You can read this week’s restaurant column, ‘A Lot of Fun,’ Says Juanita’s Founder Mark Abernathy, about Juanita’s Mexican Café & Bar in its heyday, memories shared by one of the founders, Mark Abernathy.
While Abernathy fondly remembers the past, he’s all about what’s happening now, and that means his Little Rock restaurants Loca Luna and Red Door.
Come Jan. 1, Loca Luna will have a new menu, though Abernathy’s already serving some the new dishes in an effort to “work out the kinks.”
So we asked the veteran restaurateur: How do you balance the new and innovative with the old, the comfort that people want?
“That is a great question. One of the things that veteran restaurants like myself have been wrestling with in the last few years is the huge, huge influx of new restaurants,” he said. “I mean, it’s always been a competitive business. But in the last five years, Little Rock hasn’t grown much, but the restaurant market has exploded.
“It’s like every couple of months there’s a new cool restaurant out there. That makes it hard for a veteran restaurant like Loca Luna or Trio’s or Faded Rose — us independents that have been here a long time.”
Abernathy thinks he’s achieved that balance, however, with Loca Luna’s new menu.
“We kept all the favorite dishes,” he said.
He’s also remodeled Loca Luna, which is marking its 20th anniversary, inside and out.
“The response so far has been just fantastic,” Abernathy said. “People like the new look, and they like the new dishes we’re introducing.
“But you have to find that balance between keeping your old customers happy and having a little bit of excitement, something new and exciting mixed in.”
Back Taxes
The problems that plagued Juanita’s, which plans to close Dec. 20, are manifested in delinquent taxes.
Specifically, $3,566.
Those business taxes are owed to the Pulaski County Treasurer’s Office.
We tried to reach someone at Juanita’s management.
But we had not been heard back as of press time Thursday.
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