NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Something that may be on your mind during the dinner hours is where you can get some food after a winter storm.
Several places closed Thursday because of the weather. So that begs the question, is there now hope for someone looking for a Friday dinner with friends?
Short answer is yes.
24-hours makes all the difference, as Friday allowed roads and highways to really thaw out.
Areas like sidewalks are still icy in some parts of the city, but nothing that's unmanageable.
"Yesterday when the roads felt a little bit more treacherous we just stayed home," Ruthin Hokans, a customer at The Root Cafe said.
Just like Hokans, many Arkansans are happy the leftover sleet and ice will soon be a thing of the past.
"Those roads didn't scare us, but we were still really cautious when we were driving through downtown," Hokans said.
Temperatures went above freezing Friday, allowing a lot of ice to melt.
Thursday, however, was a different story for Brood and Barley General Manager Bryan McFadden.
"The funny thing about Arkansas is that everything closes down," McFadden said.
He's talking about winter weather of course.
The threat from the forecast was enough for him to make the tough decision to close his doors Thursday.
"We don't want to put our employees or our customers in jeopardy," McFadden said.
He said that is a choice that couldn't last for long though.
Friday morning, it was back to business for him and his employees despite the leftover sleet.
McFadden said he and another employee worked to get people to work this morning.
"After going out of my house and looking at the street and being like, 'Okay, we can do this, we should be okay,'" McFadden said.
Aside from the financial hurdles of being closed for any length of time, he said the Argenta Arts District is a close community that relies on the restaurant's service.
"Some of [the customers] even texted me yesterday, like 'hey, man, where you at,'" McFadden said. "They wanted us open today, so we did our best to be here."
The Root Cafe wanted to play things safe, so managers decided to open the store at 11 a.m. Thursday, instead of their normal 8 a.m. start time.
"We can still open and still function, but we don't need to put anybody at risk for a sandwich," Kimberly Moret, one of the co-managers said.
But with temperatures expected to drop again, Moret said they will be shutting down early on Friday at 4 p.m.
"We didn't want to risk staying open too late, and then not being able to get home safely, especially in the dark," Moret said.
The restaurant's decision to stay open, even if it's reduced hours, gives people like Hokans a chance to leave home and get out to eat.
"I was just ready to have something that I didn't eat at home, so I was excited to get out, but I would have just stayed home if it felt worse than it did today," Hokans said.
The restaurant is keeping a close eye out as refreezing is a big threat on Friday night. The Root Cafe said they will wait to see how conditions are Saturday morning to determine what time they will open.