To go along with my brunch article, which was written couple weeks ago and just recently posted, we decided to visit Red Door. Red Door is located at the bottom of Cantrell Hill, and is the offspring of the mother restaurant Loca Luna. Chef Mark Abernathy has been a central Arkansas figure for decades.
Red Door, like Loca Luna, has a distinctly southern/southwestern flair. Red Door deviates a bit by incorporating some more traditional southern dishes. I have to say, the food is excellent. Breakfast/brunch is a particular specialty, though the times it is offered are varied. The review offered below is predominantly based off the brunch experience.
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| Crab cake Benedict with Stone Ground Grits. |
Menu: ★★★☆☆
A good selection of dishes, with plenty of offerings. I feel that this restaurant would be better suited to coming up with a few superb dishes instead of trying to appeal to all palates. The signature dishes are fantastic and should be the focus, whereas the extra dishes appear to be, well, extra.
Food: ★★★★☆
Top quality and flavor. Exceedingly tasty. Fresh and hot out of the kitchen. Ingredient use is masterful (ala stone ground grits). Excellent.
Atmosphere: ★★★☆☆
Its location and layout do it a disservice. The decor is rustic (as the movement has taken most newer restaurants). Large windows in the seating area allow for natural light.
Service: ★★★☆☆
Hit and miss, but usually good. Plenty of coffee refills. Sometimes a bit negligent. We were actually told one morning, rather brusquely, that they could seat us (we showed up during their scheduled hours) but that we would have to order quickly. You just don't tell that to patrons. What you say instead is "we would be happy to serve you, our kitchen closes at ___ if you would like to order food." We left so we could have a more relaxed, slow paced breakfast. But we have returned, and had good service since.