Arkansas Blog

Craig's is the best. I would have to give them high consideration for my last meal as well.

Despite all of its classic barbecue juke joint charm, Craig's is good but not the ambrosia that Sims, Whole Hog and others offer. But Mary's pies are praise-worthy, indeed.

The Sterns' Roadfood.com is a valuable resource. I've even learned of Arkansas places that I had bypassed, such as Rhoda's Hot Tamales in Lake Village and the Wagon Wheels biscuits and chocolate (!) gravy in Greenbrier. Rhoda's is a required stop on our trips returning from Florida. I don't recall seeing either reviewed in the AT, though both are deserving.

I was raised on a certain Pine Bluff barbeque that hasn't been available for 35 years. Neither the barbequer nor the saucemaker/sandwich builder are with us anymore. Both were national treasures and their passing was felt by many. The second best barbeque was also local and more recent. It fell to divorce and laziness I guess. The last one I got at that establishment was canned? frozen? something? barbeque. Yuck! The dog got most of it and he didn't even have to beg much.
This trip down memory lane is making me drool. Time to find that smoker, some charcoal and a hickory tree. Mine won't be as good as the best but it will be better than most if I can get the meat in the door without the dogs attacking.

The Sterns wrote another very good cookbook called "Square Meals." It is a real nostalgia trip, with recipes from diners and lunch counters and chapters dealing with everything from ladies' lunch to tearooms to Sunday dinners to suburbia in the fifties. Even if you don't cook, it's a great read.

can we have a thread on Jim Lendall, or are you scared of him?