Arkansas Stores and Shopping

Kitchen Co.'s eclectic two-hour cooking classes instill students with the unparalleled power of pabulum preparation. Seize control over a smattering of ocean eats with Chef Karol Zoeller's July 21 seafood class ($39.95), teaching eager epicures to prepare gulf shrimp and crab, stuffed avocado, gazpacho, and breadsticks, or join her on July 28 for the Cajun-inspired eats of skillet jambalaya ($39.95), with watermelon-tomato salad and bread pudding rounding out the culinary curriculum. Elsewhere, Chef Jason Knapp schools snackers in authentic south-of-the-border treats with Taco Heaven ($39.95) on July 22, allowing palate-driven pupils the chance to break free of expensive Gordita Supreme and Choco Taco addictions. Past and potentially future cooking classes have included homemade pizza, grilling, French cuisine, and sushi.

Groupon is a combination of the words group and coupon. Each day, we offer an unbeatable deal on the best of Little Rock: restaurants, spas, sporting events, theater, and more. By promising businesses a minimum number of customers, we get discounts you won't find anywhere else. We call it "collective buying power."

Taste buds do the talking when it comes to making a burger, chicken sandwich, or grilled cheese at Cheeburger Cheeburger. That’s because customers, rather than cooks, design what's for dinner. After selecting a base—whether an all-natural Angus burger, a chicken patty, a veggie patty, or a type of cheese—customers deck it with their choice of 29 complimentary toppings such as roasted red peppers, steak sauce, and chopped garlic.

Customers can also build their own salad or garden diorama with a choice of 24 salad fixings. Freshly gilded fries and onion rings round out entrees. For dessert, cooks blend Edy’s Grand ice cream with syrup and candies to create 1 of 1,258,000 possible shake flavor combinations. Thanks to its neon color scheme and oldies music, the restaurant brims with a vintage ambiance.

From its four auto oases, Splash Carwash indulges Little Rock conveyances with services from express oil changes and comprehensive detailing to in-and-out car washes. Under the supervision of founder Paul Stagg, the family-owned-and-operated business employs eco-friendly products to protect our nation's dwindling herds of dune buggies. Splash proudly plays its part for community development with ongoing fundraising efforts, a Teacher of the Month rewards program, and military discounts.

Armed with just a single, generations-old cookie recipe, Great American Cookies opened its first store in 1977, and the rest is history. Today, the franchise boasts locations in malls across the country and nabbed a coveted spot on Entrepreneur magazine’s 2012 Top 500 Franchises in the baked-goods category. As the shop’s reputation grew, so did its menu as chefs churned out a mouthwatering roster of gourmet-cookie recipes, each created and carefully tested in Atlanta. The tempting options now include snickerdoodle, peanut butter with M&Ms, and chewy pecan supreme, as well as freshly baked fudge and cheesecake brownies, and cookie sandwiches stuffed with frosting. The real show-stoppers, however, are the giant chocolate-chip cookie cakes, which can be customized with sweet, celebratory messages or shopping lists penned in colorful icing.

With a reputation that includes titles such as the "Pie Guy" and "The Man Who Made 100 Different Pies in One Night," it's no great surprise that Chris Monroe—a dedicated pie lover and enthusiast—runs Hunka Pie. Open since 2007, the restaurant is dedicated to small-batch and handcrafted pies that boast flaky, hand-rolled crusts and are made without the preservatives found in big-batch bakeries. Equipped with the childhood pie memories and experience of growing up with three generations of pie makers, Chris claims the "largest selection of handcrafted pie in Arkansas." And judging from his list, he may be right. Interesting flavors such as chocolate hazelnut baklava and peach with rum glaze pop out alongside classic combinations such as southern pecan and key lime.

But though Chris and Hunka Pie specialize in pie, they also bring their A-game to breakfast, lunch, and dinner food, as well. They tout classic and creative burgers made with a third-pound of ground beef, some seasoned with secret spices, and others with more exotic flavors. The bombay burger adds garam masala to the mix, and the turkey burger's patty is seasoned with herbs. And though the restaurant was once relegated to a small drive-in counter, the restaurant's new digs invite patrons to sit and relax in the classic chrome and red of a former diner.