Tacos 4 Life plans to open its first location in Little Rock early next year, on an out-lot at Shackleford Crossing Shopping Center, the real estate development company Haag Brown Commercial announced on Friday.

It will be the fourth restaurant for the mini-chain, based in Conway and owned by Austin Samuelson and his wife, Ashton. There are currently two Tacos 4 Life restaurants in Conway and one in Fayetteville.

“We are growing, and excited to be opening a location in Little Rock which is a tremendous milestone for our young company,” Austin Samuelson said in a news release from Haag Brown, which is headquartered in Jonesboro.

The stand-alone restaurant fronts South Shackleford Road, just east of Interstate 430, “creating massive exposure for the site,” the news release said. It will occupy a 1-acre lot between the Longhorn Steakhouse and the Boomerang Carwash.

Hank Kelley and Eric Varner of Flake & Kelley Commercial of Little Rock represented the seller, Shackleford Crossing Investors LLC.

The Tacos 4 Life restaurants donate 22 cents toward feeding a child for every meal purchased at the restaurants. That 22 cents, which goes to the nonprofit Feed My Starving Children, is the cost of a meal for a malnourished child.

“We’ve assisted Tacos 4 Life in creating a vigorous development plan and Little Rock was the most logical place to start,” said Joshua Brown, a principal in Haag Brown. “It is in the heart of Arkansas and will provide an anchor to branch out from.”

“Our main focus as a restaurant is to feed hungry children by providing customers with made-from-scratch amazing food,” said Ashton Samuelson. “Opening another location will allow us to build relationships in a new community and raise even more meals for hungry children.”

Austin and Ashton Samuelson were recognized in the 2016 class of Arkansas Business’ 40 Under 40. They told Arkansas Business that they want to have 20 company-owned stores by the end of 2020.

by Jan Cottingham, Arkansas Business