Meet The Gang Behind Heights Taco & Tamale Co.: Yellow Rocket’s Countdown To Blast-off

Editor’s note: This article appears in the latest magazine edition of Talk Business & Politics, which you can access online here.

Roughly 10 days before the soft opening for Heights Taco & Tamale Co., three of the four owners sat around a dining table cooking up dreams for the future of their venture. Around them waiters were in training on the menu particulars, bartenders were working out the finer points of their signature drinks (the frozen mojito is sure to be a summer favorite) and staff members were unpacking furniture. The final tile of the pattern designed specifically for this location would be installed the next day.

It’s almost possible to see the partners making mental To Do lists while they’re talking about their hopes for this space. So many details are left to complete. So little time is left before opening what they believe will be their signature eatery.

Construction delays have put pressure on their bottom line and pushed their opening date by several months, but they say they will not open until it’s exactly right. The reputation of the location and their company is too important to make sloppy mistakes.

“We want to take this iconic space and make it something Little Rock can enjoy for another 50 years or more,” said Scott McGehee, principal of Yellow Rocket Concepts, the umbrella group responsible for Heights Taco as well as other Central Arkansas restaurants Local Lime, ZaZa, Big Orange and Lost 40. “This will not be our most profitable restaurant. This is a labor of love. It’s our investment into this community.”

The iconic space he mentioned is the former Heights location of Browning’s Mexican Grill, a Little Rock staple for more than 60 years. “We loved Browning’s,” said Ben Brainard, co-owner of Heights Taco. “Several of us grew up coming here with our dads to drink that famous punch and eat cheese dip. This place was a legend.”

The gravity of their undertaking visibly weighs on them. It’s the burden of being the winning quarterback: emboldened by past successes, but keenly aware that one fumble can turn a fickle crowd against you quickly. The popularity of previous ventures is the blessing and curse of the expectations of any new restaurant this group opens.

“We wake up every morning hungry and humble,” said Russ McDonough, co-owner. “People have short memories. We have to be at our best every single day.”

ARK-MEX
What they have planned is a new genre they have dubbed Ark-Mex. It will be their own version of Tex-Mex, incorporating flavors from the Delta to create a unique menu. “There’s a nod to South Arkansas and North Mississippi,” McGehee said. While it might not be obvious at first, he believes people will recognize the Browning’s influence, even in a completely different atmosphere and menu.

Every detail has been considered from how food will look on Instagram, where photos will be inevitably shared, to the precise blend of iced tea for the HT Tea, a cocktail blended specifically for this bar. “It all matters,” McDonough said. “The décor, food, attitude, location, everything. Every single thing matters when you’re opening a restaurant today.”

It’s a world away from when J.T. Browning, a former Kroger butcher decided to open a Mexican restaurant in Little Rock in 1946. Don Phelan, who came on as manger in 1968 and then bought the restaurant from the Browning family in 1980, says their food “wouldn’t have stood up to the test of magazine plating and lighting. But it tasted good, and that’s all people cared about then.”

He understands the evolution of the business, “a young man’s game,” he calls it. That’s why he sold out in 2007. Subsequent owners weren’t successful in the space, and it eventually closed. He believes that while the style has changed, the substance of the food industry hasn’t and won’t. “Food and service … if you got that, you’re good,” Phelan said.

He believes the new tenants on Kavanaugh have those things, “This group hasn’t been successful by accident,” he said. “They’re good operators. They’re good food people. That’s a lot of hard work, grit and determination. I think they’ll do themselves proud.”

Phelan measures the success of Browning’s, in part, by how many former employees have gone on to successful careers, particularly as their own restaurant owners. This is also how Yellow Rocket wants to be judged: by the partnerships and collaborations in the food community the group is able to forge.

“Ben and John [Beachboard], who are partners in this venture, were sous chefs in a previous restaurant I owned,” McGehee said. “Other creative young people have come through here, and some are now looking at going forward with some ideas of their own. We want to invest in that emotionally and professionally, and eventually maybe financially. We want to cultivate a cooperative food community in Little Rock. We don’t want to take market share from other locally owned places. We want to take market share from McDonald’s and other chains.”

DESIRE FOR A BREAK
Yellow Rocket has grown rapidly in the past few years, and the partners plan to catch their breath after Heights Taco opens. They say they want to spend several months focused on operations for their seven locations and ensure quality before settling on a new idea.

But no sooner have they declared a desire for a break than they start rattling off 15 concepts in 10 potential locations for expansion. Maybe Jonesboro? Maybe Northwest Arkansas? Maybe using this location or that developer? The innovative piece of their brains doesn’t ever seem to turn off.

“Will we do more? Sure,” McDonough said. “But not 10 more. The reality is we all have kids at home. We’re not thrilled to be out of state on a regular basis running restaurants right now. We have debt. We have 400 employees. We have to take some time before we make the next move.”

They’re in the enviable position that success brings of offers from developers and ideas from young talent. They will be able to be picky. But perhaps some of this isn’t entirely up to them. It might be a little up to fate.

“When I was in college, I brought my best friend home for the weekend,” Brainard said. “We came up to Browning’s to eat. We had a saltillo plate, punch and cheese dip. My friend seemed to know then that I did not have the bright future in finance I thought I was going to. He looked around and said, ‘You’re going to own this place someday.’ I thought he was crazy. But here I am. I own this place. And it’s going to be a great place to bring my kids, like my dad brought me.”