments later. A neighborhood dad in a CCLR cap and his two kids snuck up rather silently as he pulled their electric golf cart into the parking lot. On the other side of the enclosed patio — the plastic sheeting rolled up on this pleasant late-spring day — three tables encroached a bit into the next-door parking lot, as three older regulars took advantage of the open air to fire up cigarettes. It’s a homey place, and the tight confines in the restaurant’s interior mean
BRIAN CHILSON
AMERICAN
ACADIA A jewel of a restaurant in Hillcrest. Unbelievable fixed-price, three-course dinners on Mondays and Tuesday, but food is certainly worth full price. 3000 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, CC. $$-$$$. 501-603-9630. D Mon.-Sat. BIG ORANGE: BURGERS SALADS SHAKES Gourmet burgers manufactured according to exacting specs (humanely raised beef!) and properly fried Kennebec potatoes are the big draws, but you can get a veggie burger as well as fried chicken, curried falafel and blacked tilapia sandwiches, plus creative meal-sized salads. Shakes and floats are indulgences for all ages. Adults will find a huge bar including craft beers and esoteric wine. 17809 Chenal Parkway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-821-1515. LD daily. BLACK ANGUS CAFE Charcoal-grilled burgers, hamburger steaks and steaks proper are the big draws at this local institution. 10907 N. Rodney Parham. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-228-7800. LD Mon.-Sat. BOBBY’S CAFE Delicious, humungo burgers and tasty homemade deserts at this Levy diner. 12230 MacArthur Drive. NLR. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-851-7888. BL Tue.-Fri., D Thu.-Fri. BOSCOS RESTAURANT & BREWERY CO. This River Market brewery does food well, too. Along with the tried and true, like sandwiches, burgers, steaks and big salads, they have entrees like black bean and goat cheese tamales, open hearth pizza ovens and muffalettas. 500 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-907-1881. LD daily.
SOLID STARTER: New Orleans-style barbecued shrimp.
everyone must be comfortable with one another — including the kitchen staff, as you must invade that space to find the bathrooms. If you have to wait you likely can strike up a conversation with Samantha Tanner, who on our lunch visit was the final quality-control check before each plate left the kitchen in the hands of the veteran, friendly wait staff. It’s a boisterous bistro but not too loud to carry on a conversation. Cheers had a long life as a simpler, smaller burger-centric spot before the Tanners took over, expanding the menu, adding more of a Cajun influ-
HOURS 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. OTHER INFO Full bar. CC accepted.
ence, enhancing the patio and solidifying Cheers’ reputation as one of the city’s best mid-priced restaurants. Cheers has a “dinner” section of the menu, but those items can be ordered before 5 p.m., and the rest of the menu is available day or night, so Cheers can be as affordable as you want it to be all day long. Cheese dip is ubiquitous in Arkansas — one reason we love this state — and Cheers’ is a reasonable representation: orange, silky smooth, mildly but interestingly spiced with just a hint of heat. It’s $5.50 for a decent size “small” bowl and $6.50 for large. The New Orleans-style barbecued shrimp appetizer ($11.50) is very close to what you find in the namesake city. We were thrilled there were 15 plump shrimp, swimming in a red pepper flakeladen, oily sauce — perfect for dipping with the accompanying bread. The dish could have used a bit of salt but otherwise was on target. Any self-respecting Little Rock restaurant better have a good burger, and Cheers definitely does: A juicy, likely 1/3-pound patty cooked just as requested (just-pink medium), served on a soft, buttery brioche bun delivered by the amazing Arkansas Fresh bakery ($7.50). With rings of purple onion, fresh leaf lettuce and gooed up with mayo and melted pepper jack, served with non-greasy, homemade chips — damn, it was fine. The grilled salmon salad ($13) was a