Encouraging Signs and Portents on Little Rock's Main Street

Blass Building at 317 Main Street

Waiting for redevelopment to occur in an abandoned downtown sometimes feels like watching and waiting for a glacier to move at least one foot. Maybe it's global warming or just the summer heat that finally has melted Little Rock's block of ice. There's definitely a thaw in the works.

Before we move on, some of you doubtless are thinking, "Hey, the River Market has been going strong for years, and the Clinton library, too. What the h-e-double-hockey sticks is Ben Blogger talkin' about?" You're right. That area has done a lot for Little Rock, giving folks some interesting places to dine, shop and be entertained. However, much has been lacking just a few blocks south and west on Main Street and other nearby rues.

With a few exceptions between Markham and Ninth streets, vacancies abound. The closer one gets to Markham, Main Street gets deader. Whole blocks with one or two active stores. I'm happy to say two big projects might be the catalysts that reverse all that in the right direction.

Exchange Building at Main Street and Capitol Avenue

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Saturday that the developers — the Doyle Rogers Co. and Moses and Tucker firms — behind a plan to restore and renovate the Blass Building at 317 Main St. have secured financing. According to a March news release from the partners, when complete the $20 million project will provide space for "first class office, ground floor retail and loft-style multifamily residential." Stephens is restoring the old Exchange Building in the 500 block of Main, and crews are well into that $6.1 million endeavor.

Main Street has long since hit the wrong side of the tipping point. At a certain level of vacancy in a single block of store fronts, it becomes very tough for whomever is left behind to survive. People overlook it or just are interested in passing through. If there's more to draw their eye, then they often do stop. Plus, a bunch of empty buildings, especially big commercial ones, just feel weird and unsafe.

Top of the Main Street facade of the Fulk Building

Putting some people living on Main Street along with some new retail at 317 Main will help to change that dynamic. New commercial at the Exchange Building will help push things along, too. With some luck, it eventually will have a spillover effect that will benefit other buildings in need of TLC like the Fulk building at the other end of the same block as the Blass.

The Fulk is one of my favorites. It has Richardsonian Romanesque windows and beautiful late Victorian brickwork. (One document I found stated it was rebuilt in the early 20th century, but I have my doubts. It looks 1880ish to me.) If Little Rock lets itself lose architectural assets like the Fulk, then it's doing something seriously wrong. As architects and developers say sometimes about old buildings, it's got "good bones." Main Street Little Rock has good bones.

Last week, I wrote a little about a farmers market on Main Street south of Interstate 630. That area recently has seen some rejuvenation, but it hasn't been able to jump the pedestrian and traffic river that his I-630. The stretch to the north also is at another, more expensive scale-level that makes it more formidable to redevelopment. Wouldn't it be wonderful though if one half of Main could offer boutique shops and some funky alternatives while the other presents cocktail lounges, some upscale retail and loft apartments all with another stone's throw of the River Market. The River Market strikes me as the place where tourists and townies meet. Main Street could continue that vibe with a slightly more townie focus — a place for business people and locals to entertain and congregate after hours. Such an eventuality would might get us closer to a more 24/7 downtown cycle of activity instead of having so much hollow out after 5 p.m.

Kudos to the state of Arkansas for moving some agencies to the Blass and the Exchange when they are done. I also understand that the offices they are vacating in another part of downtown will be converted into living spaces. A good distribution of residential uses and space is only a good thing for the whole district in the long term

Anyway, the Exchange and Blass projects might be enough to awaken old Main. We shall see and we shall hope. Things are about to get interesting. Oh, I'm not doing my usual rating thing here, but an A+ to everyone involved anyway. You rock.

A.M. Sunday on Little Rock's Main Street

Bernice Garden Farmers Market, 1401 S. Main St.

Little Rock has a great farmers market on Saturday and Tuesday mornings at this time of year in the  River Market, and Sunday mornings has another much smaller one several blocks away on Main Street just south of Interstate 630. That's where the Jenny and I went early this morning.

In case you forget:
this is Arkansas.

