RUMBA
   
300 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, (501) 823-0090. Open 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday-Wednesday and 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Thursday-Saturday (bar stays open until 1 a.m.).
   

Food:
The Cuban-Mexican menu, which fits on one page, is divided into sections: first plate, tapas, soup and salad, lunch specials, sandwiches, a la carte, entrees (served after 5 p.m.) and dessert. Everything -- down to the warm, red spiced chips that accompany dips -- is served with plenty of flavor and flair. Expect dishes with sprinklings of fresh herbs and surprises, like bits of mango.
   

Mood:
The restaurant has a whimsical, shabby-chic sensibility with colorful walls, white chandeliers and additional funky light fixtures, sheer curtains that offer booths a cozy feel and abstract paintings that resemble Rorschach inkblot tests. A spacious outdoor patio out back offers umbrella-shaded tables. Lively music and cocktails like mojitos and caipirinhas lend a breezy island vibe.
   

Moolah:
Expect to pay up to $6.99 for a sandwich or lunch special; dinner entree prices range from $11.99 to $18.99. Or go the least expensive route by ordering a la carte items like tacos (two for $4.79).
   -- Jennifer Christman IRIANA'S 201 E. Markham St., Little Rock, (501) 374-3656. Open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 4-10 p.m. Sunday.
   

Food:
While you pretend to contemplate the grinders, you know the evening will end with one of Iriana's pies, served hot and hearty from the oven on a shiny pedestal platter. Best pizza in town? You wouldn't argue. Salads are crisp, simple affairs.
   

Mood:
If the old Iriana's had the insular, clubby feel of a bunker -- it made you think of Liverpool's Cavern Club -- the new Iriana's feels brighter and lighter, a tourist-friendly drop-in option.
   

Moolah:
Pizzas range from $6.15 to $15.15; additional toppings cost $1.20. Slices ($2- $2.20) are available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. -- Philip Martin
   

CAFE 1217
   
1217 Malvern Ave., Hot Springs, (501) 318-1094. Open 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.
   

Food:
When it opened in the late 1990s, Cafe 1217 was the first area gourmet deli establishment where customers picked dishes out of a refrigerated display case, either to go or for finishing in the kitchen. Chef/owner Diana Marez Bratton's menu changes monthly. Among June's better display-case dishes: Sesame Pineapple Split Game Hen, Shrimp & Crawfish Cakes, Rosey's Hand-Rolled Tamales and Kung Pao Asparagus With Mushrooms. The restaurant also serves sandwiches, salads and to-kill-for desserts.
   

Mood:
The cafe is bright and cheery, with seating at bistro-style round tables and iron-wire chairs and white walls daubed with painted designs and/or covered with framed photographic portraits (for sale) and the many, many awards the restaurant has won. The order, delivery and payment system can be frustrating at peak periods, especially between noon and 1 p.m., when the place is at its busiest, and also when customers must hover like helicopters over tables where it looks like folks are wrapping up their meal if they hope to get a table.
   

Moolah:
Many display-case items are sold by the pound, but it's easy to get an excellent lunch for $10 or less.
   -- Eric E. Harrison

SEKISUI, LITTLE ROCK
219 N. Shackleford Road, Little Rock, (501) 221-7070. Open 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Sunday, 5-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 5-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
   

Food:
Although we've had better in central Arkansas, sushi here is probably the best bet. It's carefully prepared and often lovely to look at. Unfortunately, the rest of the menu tends to be dominated by sauces that are too sweet, too cornstarchy, too salty and too liberally spiced. The hibachi is fun to watch if unspectacular to eat.
   

Mood:
The generally well-appointed space has many good points, including kitschy sushi boats that float past diners during happy hour at the sushi bar. Unless you're having hibachi, avoid the back of the room, particularly during warmer months when the grills make the space stifling.
   

Moolah:
Most sushi ranges from $2.95 to $8.95 per order. Entrees typically run in the $8.95 to $17.95 range. Hibachi prices are $6.95 to $12.95 at lunch and $11.95 to $29.95 at dinner. -- Scott A. Johnson
   PIA'S

RISTORANTE ITALIANO
   
915 Front St., Conway, (501) 513-9944. Open 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 5-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 5-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.
   

Food: Pia's
offers a fine pasta-centered Italian menu, and most of the pasta is made on the premises. You can't go wrong going simple with the spaghetti and meatballs, with your choice of marinara; the big winner is the Ravioli Florentine, filled with a blend of three cheeses and spinach, served on a bed of spinach fettuccine in an exceedingly rich, very cheesy and exceptionally delicious Alfredo sauce. Open with the Farfalle fritte con spinaci e carciofi, bow-tie pasta, lightly breaded and deep-fried, served with a fairly rich spinach-and-artichoke dip, or the fried ravioli.
   

Mood:
The homey decor features earth-tone walls sparsely furnished with for-sale artwork and framed reviews; solid wood tables and chairs; and brown-stained lattices separating the dining room from the kitchen and waiters' prep area. Service was very good.
   

Moolah: It's
possible to eat yourself into a coma for fairly little money, too. Sure, you can blow almost $30 on the 20-ounce Pia's Porterhouse, but most of the pasta entrees are under $10. A dinner trip for two in which we each crammed down an appetizer, a large salad, a good-size vessel of soup (entrees come with choice of soup or salad and we couldn't choose), a large entree portion and a nonalcoholic beverage cost about $45.
   -- Eric E. Harrison

This story was published Friday, July 07, 2006