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2/12/2025 2:27:54 AM
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Hot Springs' Bleu Monkey Grill opening West Little Rock area


Hot Springs' Bleu Monkey Grill opening West Little Rock area


file photoBleu Monkey Grill's chicken and biscuits.
After 13 years of running Bleu Monkey Grill on Hot Springs' Central Avenue, chef Ozzie Oseguera is opening a Little Rock place at 10700 N. Rodney Parham Road in the previous Gusano's.

A native of Hot Springs, Oseguera opened Bleu Monkey Grill in 2010 after moving back to his home town following a stint in Northwest Arkansas. Oseguera opened his very first business, the eponymous Oseguera's Mexican restaurant, at age 22.

" I originate from a household of restaurateurs," he said.

In the 1970s Oseguera's parents transferred to the U.S. from Cotija de la Paz in the Mexican state of Michoacán. "None of this would be possible without them taking that threat," he said.
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His uncles own La Hacienda, and they opened the original place in Hot Springs when Oseguera was 8 years old.

" Everybody asks me where I went to culinary school," he stated. "Well, that was our school. We grew up cooking with our grandparents and uncles, and that progressed into a culinary profession for me."
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Oseguera won the very best Chef classification in the last 3 Readers Choice awards from Hot Springs' Sentinel Record. Bleu Monkey Grill also won awards for appetisers and salads, and was honored as the very best brand-new restaurant.

Courtesy of Bleu Monkey Grill


The menu's wide range of entrees makes the restaurant challenging to classify. Oseguera said the idea was to be able to use a menu "with a bit of everything" that interested all various kinds of tastes buds.

Meals include a curry dish, orange chicken, jambalaya, fish and chips, Bleu Monkey Shrimp with Jamaican jerk sauce and plantains and chicken and biscuits, which he referred to as an open-face casserole. The menu also consists of steaks, ribs, sandwiches, salads and pasta meals. Oseguera said among the restaurant's most popular items is the mac and cheese balls appetiser, which previous Eat Arkansas author Michael Roberts hailed as one of the very best apps in the state back in 2012.
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" Of every two orders that come out of the cooking area, that's one of them," Oseguera stated.

The time frame for the Little Rock opening is January 2024. He'll commute backward and forward from Hot Springs, and the basic manager will be his cousin Julian Alvarez, who likewise matured in the restaurant organization. His dad owns La Hacienda's Little Rock outlet, Oseguera said.

The most common concern Oseguera has been inquired about the restaurant over the years is the origin of the name. He stated he and his spouse were going through a long list of names and when Bleu Monkey Grill was verbalized, his child, who was around 7 years of ages at the time, instantly duplicated it.

" It simply type of stuck," he stated. "It's a memorable name and I wished to do it a little bit various because our restaurant is various. So, I chose the French spelling. Just sort of something we prepared on a napkin and here we are."

Bleu Monkey Grill's Little Rock hours will somewhat vary from Hot Springs starting out since it will close on Mondays to the provide the new team time to regroup, Oseguera said. The dining establishment will be open 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tue.-Thu.; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Fri.-Sat.; and 11-8 p.m. Sun.

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Elwood Hill
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Elwood Hill

Elwood Hill is an award-winning journalist with more than 18 years' of experience in the industry. Throughout his career, John has worked on a variety of different stories and assignments including national politics, local sports, and international business news. Elwood graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in journalism and immediately began working for Breaking Now News as lead journalist.

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