When I say the Bernice Garden Farmers Market, 1401 S. Main St., there is small, that doesn't mean inferior. That, I think, is actually the Main Street venue's major selling point. You won't be overwhelmed and exhausted. In just a minute or two,  a shopper can get a good idea of everything on offer at the six to 12 booths and vendors in the small, private park. A wood canopy provides some shade and a suspended fans move the air around when nature isn't. The Jenny and I found some excellent peaches, tomatoes, fresh basil, purple-hull peas and more. Don't get me wrong. We like the River Market's offerings, too. We've been there, and we'll be back, but if you're looking for something a little more laid back on a Sunday morning to do some shopping for fresh produce, then check Bernice Garden out.

Just down the street a bit, we stepped into the Green Corner Store, a home-grown retail establishment featuring all manner of Arkansas-made products, gifts and treats. Near the front entrance is an old, marble soda fountain. 

Little Rock Restaurant Review: Mr. Chen's Authentic Chinese Cuisine

Don't dig to china for great Chinese food. It's right here in Little Rock. One of the first and best discoveries my wife and I made upon moving here this spring was Mr. Chen's Authentic Chinese Cuisine at University and Asher avenues.

I won't claim to have eaten in all the other Chinese restaurants in town. I haven't needed to.  After all, I've already found at Mr. Chen's what I want — fresh, nutritious and tasty Chinese cuisine in an interesting setting. It's seriously good.

Coming from Fort Smith, I was somewhat hip to Asian cuisine. When The Jenny and I were dating and trading weekends in each other's towns, she took me to a local Vietnamese place she raved about. It was OK. To her, Asian cuisine still was uncommon enough in the Rock that it was special. To me, Vietnamese food still was great food, but nothing at this particular venue impressed me. One of the Fort's little talked about assets is the number and diversity of its Asian restaurants. Honestly, that's a whole other blog. Suffice it to say, Fort Smith has several noodle shops, quite a few Vietnamese restaurants and a noticeable contingent Thai eateries. Heck, you can even get French-Vietnamese provincial dishes at one spot: The eccentric and delightful Pho Vietnam.

Small Steam Bun appetizer

Mr. Chen's gives Little Rock an entry that I'm sure can hold its own with its Fort Smith peers. Because I like to test a new place with a simple, staple dish, I ordered the Cashew Chicken on my first visit. (For example, if I'm in an Italian restaurant, then I might order spaghetti and meatballs. A venue that can't get the basics right probably isn't going to do the fancy stuff all that well either). Well, folks, the Cashew Chicken was so good it was nuts. It may have been the best yet. It certainly equals it.

One thing you won't find at Mr. Chen's is a buffet. Nope, there's no long line of overcooked pot stickers and drying out noodles. They give you a menu, you order and boom. OK, it's more of a long sizzle then boom Management warns you at the top that service may be a little slower than you're used to because they cook to order. However, when your food comes, it's damn tasty. I especially loved the diced zucchini cooked with my Cashew Chicken. As for appetizers, they range in quality from the slightly above ordinary egg rolls to surprisingly excellent Small Steam Bun--juicy and meaty with a hint of ginger. A lunch menu is available with prices from $6.50 to $7.50. They offer 22 Ice Flavored Milk Teas (ice flavored?) and 10 Hot Flavored Teas. One of our dinner mates on one visit is a fan of these and gave his drink his own a seal of approval.

Taiwanese Pan Fried Noodles

Pork with Bamboo & Bean Curd

In addition to the aforementioned Cashew Chicken, we along with our tablemates on multiple visits have ordered or sampled Orange Chicken (delicious, with orange peel and peppers in the sauce), Mr. Chen's Kung Pao Shrimp, Salted Crispy Chicken (tasty, but it's a street food that feels like it should come in a paper bag and be eaten with fingers), General Tso's Chicken and Taiwanese Pan Fried Noodles, Beef and Broccoli, Taiwanese Braised Pork, and other dishes. Most were excellent to superior.

Sizzling Tofu

Don't assume you'll get a ton of veggies. Mr. Chen's does not skimp on the meat, but veggies with some dishes are in short supply. One of our friends said next time she's going to order some veggie fried rice with her General Tso's to finish it out. The menu also contains a plentiful number of vegetarian options (try the Steamed Sweet Pea Leaves or Sizzling Tofu) and many more exotic (read: non-Americanized) Chinese dishes we have not yet been adventurous enough to try.

