Problem Child, the wildly flavorful pizzeria in Little Rock’s Midtown neighborhood, is opening a new location in North Little Rock just east of Maumelle (10840 Maumelle Blvd.) in the building barbecue restaurant Count Porkula occupied until last month.
Adam and Alicia Sweet’s devilishly good pizza shop exploded onto the scene a little over a year ago, taking over Count Porkula’s original brick-and-mortar location on Keightley Drive off Cantrell Road. The pizzeria, which has a delightful ’90s punk rock aesthetic, made a quick impression on perusers of the Arkansas Times, taking home top prize for Best Pizza and Best New Restaurant (Little Rock/North Little Rock) in this publication’s prestigious 2026 Readers Choice Awards. Problem Child was also nominated in several other categories, including Best Dessert, Fun, Best Chef (Adam Sweet), Overall Restaurant, Salad, Sandwich, and Wings. That’s a very impressive first season; it’s like the Widow’s Bay of new restaurants in Little Rock.
Adam Sweet told the Arkansas Times via text message Thursday that the new spot on Maumelle Boulevard will have “mostly” the same menu. “Probably gonna do a couple special things there,” he said. “That’s very up in the air right now, though.”
He added that renovations to the building include an open pizza kitchen in the middle of the existing dining room, “so people can still see the action … never trust a pizza shop with a closed kitchen.”
If you ask me, Problem Child is precisely the kind of atmosphere Maumelle Boulevard has been missing. Sweet joked that the vibe could be compared to “Cracker Barrel on psychedelics.”
The property on Keightley and the new spot on Maumelle Boulevard are both owned by JTJ Restaurants, the Keet family restaurant group behind Petit & Keet, Cypress Social, multiple Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe locations and local Waldo’s Chicken & Beer shops. Adam Sweet said the Keets have been “great supporters” of Problem Child, and the Sweets were offered the opportunity to fill the spot on Maumelle Boulevard when Count Porkula decided to close up shop.
Sweet said the North Little Rock/Maumelle pizzeria could be open by the end of the year.
Dining and Cooking