|  |  |  | | | | | Staff Blogs, Arkansas Times | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | This week on the Week in Review Podcast: more discussions on John Pelphrey's fate, how Lu Hardin's apparent gambling addiction obscures his other misdeeds, state legislation we hate, five spring concerts to anticipate and, new this week, endorsements! With Lindsey Millar, Max Brantley and John Tarpley. Download here or stream below. On the jump, links to what we talk about: [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Not much to leave you with for the open line, except these items hot off the rumor mill: * UAMS faces a budget pinch. Departments are being asked for give-ups to erase a $5 million shortfall for fiscal year 2012. The pain extends, apparently, to Arkansas Children's Hospital, which is expected to be sending $2 million less to UAMS for physician contracts. The College of Medicine is looking for ways to save $4 million, between UAMS trims and the expected Children's reduction. * I keep hearing talk of a "third-way" tax cutting plan to emerge next week. The governor's office says it isn't a part of it. One scenario: Double the grocery tax cut to a full penny. That would be a face-saving way for avoidance of some of the burgeoning tax cut proposals that don't enjoy bicameral support. Not to worry: Whatever else happens the manufacturers will get their utility tax cut. If nothing else passes, THAT passes. Probably including even the pure profit giveaway of a cut on the tax on gas burned by merchant power plants. Priorities, people, priorities. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  - HOUSE SITE: Abdul Kareem Hasan and his wife, Helen Hasan, look at the site where their new home is going up.
A dozen-plus Muslim Arkansans gathered today at the site of the New Africa development, on a no longer vacant block at 40th and Potter in the John Barrow neighborhood, to celebrate the completion of three houses and the construction of a fourth. Among them were Imam Abdul Kareem Hasan and his wife, Helen Hasan, who are building a home in the development, a private effort of the Islamic Center for Excellence. Helen Hasan said the couple has been making the hour-long drive up from Malvern to worship at the decades-old Islamic Center at 1717 Wright Ave. for years; when their house and the masjid (mosque) the Center plans for New Africa is complete, all she’ll have to do to go to worship is just walk out her door, she said; her husband said he felt like “a kid waiting on Christmas.” Islamic Center Imam Aquil Hamidullah said he’d been asking himself, in light of U.S. Rep. Peter King’s hearings in D.C. about Muslim influence, “What is radical Islam?” It is not real Islam, he said; Islam is about peace, and he hoped New Africa, which will one day included 22 houses, the masjid and a community center, and the Islamic Center’s interfaith efforts would make that clear to all. New Africa won’t be exclusively Islamic; two of the three houses now there are owned by Christians. Hamidullah’s wife, Najiyyah, a pediatric nurse at Arkansas Children’s Hospital for more than 30 years, said the New Africa development got past neighborhood objections when it first began four years ago. There were, at that time, folks who said they didn’t want Muslims living next door to them, she said. “We already live next door to you,” she said. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  - Painting by Angela Green, at Mediums
More art goings-on tonight: Here's a recap of what's happening at tonight's 2nd Friday Art Night art venues (5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at all but Mediums, which is 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.). You can catch a ride on the rubber-wheeled trolley to go from place to place:
The Arkansas Studies Institute, 401 President Clinton Ave.: "Norwood Creech: Selected Works form the Northeastern Arkansas Delta" in the Mezzanine Gallery, "Book Arts 2011," handmade books and journals by Arkansas artists in the Atrium Gallery, "“Anticipating the Future — Contemporary American Indian Art," work from the collection of Dr. J.W. Wiggins in the Main Gallery. The Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third: “Signs and Signals: Claire Coppola, Michael Davis Gutierrez and Marilyn Nelson,” mixed media, “Game Face Rituals,” paintings by Liz Nobel, “Model Trains of Bill Albright,” Eclectic Collector show. Mediums Art Lounge, 521 Center St.: Paintings by Angela Green, winner of a Black Essence award. The Tower Building, 4th and Center Sts.: "5 Women 5," work by Endia Gomez, Jennifer Coleman, Susie Henley, Dee Schulten and Betsy Woodyard. The Marriott Courtyard, 521 President Clinton Ave.: ArtGroup Maumelle member Lori Pilkington Weeks and Arkansas League of Artists members Kim Bingman, Louise Carlisle, Cathy Klober, Sandy Kraft and Jenelle Richards will be showing their work and demonstrating their craft as well. Christ Episcopal Church will host a reception for Kathy Thompson, who is showing needlepoint and oils. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  - Great egret painted by Kitty Harvill
Cantrell Gallery opens "Brazil: An Endangered Beauty," pastels and watercolors of rainforest wildlife by Kitty Harvill, tonight with a reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Harvill, who divides her time between the U.S. and Brazil, isn't just making lovely drawings but is working to draw attention to the degradation of the the Atlantic Coastal Region Rainforest. A portion of proceeds from the sale of the work at Cantrell Gallery will benefit Audubon Arkansas, the Society for Wildlife Research and Environmental Education (a partner of the Nature Conservancy) and the Mater Natura Enviromental Studies Institute. From Harvill's artist statement: Our relationship with Nature should be a reciprocal one. We, who are working in conservation, see ourselves as helping Nature. It is Nature that has the greatest gifts to give to us. If you have ever spent extended time in Nature you know the solace and peace that you derive from that experience. As an artist, I believe one absorbs that mystery into one's very being, into one's soul. The works we then produce express these very deep feelings and it is this that we wish to convey to our viewers, so that they too may be touched by the healing power of Nature. The exhibit runs through April 9. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The House this morning voted 67-24 to pass HB 1902 to call an election on a five-cent increase in the diesel tax to raise money to repair U.S. and interstate highways. House Speaker Robert Moore, defending the bill, said: 1) it was permissive — that is, it is not a tax increase but a question for voters; 2)it addresses a problem that is not going to go way, and 3) it was critical to creating good roads that are vital in attracting industry. Opponents objected to the current allocation of highway dollars around the state; the $750,000 cost of a special election; the failure to consider taking general revenues for the work. Opponents also suggested there's sufficient fat in state spending to provide the money. Rep. Stephen Meeks said the solution was to mine lignite in South Arkansas. With whose capital and in what century, are the first of many questions about the awful idea to tap into just about the dirtiest energy source known. Speaker Moore said the better course would be for the House itself to pass the tax, but he said it wasn't likely to do it. He criticized those who supported a do-nothing posture. "It's our responsibility; it's our obligation." [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The Highway Department estimates almost a half-billion in damage to 800 miles of roads from gas drilling, against $35 million in revenue from the severance tax. You'd think this would encourage some support for legislation in committee this morning to tax a bit more of the Fayetteville shale production at the 5 percent rate, rather than a favored 1.5 percent rate for certain "high-cost" gas. No resolution on the bill was reached. But Republican legislators appeared primed to oppose any additional severance tax. The gas lobby has done its work. The lobby's talking pointtoday is that nobody is making the timber, agriculture, poultry and other industries pay for the damage they cause. I'm not aware of studies that show comparable damage to the localized destruction done in the shale zones. However, by all means, let's study it and tax road-damaging industries accordingly. Silly me. Corporations don't pay for the damage they cause. You pay. Thus Jonathan Barnett's general sales tax for road construction, the biggest portion to fix roads destroyed by trucks, not passenger cars. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  - Kat Robinson
- NUTTY: Pecan bits pack Your Mama's Good Food's pecan pie top to bottom
