GREAT WALL CHINESE
   RESTAURANT
   
4808 John F. Kennedy Blvd., North Little Rock, (501) 753-3316. Open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 :30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, noon-10 p.m. Sunday.
   Great Wall might be a small carryout and delivery (with a $10 minimum purchase) operation. But it has a big menu with more than 100 dinner entrees ($4.95 for chicken fried rice up to $11.95 for the Seafood Combination of shrimp, scallops, squid and crab) and 42 lunch combinations ($4.25- $ 4.95, served with fried rice, soup and wontons or an egg roll from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.).
   Showing up the suggested 10 minutes after placing our phone order, we had to wait only about two minutes for our order to be bagged by the efficient kitchen staff.
   After ordering a Pu Pu Platter ($8.75) assortment to sample six appetizers, we'd recommend maybe two of them. The beef on a stick ($2.75 for two) were OK, if a bit chewy. And the spring roll ($1) was f ine. But the overbreaded fried shrimp, the overcooked shrimp toast, bland cheese wontons and strips of boneless spare ribs were nothing to get excited about. Of the restaurant's eight soup selections, we sampled one, the hot and sour ($1.35) and enjoyed its balance and bounty of egg, tofu and vegetable bits.
   For entrees, we settled on the slick, chunky House Special Lo Mein ($6.25) and the saline, slightly bitter Moo Shu Shrimp ($8.25).
   Other meal options include fried rice, chow mein, egg foo yong, seafood, poultry, pork, beef, vegetables, diet and chef 's specialties, and all except the first three categories and moo shu dishes come with a side of steamed rice. For an additional $2, diners can make their entree a complete dinner with soup, an egg roll, a chicken wing, a cheese wonton and a fortune cookie.
   PAUL'S

RESTAURANT
3700 John F. Kennedy Blvd., North Little Rock, (501) 753-8833. Open 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
   Paul's, a homey Park Hill fixture, is back in business after an ownership change.
   The new owners haven't redecorated much, but we'll forgive them because we'd rather they concentrate on the food. The staff seemed to be a bit new, and the kitchen a bit slow on our two visits to Paul's. But we sat patiently, sipping beverages and watching the traffic go by, and we were rewarded with some pretty good eats.
   Paul's offers a selection of plate lunches of barbecued beef, hamburger steak, chicken fried steak, ham, catfish, shrimp and chili mac ($3.99 to $7.99), and all but the chili mac come with several sides. There's also a daily special ($6.99) with a meat, two sides, a roll and drink.
   The restaurant's new cook produced some mighty tasty fried chicken, but it does tend to take a while to get done. Chicken baskets ($3.99- $7.99) are served with fries, slaw and a roll, and you can make substitutions.
   There's also a sizable selection of sandwiches and the menu offers a small appetizer section.
   If you save room for dessert, the menu lists ice cream with topping for $1.29, an extra scoop of ice cream for 99 cents, and cobbler plain ($2.69) or a la mode ($3.49).
   Parking is along the side of the restaurant and around back. Patrons can order at a togo window or eat in the dining room with a view of bustling John F. Kennedy Boulevard.
   WALKER'S

RESTAURANT
   
1700 Main St., North Little Rock. (501) 812-5904. Open 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, noon-6 p.m. Sunday.
   Taking over the long-vacant downstairs space at 17th and Main streets in North Little Rock that once housed upscale Italian restaurant Cassinelli 1700, Walker's home cooking with a touch of soul food is about as far from Cassinelli's expensive antipasti and scampi dishes as you can get.
   For $6 a plate lunch -- $7 if you add the modest salad bar -- you can order through the cafeteria-like window meatloaf, fried chicken, pork chops and ribs among the everyday staples. One recent dark-marked green lunch slate also offered pig tails and neck bones.
   Among the successes were a pretty good baked chicken with slightly salty dressing and a decent pepper steak -- hamburger steak in a gravy accented with green peppers. Side items were a mixed bag -- a plus for the sweet candied yams and kernel corn, but the macaroni and cheese -- well, it was salty and a little bitter and the flavor resembled no familiar cheese.
   The portions are huge -- more than your money's worth, actually. But if they're not enough, plunk down $2 for a slice of very good pecan pie (sweet potato pie and a couple of varieties of cake are also available).
   Walker's has retained most of the Cassinelli's decor -- the ivory-colored wallpaper with the swirls, the big bar area near the entranceway, complete with hanging wine glasses (now purely decorative, since Walker's serves no alcohol) and the claustrophobically low ceiling. The Formica-like tables and padded chairs are more pedestrian, more numerous and closer together than once they were.

This story was published Friday, September 01, 2006