Crab Rangoon

The service is good — attentive but not hovering. Now, some constructive criticism. Some of the table condiments, particularly the packets of take-out mustard on the table, could do with an upgrade though. The temperature could be a little cooler, but it was not unpleasant. To be fair, it has been a very hot summer. An outside entrance also might help. We almost forgot to tell you that to get into Mr. Chen's you have to go through the Oriental Supermarket. This gives you the expectation of eating at a deli with a few tables. When you get your first glimpse, you're relieved to find a quite nice restaurant. Oh, I think the lighting could be taken down just a notch to distinguish it from the market. Finally, instead of Fox or CNN on the flat-screen television that is now required in every restaurant, Mr. Chen's has Chinese television; pretty cool.

Every time we've been in there has been an Asian family or group of Asian diners chowing down. That's good circumstantial evidence that the restaurant's claim that it serves "Authentic Chinese Cooking" may be more than braggadocio. It's probably no coincidence that the quality pledge on the front window is in English and in Chinese. One final word about the food itself. Most of the ingredients appear to be fresh. As you know, that can make all the difference.

One of the semi-private booths at Mr. Chen's

We really dig the interior, too. Although we've yet to test them out, I'm particularly taken with the tables inside private booths that seem especially suited for large parties. 

All in all, Mr. Chen's is a gem. We've been there a bunch and we'll keep going back.

Rating: Mr. Chen's — A.


Mr. Chen's: 3901 University Ave, 562-7900.

Dont Be Afraid. Don't Be Very Afraid; Crime in Little Rock (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Rock)

"Be afraid. Be very afraid." That's what one character warned another in the 1986 classic horror remake of "The Fly" with Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. I'm here to say the opposite about Little Rock.


Little Rock often ranks up high in crime, especially after adjusted by population size. You may have seen a recent report of such and freaked out just a little bit. (Can you freak out a little bit?) Using the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, Wall St. 24/7 recently awarded Little Rock the number six slot in its list of the Most Dangerous Cities in America. They looked at violent crimes like murder and aggravated assault.


When describing a one of my favorite bars in my hometown to folks, I would often call it "the safest dangerous bar in Fort Smith." It also had a 5 a.m. license, and after about 1 a.m. or 2 a.m., it got really interesting. One time, I saw a one-limbed man get in a fistfight. Another night, I counted among its patrons two transvestites, a couple of full-blood Cherokee, an off-duty pizza delivery guy still in uniform, some military dudes and three guys working on a classified project at Fort Chaffee for the Department of Energy. (They do some security training out there). I digress. My point is if you weren't laid back about life in general, then the crowd might have made you a little anxious. The fact is many years ago when I was a night page proofer for the paper, I didn't get off work until midnight. Many a Wednesday or Thursday night found me there with some friends kicking back. I never had anything bad happen to me at this Mos Eisley Spaceport Tavern (not its real name, of course). Could it have happened? Sure, it could. Was I always just a little on my guard? Damn straight. Did that wariness keep me from having a good time? Hell, no.

Little Rock and Arkansas: They're Great But Don't Tell Anyone

Whether you're from around here or not, it's likely a couple of things have happened to you in Arkansas and probably in Little Rock. First, you've encountered the Inferiority Complex, aka the IC. Second, city and state have exceeded expectations


Hey, the IC may be inside you if you're a native or longtime resident or it may be in your neighbor. Let's deal with that first. Arkansas was carved out of land that neither Louisiana and Missouri wanted. It was just too far from St. Louis and too far from New Orleans. Almost certainly they looked at all those swamps in eastern Arkansas near the Mississippi and said, "Thanks, but no thanks." This state was defined from the beginning by its geographic isolation. — 1,500 miles from either ocean coast and good riverboat ride from the Gulf of Mexico. Despite all this, Arkansas boomed in the 1840s and 1850s with new plantations until hit by the freight train of the Civil War. It struggled with rural poverty, racism and a extremely unenlightened political elite. Successes occurred along the way, but Arkansas quickly became burdened with the negative and persistent mythologies of the hillbilly and the bigot.


As a capital city, Little Rock has fought that imagery and fed into it. The Little Rock Central High School Crisis helped give new life to the stereotype, despite such relatively progressive political voices as those coming from Sen. William J. Fulbright, Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller, Sens. David Pryor and Dale Bumpers, and finally, the Big Dog — President Bill Clinton. Still, even today, there is a part of nearly every Arkansawyer that believes every negative thing that has been said about us, every joke about inbreeding, every jibe about our rural culture.