To find a decent one is not hard — there’s a pretty standard recipe that most folks follow. To find a good one isn’t too challenging. To find a spectacular, unadulterated pie, though? That’s a rare thing. So to find one in the most mundane of lunchtime spots in the middle of downtown Little Rock is heartening. I stopped into Your Mama’s Good Food for lunch recently, catching the tail-end of the lunch rush. Of course, I wasn’t going to just check out the pie that had been recommended to me. I needed some vittles as well. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  - SHOW HER THE MONEY: Republican Jill Dabbs
They've sought an attorney general's opinion in hopes of invalidating the city policy that took their pay down a peg — by $208 and $68 per pay period from annual salaries paid previously of $71,000 and $41,000, respectively. “Bryant City Council members’ salaries are all the same regardless of the years of experience, and I cannot find any other elected officials in the state of Arkansas whose salaries are based on elected experience or education,” Dabbs said in her press release. “Elected officials salaries are established by the legislative body for cities, counties and states, respectively. Once salaries are established by legislative bodies, they should follow that position as do the responsibilities of that election position.”  - SHOW HER THE MONEY: Republican Heather Kizer
You'd think somebody with Republican in their name would be arguing for lower salaries and strict adherence to rules and regulations. That said, a personnel policy for elected officials tied to education and elective office doesn't sound like a good idea for any number of reasons. Remember Dr. Maxwell Sniffingwell? Kizer commented on her Facebook page: [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
THE SMALL PONDS/GLOSSARY
8 p.m., White Water Tavern. $5. As we've written before, Travis Hill is increasingly pushing his Little Rock label Last Chance Records into the national spotlight. His latest advance? An official SXSW showcase for The Small Ponds, a Raleigh, N.C.-based act that includes folk-rock heroine Caitlin Cary (Whiskeytown, Tres Chicas), Matt Douglas (The Proclivities) and Skillet Gilmore (Whiskeytown). On the way to SXSW, Small Ponds show off their easy-breezy, sweet vocal harmonies in an early gig that pairs them with another band en route to SXSW, Glossary, a Murfreesboro, Tenn., rock 'n' roll outfit that has a huge following in Little Rock. Check it out: The Small Ponds live on "Studio at Studio B" [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Rep. Jim Nickels failed, as expected, yesterday with his bill to require combined corporate tax filling by multistate corporations. The use of subsidiary reporting allows accounting tricks that reduce and even eliminate tax liability in Arkansas. Nickels told the panel his bill would allow small businesses to be treated the same as multi-state corporations.
“It would allow Sherwood Tire to be treated the same as Sam’s and Wal-Mart tire departments,” he said. Richard Pomp, a University of Connecticut School of Law professor, testified that the bill would levelize the corporate taxation field that currently, under a court order, gives multi-state corporations the right to choose combined reporting in Arkansas. “You have the worst of all worlds, where multi-state corporations can elect to chose what’s to their advantage,” Pomp said. “I love being in any state where the corporate tax rate is essentially elective.” Pomp said corporations like Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, may set up a Delaware subsidiary that owns store buildings. Each corporate store pays rent to the subsidiary, which then provides a tax deduction to the main company, he said. “You’re picking up all the pieces from Humpty Dumpty and putting him back together again,” he said. Pomp estimated Arkansas would gain from $38 million to $95 million annually from combined reporting. “You don’t have to use that money for spending,” he said. “You could use it to reduce the corporate tax rate.” [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
BATHS
