SERENDIPITIES SUGAR-FREE
   BAKERY AND CAFE
   
Donaghey Building, 103 E. Seventh St., Little Rock, (501) 372-9911, www.serendipities sweets.com. Open 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday.
   Serendipities started out in a small, windowless storefront on the ground floor of the Donaghey Building in downtown Little Rock, selling tasty sugar-free desserts. Now it has expanded its offerings to include some fairly fancy wraps, specialty "sandwich sensations" and, recently, a range of breakfast offerings. And it has moved into a bright, cheery, street-front space on the same floor.
   Start with one of Serendipities' daily "Savory Soups" ($2.99 a whole cup, $1.49 a half cup). On Mondays and Fridays it's a nice Chicken & Sausage Gumbo, with good-size slices of sausage, chunks of chicken and plenty of okra and rice in a delicately spicy broth.
   The jerk spice mixture in the Caribbean Jerk Wrap ($5.95) contained enough cinnamon to almost give it a little sweetness. The rest of the wrap's interior is shredded chicken, shredded cheese and lettuce. The Pepperbleu Steak Wrap ($5.95) offered surprises pleasant and iffy. The steak was surprisingly tender and the bleu cheese dressing was fairly tangy, but the black pepper was a bit bothersome (take the "pepper" part seriously when you read the menu description).
   The Jack of All Trades "sandwich sensation" ($5.95) was everything the menu promised and more: pastrami, turkey, bacon, pepperjack cheese and even some cheddar slices, all grilled on a choice of white or wheat bread until the cheese melts and the sandwich is toasty-hot (and still sufficiently warm as a takeout item).
   Vegetarian (soy) versions of several sandwiches are available, including a Veggie Turkey Reuben ($6.95) and a Beefless Barbecue Brisket ($7.95).
   -- Eric E. Harrison
   LENNY'S

SUBS
   
4517 John F. Kennedy Blvd., North Little Rock (with other locations in Little Rock, Searcy and West Memphis), (501) 812-6565, www.lennyssubshop.com. Open 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday.
   At Lenny's Sub Shop, a Philadelphia-fashioned eatery with a new North Little Rock strip center location, ordering a sandwich is relatively simple.
   There are 18 numbered sandwiches on the menu. You'll have to choose white or wheat and regular or large. But there's only one available cheese (provolone ). And all the subs, served on hearty, fresh-baked bread that is a lot to get a mouth around, include the same toppings (onion, lettuce, tomatoes, oil, salt and pepper, oregano, pickles and hot pepper relish) unless you tell them otherwise.
   The subs are certainly substantial -- regular subs are 7 /2 inches long and feature a halfpound of meat and cheese, while large subs are 15 inches long and feature a full pound of meat and cheese. And while maybe some of the cold sandwiches can seem somewhat lifeless, the hot sandwiches satisfy.
   Between two visits we ordered four subs: Turkey ($5.35 regular, $9.50 large), the Club Sub ($5.75 regular, $9.65 large), Philly Cheesesteak ($5.95 regular, $9.85 large) and the Grilled Chicken Philly ($5.95 regular, $9.85 large).
   The turkey sub just tasted cold. Neither the meat nor cheese was particularly flavorful, and even the toppings, including hot pepper relish, didn't add much pizazz. The club, featuring provolone, ham, turkey and bacon that appeared to be the pre-cooked variety, was also on the bland side and not helped by the overabundance of iceberg lettuce shreds on top.
   Much more memorable were the cooked-to-order Cheesesteak and Chicken Philly, featuring savory meat with melted cheese and cooked onions as requested.
   -- Jennifer Christman
   

SOUTHERN HOME COOKING
   
1719 Arkansas 161, North Little Rock, (501) 955-1118. Open 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday.
   Southern Home Cooking's cuisine is what you might classify as a cross between diner cuisine and soul food. Each day the restaurant offers a couple of meat selections and a nice choice of vegetables. For $6, you get a meat, two vegetables and a roll or corn bread. And judging from the servings we got, it's more than enough. Children's portions are available for $3.95.
   Weekly entrees include meatloaf, spaghetti, chicken-fried steak, fried chicken, fried pork chops, ribs, smothered pork chops and baked chicken. Side dishes include corn, mashed potatoes, yams, green beans, cabbage, sweet peas, rice, pinto beans, black-eyed peas and greens.
   The restaurant also sells fish dinners ($6.80 for fish, two sides and roll or corn bread), as well as burgers (a cheeseburger basket that comes with fries is $5). But be warned: On our visit, we didn't realize they were out of fish filets and we wound up with fish steaks, which have bones and were a bit disappointing.
   Besides the fish, we also had yams, cabbage, green beans, mashed potatoes, chickenfried steak and spaghetti, and we weren't disappointed with any of it.
   On the day of our visit, the building's air conditioning system was malfunctioning, and a small cooling unit sitting on one of the tables was working overtime. Hopefully, it's not always that way, but if so, carryout is an option.
   -- Rosemary Boggs
   CROSS-EYED

PIG
   
6015 Chenonceau Blvd. at Cantrell Road, Little Rock, (501) 227-7427. Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
   The Cross-Eyed Pig's new west Little Rock location is much more spacious and has a menu much more varied than its Riverdale cousin on Rebsamen Park Road.
   But we don't like the food as much.
   Everything we tried was flawed, some more critically than others, and most involved altogether too much pepper.
   Among the few things not awash in pepper were the appetizer Hot Wings ($5.75, available after 4 p.m.), encased in a thick batter, which, as overfried as these were, were practically impervious without a chisel. The wings weren't sauced in any way; the only heat comes from the restau-50 rant's /50 medium sauce in the small dipping bowl (the wings also come with some chunky blue cheese dip which was better without the wings). We left several.
   The ribs ($9.75 half-slab, $18 full slab) were meaty but also rather fatty and rather chewy (the tiny one on the end of the halfslab was also dry) and the tops painted with a thick red-and-black pepper mixture (with visible red pepper seeds) until the top layer resembled pepper bacon. The beef brisket ($5.50 sandwich, $7.95 platter with two sides) was also pretty peppery, although not as bad as the ribs.
   Best bets among the "sidecars" are the very cheesy macaroni and cheese ($1.50 a la carte, $3.25 pint) and the fairly rich barbecue beans (also $1.50, $3.25). The ranchbased potato salad, with bits of bacon, tasted fine but ours had some pretty big potato slices.
   -- Eric E. Harrison

This story was published Friday, June 02, 2006