George’s is named for George who represents “the perfect night out; the experience of a restaurant with all the comforts of feeling at home.”  It’s the product of Little Rock natives and friends, John Stephens, David Hesselbein and Greg Baber who’ve partnered with Chef Wes Mickel to offer a menu of Italian classics.  Opening in August of 2023, it was in the works for 2 years before opening in the 1930s bungalow (previously housing Cafe Prego).  Having the capacity for 93, guests are seated in a traditional dining room, casual porch, an outdoor patio or in the hidden speakeasy named “Barnaby.”  The main dining room has tables set with white clothes and some bench seating along the walls whereas the porch had bare tables and wicker furniture.  It was more lit than the main dining room which also had art on the walls.  The service was good and helpful and portions were large.  It was a good meal and one I’d recommend you try when in town.  Reservations can be difficult but the speakeasy and bar seating are all first come, first served.

Set-Up

Food

George’s Negroni cocktail contained Haymans Gin, Bordiga Rosso vermouth and Campari.  It had that color I adore but it was too much on the sweet side for me.

We split a small order of Rigatoni with spicy Vodka sauce.  Pastas come in 2 sizes and the server suggested a small to split due to the size of the main courses.  The pasta was cooked perfectly with the slightly spicy thick tomato sauce.  It was fantastic and I believe I could have eaten the whole thing but then wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the next course.

Fresh Catch of the Day was scallops on Swiss chard with Italian sausage and white beans.  It was garnished with shavings of orange squash.  The scallops were cooked perfectly and good but the beans and sausage stole the show.  It was a wonderful combination of flavors with lots of texture and flavor.

For Dessert, we chose Mimi’s Pick which was a chocolate torte topped with whipped cream and pomegrante seeds.  This was not an overly sweet torte but it did have deep chocolate flavor with a good texture.  A small tuile garnish did provide the sweet essence needed.

The bill came with 3 shortbread cookies that looked better than they were.  I’d call them okay.