9 p.m., Stickyz. $10. A burned copy of "Cerulean," the debut album from electronic musician Will Wiesenfeld's glitchy alter-ego, Baths, landed in my hands last summer with a note that said something along the lines of "stop being stubborn about chillwave: this album is great." And it's true: I've managed to keep my ears out of the hyper-trendy, atmospheric pop known as "chillwave" without losing much sleep over the last couple of years. But this music is so much more expansive and, no need to split hairs, amazing than any affixed subgenre would lend you to believe. Gorgeous, laid back and full of rolling glitch beats, wobbly pitch shifts, Prince-aspiring falsetto and cut-and-paste acoustic samples, Baths at once recalls the astral soundscapes of Flying Lotus, the erudite thoroughness of The Books and the creative ferocity of the late, (beyond) great J Dilla. Live, he brings to mind a geekier, younger brother to Girl Talk. (Or just think "Death Cab for Autechre") On stage, Wiesenfeld jerks and jives in time to his beats, chopped on the spot with unbelievable dexterity on a drum machine/laptop combo. In short, this guy's a box full of surprises you don't want to miss. Baths is joined by electronic, high-energy Sacramento act Gobble Gobble. Check it out: "Maximallist" (live) And hey, why not: @prefixmag literally just tweeted about an interview with Baths. Here it is. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | UALR invites all to a pep rally. Chancellor Joel E. Anderson invites all students, faculty, staff, and the community for a Celebration Pep Rally at 12:15 p.m. Friday, March 11, in the Donaghey Student Center Fitness Center to congratulate the Trojan Men’s and Women’ s basketball teams for their twin Sun Belt Tournament wins and to wish them well at the the NCAA tournament. UALR Trojans made history Tuesday as the men’s and women’s basketball teams swept the Sun Belt Conference tournament, becoming conference champions for the first time in the same tournament. Come join the March Madness. Wear Maroon. Go Trojans! [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Mike Huckabee's mouth now draws criticism from Rotary International, the civic organization. The letter comes in response to a statement made by Huckabee in a March 2 radio interview that most Americans "grew up in communities filled with Rotary clubs, not madrassas (Islamic seminaries)," during a critical assessment of President Barack Obama's "world view." Obama spent a portion of his childhood in Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population. It also is home to about 89 Rotary clubs. ... Among Muslim-majority states, Turkey has the most Rotary clubs with 223, totaling about 6,000 members. Pakistan is second with 155 clubs and more than 3,000 members, followed by Malaysia, 109 clubs; Indonesia, 89 clubs; and Egypt, 74 clubs. Others include Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco, and United Arab Emirates. In 2010, a Rotary club was chartered in Palestine. There they go again. Confusing Mike Huckabee with facts. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
'THE HANGING OF DAVID O. DODD'
7:30 p.m., Weekend Theater. $10-$14. On Friday, the Weekend Theater celebrates a rare world premiere. A two-act drama of historical fiction by Little Rock author Phillip McMath, "The Hanging of David O. Dodd" centers around a Confederate sympathizer determined to save her wounded son and a Union supporter who is fixed on trying to save the life of 17-year-old David O. Dodd, sentenced to hang as a spy. "I like to mingle history and fiction because fiction frequently provides intimacy without context and history the opposite," McMath said in a statement on the Weekend Theater website. "In combining the two in a historical-fictional drama, I hope to connect the two — the subjective with the objective, the existential with the collective." Libby Smith portrays Confederate sympathizer Medora Pilgrim, Deb Lewis is Union supporter Philomena Tottenburg and Aron Long plays Dodd. The play is part of the Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial celebration. It continues through March 26 [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
FRIDAY 3/11 White Water Tavern gets a night of metal from local heavies Iron Tongue and Atlanta's Royal Thunder, 10 p.m. The electro-heavy "Zodiac Party" swings into Revolution again with DJs Huda Hudia, Excell, Jon House and more, 9 p.m., $10. It's a family affair when Amy McBryde and her older sister, Showcase finalist Mandy McBryde, bring their twang to Reno's Argenta Cafe, 9 p.m., $5. Dreadlocked Hendrix alum Graham Wilkinson strums, hums and hollers at Stickyz with local wunderkind Chris Denny, 9 p.m., $5. At Cornerstone Pub in Argenta, local emcee Epiphany hosts a local hip-hop showcase in "The O.D.," 8:30 p.m.
