BLUE AGAVE
The Village at Rahling Road, Rahling Road and Chenal Parkway, Little Rock, (501) 821-1814. Open 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday, 5-9 :30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 5-10 :30 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
   

Food:
Veteran restaurateur Jerry Barakat appears to have a potential winner in his new Blue Agave, in the former far west Little Rock site of his relocated Gaucho's Grill. Mexican is one of the motifs on Blue Agave's sprawling seafood-inclined menu, which also offers Caribbean-tinged dishes in a dinner array of 10 appetizers, eight salads, three soups, seven varieties of tacos al carbon, four versions of roasted chili rellenos, seven house specialties, nine kinds of fish tacos and 13 other seafood dishes. Standouts include the bouillabaisse, a bounteous and delicious aggregation of shrimp, scallops, squid, a hefty mussel in the shell and two kinds of fish that could pass muster as a main course, and the Paella Espanola, a Spanish rice casserole with meats and seafood.
   

Mood:
In redoing Gaucho's, a major scenic shift has been the redecorating of the longest wall to resemble a beach scene, with blue sky blending into blue water that turns into white breakers as it rolls onto the tan sand of a beach.
   

Moolah:
Prices are moderate with the majority of dinner entrees costing between $10 and $20.
   -- Jack Schnedler

MOUNT FUJI
10301 Rodney Parham Road (Breckenridge Village Shopping Center), Little Rock, (501) 227-6498. Lunch is served 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Saturday ; dinner is served 5-10 p.m. Sunday-Saturday.
   

Food:
Other newer, bigger, flashier Japanese restaurants may have mobbed the metro area, but sturdy Mount Fuji still stands. While Mount Fuji does not do hibachi dinners, the restaurant has varied entree and sushi menus offered at lunch and dinner. In addition to traditional teriyaki, sashimi and tempura, diners are bound to see selections not typically offered at Benihana-esque restaurants, like Oshinko (Japanese pickles) and Una Don (broiled eel over steamed rice).
   

Mood:
We found Mount Fuji, which occupies a corner of the Breckenridge Shopping Center, is just as we last left it. Almost. Mount Fuji now operates a food-and-gifts space next door that is accessible through the restaurant's downstairs. The two-story dining room decorated tastefully with Asian flair makes clever use of its snug space and challenging angles. Diners sit wherever they fit, at the small sushi bar, the few comfy private booths or tables downstairs or upstairs.
   

Moolah:
Dinner prices vary with appetite; a cheaper choice is a bowl of warming Tempura Udon ($8), and a more extravagant choice is the Seafood Combination Teriyaki of shrimp, scallops, lobster, green mussels and salmon ($24.95). And there are plenty of selections in between, with the majority of substantial dinners between $10 and $20.
   -- Jennifer Christman LUCCHESI'S

RAVIOLI & PASTA COMPANY AND CAFE
5600 Kavanaugh Blvd., Little Rock, (501) 660-4444. Open 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 5-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 5-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
   

Food: Lucchesi's
, which started out offering dinner only a couple of nights a week, has gradually been adding hours so that it now opens for dinner every night but Monday, when the establishment, in the former Heights Theater building on Kavanaugh Boulevard, is closed. Though it's still half deli, half cafe, the cafe business has evidently expanded to the point where Lucchesi's has put a few tables in the deli area. Don't miss the Oven Roasted Shrimp with toasted garlic chips appetizer ($8), tail-on shrimp served in a delicious, rich chipotle-butter sauce with baguette slices. The menu brags that Lucchesi's Crab Cakes would be the best we'd ever tried, and the kitchen almost makes good on the boast with cakes served on a bed of tangy marinara sauce that were moist, creamy in texture and very flavorful, and had a pretty good crab-meat-to-filler ratio.
   

Mood:
You almost feel like you're dining on the terrace of an Italian villa, while surrounded by framed Italian accents in the form of movie posters (including The Godfather, of course), movie-star photographs (Gina Lollobrigida, no less) and travel-agency photos of Italian landmarks. Or you can dine in the deli or even on the outdoor patio.
   

Moolah:
Prices are moderate. -- Eric E. Harrison
   

CREW RESTAURANT-BAR
   
Pleasant Ridge Town Center, 11525 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, (501) 223-3553. Open 10 a.m.-11 p.m. daily.
   

Food: We're
told Crew Restaurant-Bar, the second restaurant in the new Pleasant Ridge Town Center on Cantrell Road, is a prototype for a possible chain. The management may, however, want to fine-tune some of their kitchen offerings and service quirks before expanding. Food was a mixed bag from appetizers to desserts. There wasn't anything really wrong, but half our appetizers weren't all that appetizing, three-quarters of our entrees were less than inspiring and half our desserts were not very appealing. Two tuna steaks that comprised our Ahi Tuna came out slightly overcooked for our taste as was the Pork Chop that was tasty but a little drier than it might have been.
   

Mood:
The Crew already has a couple of chain elements in place, including at least two levels of management working the floor and a warm-earthtone decor. Service was generally good and professional but we rather wish we hadn't had our waitress and two managers stop by the table during every course inquiring if everything was OK.
   

Moolah:
Almost all dinners are less than $20.
   -- Eric E. Harrison
   

KOBE JAPANESE
   STEAKHOUSE
   
11401 Financial Centre Parkway, Little Rock, (501) 225-5999, www.kobeLR.com. Open 4:30-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 4:30-10 :30 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
   

Food:
Kobe is the restaurant that was "coming soon" for five years on Financial Centre Parkway, just opposite the Embassy Suites Hotel. Now Kobe is going strong, offering teppanyaki steak and the like from big hibachi grills and a pretty respectable sushi bar. Most hibachi menus have the same offerings -- shrimp, chicken, two or three grades of steak, scallops and lobster, grilled vegetables and fried rice. The Feast gives you a shot at sliced filet mignon, shrimp, scallops and chicken, which, on top of the appetizer shrimp, veggies and a highly recommended (by the restaurant and by us) side order of fried rice was really more food than humans should be allowed to eat.
   

Mood:
The restaurant is in a strip center with a cramped, L-shaped parking lot not really adapted to modern motor vehicles. (There's more and easier parking in back if you're looking for a more stress-free experience.) Inside, the restaurant is divided into four spaces -- the big dining room with nearly a dozen hibachi grills; the sushi bar, which seats about 10; a back dining room that used to be the smoking area; and a small waiting area. Most of the Japanese decorations abound in the sushi bar -- bushido blades, colorful paper lanterns, a small waterfall in the atrium, the ubiquitous waving ceramic cat; the decor is more restrained in the major dining room.
   

Moolah:
Prices seem a little steeper than the competition -- take, for example, the large sashimi plate ($29) -- but the fish is fresh and the cuts are thick.
   -- Eric E. Harrison

This story was published Friday, January 05, 2007