4 hours Ago By Chris Chamberlain
It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Atlanta-based chef-restaurateur Ford Fry and his Nashville outposts Superica, The Optimist, Le Loup and Star Rover Sound. But there's another Fry joint I’ve been secretly hoping would show up in Nashville after I discovered it in Atlanta. Well, my prayers have been answered, because Fry has announced that he is bringing Little Rey to Midtown in the former Qdoba location at 2019 West End Ave.
If you remember that particular spot, it represents either the easiest or most difficult parking lot to enter and exit between West Meade and downtown, depending on which way you’re traveling and which way you want to go. But I promise that the Northern Mexico-inspired menu at Little Rey will make navigating that left turn worth your while. I really enjoyed my first visit to Little Rey in Atlanta’s Piedmont Heights neighborhood, in part because it was so eclectic.
The restaurant seems to specialize in everything, and does it all well. If there is a through line to the menu, it’s pollo al carbon — or chicken cooked over charcoal. The sweet smell of smoke emanated from the dining room, and wood was stacked everywhere to keep the fires burning.
It was like visiting the best cookout ever with an unbelievable variety of dishes on offer. Breakfast taco options include chorizo, bacon, potato, steak and a vegetarian Oaxaca version. The morning meal menu also includes hotcakes and huevos rancheros available on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
The lunch and dinner menu revolves around grilled chicken, available as half or full birds with accompaniments of your choice of corn or flour tortillas, smoked onions and jalapeños, beans and rice. The chicken also appears as filling for quesadillas, tacos or chopped in a queso dip. Little Rey’s chicken wings are revelatory, smoked and served with a salsa matcha of deep-fried peanuts and chiles alongside a jalapeño ranch dressing.
Other taco choices include pork or steak off the grill, along with traditional shrimp or carnitas tacos on soft corn tortillas. When it comes to beverages and dessert, Little Rey gets a little wacky, and I’m here for it! Among the margarita offerings is red grapefruit, which was one of my favorite margs ever. There are canned and draft beers, along with a nonalcoholic menu that goes deep with smile-inducing options like Fanta orange, Jarritos tamarind and an obscure century-old Mexican treat, Sidral Mundet, an apple-flavored soda.
After all those fantastic grilled meats, I can’t think of a better dessert option than some nice soft-serve, and that’s exactly what Little Rey offers, along with fried plantains. Can you tell I’m excited? While the official opening date is subject to the whims of Metro Codes inspectors, the team behind Little Rey wants to introduce themselves to the neighborhood through a series of pop-up events they’re calling the Music City Taco Tour. Here are the details on where and when you can catch a preview of what’s coming to Midtown: Saturday, March 1: Star Rover Sound (1400 Adams St.
) 10 a.m.-2 p.
m. Stop in for complimentary Little Rey hotcakes, breakfast tacos (bacon, chorizo + veggie), and coffee & cafe de olla (iced coffee + house horchata) Sunday, March 2: Star Rover Sound (1400 Adams St.) 10 a.
m.-2 p.m.
Stop in for complimentary Little Rey hotcakes, breakfast tacos (bacon, chorizo + veggie), and coffee & cafe de olla (iced coffee + house horchata) Saturday, March 15: Little Rey Corner Cookout (2019 West End Ave.) Noon-4 p.m.
Saturday afternoon cookout featuring complimentary costra-style (griddled layer of crispy cheese) street tacos (pollo and vegetarian oaxaca) and signature Little Rey taco sauces, plus hibiscus limeade Saturday, March 29: Little Rey Park-In Lot Party (2019 West End Ave.) 2-6 p.m.
This time, try the complimentary Little Rey quesadillas (chicken, veggie + cheese) and elotes alongside a salsa bar, hibiscus limeade and house margaritas Hopefully, I’ll see you at one (or all) of these!.
