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Hot Dog Mike, former Little Rock food cart vendor and current New Jersey resident, hinted over the weekend that he had a big announcement for his local fans. On Monday morning, he let the “cat, er, the dog” out of the bag, as he put it on social media and said he’d be returning to Little Rock to develop a community-centered, multi-cart operation. He’s also creating a line of Hot Dog Mike products that will be available at local grocery stores, with a philanthropic approach — a portion of sales will be donated to the community.

Until that bigger venture gets off the ground, Hot Dog Mike will be found at NYPD Pizza in west Little Rock on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. For more details on this new endeavor, see hotdogmike.com.

In other, less positive food news, Dogtown Coffee and Cookery, located along JFK Boulevard in North Little Rock posted on Facebook that Sunday would be the last day for the restaurant by saying, “Hello all faithful Dogtowners. Dogtown would like to thank all of you for 3 incredible years of business. There have been ups and downs, economy crashes, changes in management and menus, from Java Roasting to Dogtown, you have stuck by our side. Despite of all of our efforts to lower cost without decreasing quality, we are having to close our doors on Monday March 4, 2013. It has been a painstaking decision for the owners, management, and our staff to accept.”

The restaurant turned from Java Roasting to Dogtown under the leadership of chef and general manager Jason Godwin, but he departed the restaurant in the summer of 2012.

And finally, he dirt on Dunbar gardens is the community garden at 1800 S. Chester St. in Little Rock could stop operations because of lower funding and budget cuts. The garden project is seeking donations online. Watch a presentation about the garden on YouTube by searching for “dunbar community garden project presentation February 2013.”