SATURDAY 3/12 At UCA, Dr. Wayne Stengel screens and discusses recent Woody Allen dramas "Match Point" and "Vicky Christina Barcelona" in "Watching Woody Allen, Seriously," to be held in the Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center, 1:30 p.m., free. Later, in Conway, the Sunset Ballroom hosts rockabilly legends Sonny Burgess and the Legendary Pacers, 7 p.m., $8. Even later, in Little Rock, deranged Sons of Sonny, Josh the Devil and the Sinners, bring their psychobilly thrash to Midtown Billiards, 12:30 a.m., $8 non-members. Revolution offers long-time local rock outfit Kingsdown with Tennessee's The Dirty Guv'nahs and modern rockers Haven Hill, 8:30 p.m., $7 general, $10 under 21. Vino's gets a big night of loud post-hardcore from Emery, Hawkboy, To Speak of Wolves, belair., and EKSB, 8 p.m., $12 adv., $15 d.o.s. And at the Fox and Hound, Showcase semi-finalists Cody Ives Band plays with Jacksonville's Se7en Sharp, 10 p.m. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Hope you have something to contribute. Seems like I've been in meetings all day. Notes: * The bill to equalize tax on goods sold in Arkansas by attempting to collect the sales tax on Internet sales (it is legally owed as a use tax already, but rarely collected) passed the Senate today. House will be a harder sell. * Rep. Gabrielle Giffords plans to be at the April 19 launch of the space shuttle flight that her husband will command. * Gary Dunn will go to trial Aug. 1 for the third time in the slaying of Nona Dirksmeyer. What could possibly change the evidence that led to two mistrials? [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | After a few unfinished versions hit the net, the officially official first official trailer to the Arkansas-filmed Hank biopic has been released. Gotta love the fact that the writers avoid saying "Hank Williams" the way you don't hear "zombie" in zombie movies. Also, the filmmakers just announced that "The Last Ride" will screen at the Nashville Film Festival, April 15, 7:45 p.m. And, of course, the movie will open this year's Little Rock Film Festival. A couple notes on the trailer: Ray McKinnon's awesomely awkward smile at 0:09 is great. Iffy: The shot of Hank shooting a gun 1:10. Looks a little "The Room" green-screeny. (Not that I could do that shot a lick better or do it at all, period.) But like all Hank-fans, I'm really looking forward to checking this one out, Arkansas-made or not. Again, we'll have a shot to check it out at the LRFF on June 1. See y'all there. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Few things get my ire up more than my home state being lumped in with the "flyover states" in the Union. That's the main impression I just got from peering through Food & Wine Magazine's Best Burgers in the U.S. piece. Many of the entries come from New York or California. I don't even agree with the closest restaurant listed, Dyer's in Memphis (I'm a Huey's girl). I certainly hope the editors reconsider once they come to Little Rock to meet and interview Chef Lee Richardson; the burger served at Capital Bar & Grill is the finest I've had anywhere, in-state or out. Hunka Pie, Cotham's, Burger Mama's, The House, CJ's Butcher Boy... I could go on for hours about burgers from Arkansas that should be on that list. What do you think? Should we challenge Food & Wine Magazine? Should we come up with our own burger bests? Your thoughts. Burgers pictured: CBG's Pimento Cheeseburger, The Box's gutbomb, Cotham's in the City's normal sized burger, Burger Mama's double Cheddar cheeseburger, The House's Greek Burger, EJ's Cheddar Cheeseburger, CJ's Butcher Boy burger and a plain Cheddar-clad burger from Hunka Pie. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | If you find it, your reward will be at the South Arkansas Arts Center, where Little Rock artist Emily Wood and El Dorado artist Kelly Campbell Phelps are showing their work. Wood's show, "Translated into Paint," features oils on wood in the Merkle and Price Gallery, and Phelps' "More Pieces" is an exhibit of pastels in the Lobby Gallery. A reception for the artists will be held 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday at the Arts Center, at 110 E. 5th St. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  - Kat Robinson
- SKIPPER BURGER: First stop off the boat at Thirst 'N' Howl
