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Many area restaurants respond in the wake of delta variant surge
Many area restaurants respond in the wake of delta variant surge Gallery 26
As the number of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in Arkansas continue to rise due to the more infectious delta variant, several local restaurants have responded, once again, with social media posts, signage and action to try to protect staff and customers.
During the first few weeks of the surge, it looked like business as usual highly infectious disease spreading out of control and people still behaving as if we’d defeated COVID-19 in the state. And to be fair, before the surge, it was starting to look that way. Cases were going down, everyone that wanted a vaccine (all one-third of us) could get one, the CDC said vaccinated people could ditch the masks. So, many of us did.
40 years of Arkansas Times Readers Choice
40 years of Arkansas Times Readers Choice
Forty years ago this year, the
Arkansas Times first asked its readers to vote on their favorite restaurants. That kind of history makes our annual Readers Choice restaurant poll the gold standard among an array of latecomers by other publications.
To celebrate the anniversary, here are some memorable quotes, factoids and other odds and ends from the last four decades:
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“Over the years, perhaps no activity has occupied as much of man’s attention as the getting and serving of food: not sex, not religion, not even war. First, man was a gatherer, then a hunter, and finally a farmer who raised crops and animals that made their way to their board by dint of the plow or the hatchet. Way back there, it didn’t matter so much how a meal was prepared: a Neanderthal was tickled with a loin chop just off the hoof, with little or no roasting.”
Best Restaurants in Arkansas 2021
Best Restaurants in Arkansas 2021 Matthew Martin
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Arkansas Times’ Readers Choice restaurant contest. The issue went to press at a time when restaurants have, for just shy of one year, been faced with a pandemic and the necessary safety rules that have limited their customers. So, this year, we have a new category to join our traditional bests: Best Pandemic Dining. Our readers have praised Trio’s Restaurant and The Hive in Bentonville for keeping diners safely spaced. They’ve toasted Flyway Brewing and Superior Bathhouse Brewery in Hot Springs for their beer-to-go service. (A feature on Flyway, which also won Most Innovative, illustrates how it kept aloft.) They’ve recognized Star of India for its to-go packaging (and we give Sami Lal his due for his enduring success). Our readers found much to praise in restaurants from Fayetteville (Atlas and The Farmer’s Table Cafe)
Yellow Rocket Concepts restaurants to support Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance in dollar-for-dollar match fundraising campaign
Arkansas owned and operated hospitality group
Yellow Rocket Concepts is using all nine of its physical restaurant locations, restaurant websites and social media platforms to launch a dollar-for-dollar match fundraising campaign in support of the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance on Jan. 11, 2020.
The Alliance is a nonprofit umbrella organization that coordinates with six regional Feeding America food banks and more than 400 hunger relief organizations throughout the state. From the YRC press release:
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“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on the people the Alliance serves. Before the pandemic, Arkansas ranked third in the nation for food insecurity rates. Feeding America estimated that by the end of 2020, an additional 160,000 Arkansans and 1 in 3 Arkansas children faced hunger. Food insecurity has soared in our state this