That’s how I got that burger right there, the Skipper’s Burger at Thirst ‘N’ Howl, with American cheese instead of Pepper Jack. And how one of my companions received Pepper Jack on his Thirst ‘N’ Burger. I wish it weren’t the only issue I’d had at the restaurant out on Highway 10... because I rather liked the burger itself. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Education caucus. Environmental caucus. Human justice caucus. Never seen one. But let somebody try to propose effective regulation or fair recompense from the natural resource plunderers tearing up roads and threatening water supplies and seismic zones and a group of legislators immediately springs up in defense. As if the out-of-state gas drillers, who send finite Arkansas resources to out-of-state customers, need help, given the huge profits and how they throw it around to the right legislative candidates. Following is news of the formation of the Legislative Take the Money and Run Fayetteville Shale Caucus. All but three members are from the corporate party, otherwise known as Republicans. You need not look far to see the success of voluntary compliance with environmental protection laws and fair share payments for detrimental side effects. There is no such record. It is certainly not the aim of this new group. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  - Delta scene by Norwood Creech
Drawings and pen and inks by Delta artist Norwood Creech will be featured in the Mezzanine Gallery of the Arkansas Studies Institute starting March 11. Reception is 5-8 p.m. that night, the 2nd Friday Art Night art troll by trolley. Also at ASI: Art books and journals made by Arkansas artists, in the Atrium Gallery, and contemporary art by Native Americans in the Main Gallery. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The Commercial Appeal reports the FBI is investigating the death of a Forrest City man as a potential hate crime. Marcal Camero Tye's mangled body was found beside a highway. Tye was wearing women's clothing and local authorities have described him as transgender. The FBI typically looks at cases that appear to be based on gender, sexual orientation or other discriminatory categories. "We think there's enough from the physical evidence" to launch an investigation, [Steve] Frazier said. UPDATE: The Forrest City Times Herald reports Tye was shot in the head with a small-caliber weapon and run over by a vehicle. Sheriff Bobby May said investigators believe the body was run over as the vehicle fled the scene. He told the newspaper he doubts the death was a hate crime. More from the Times-Herald [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Meredith Oakley, columnist and associate editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, is leaving the newspaper after almost 35 years there. "It was time," Oakley told me at lunch, when I asked her to confirm a note I'd received overnight. She didn't elaborate other than to emphasize the decision was her own. She gave notice Tuesday and will be working two more weeks. Oakley was editor of the Voices page and reported to Paul Greenberg, the editorial page editor. She'll turn 60 in June and plans to seek other work, but she has no specific plans at the moment. Oakley is the senior news/editorial employee at the newspaper. She went to work about a year after Walter Hussman bought the then-evening Arkansas Democrat in 1975 and rose through reporting ranks to a management position. She was a right-hand to John R. Starr, the managing editor during the fierce newspaper war with the Arkansas Gazette. The war ended in October 1991 with the closure of the Gazette and Hussman's purchase of its assets. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Cheesesteaks at Gino's Pizzaria & Philly Steak don’t match those deliciously greasy and gooey delights at Rocky’s Pub, but they’re not bad. Served heaping, as the Philly steak gods intended, with a thick layer of mayo and the option to include bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, onion and tomato, the six-inch ($5.99) included what surely was our weekly recommended amount of meat, griddle-cooked to near crispiness. I elected to get my sandwich without cheese (gasp!); it was plenty gooey and filling without it. My biggest complaint was with the bread. It was run-of-the-mill hoagie bread, sufficiently thick, but utterly boring. My buddy judged his six-inch Monster Meatball ($4.99), slathered with marinara and cheese, similarly: fine, but not up to the standard of the area’s best meatball grinders (at Iriana’s and Rocky’s, for instance). An order of fries ($1.79) was big enough to share. That we didn’t finish them had more to do with their limp greasiness than the portion, though. An important note to lovers of massive amounts of corn syrup: the soda fountain here includes Coke and Pepsi products. There was pizza and wings in a warmer near the counter. And we saw someone eating a sizable burger. 2000 Pike Ave., NLR. No alcohol. CC. 501-379-8410, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 12 p.m.-6 p.m. Sun. [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ] | | | | | | | | | |  | |  | |  |
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