Eat Arkansas

Thank you all for the warm reception, and thanks to everyone who has paid a visit to my blog. You sure do know how to make a girl feel good! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with weird food aversions. I forgot to mention that I also hate peas. Yuck.

Anyway, today was one of those days ... well ... it just wasn't fun. Up early, I spent all day working on a law school final, nasty, then spent a lot of time outside with large, smelly animals. At the end of the day I was tired and hungry but didn't want to put forth a lot of effort to cleaning up before a nice dinner. During exams my concern for my appearance kinda goes out the window ....

So, smelling like barn and horses and wearing baseball caps, Jay and I decided to head to Juanitas. I used to frequent the place a lot, but honestly just forgot about it.

First off, I needed a beer. Even though more studying was to follow dinner, I think I deserved one.

Next came the complimentary salsa, very flavorful with just enough spice.

Oh yes, we're feeling better now.

Usually I go with fajitas or the chalupa salad, but for some reason "burrito" came out of my mouth. First though, let's get some white cheese dip.

(Thank you Jay for patiently waiting for me to take the picture before demolishing it). Yum. Very soon after ordering (I mean we're talking quick service here), the burrito arrived.

What's that green stuff on the side? Oh it's lettuce. Believe it or not, I had actually never ordered one of these at Juanitas before, and I was very pleasantly surprised. The green salsa was a little hot for me, but I am a whimp when it comes to spicy things, and my husband assured me it was not too spicy for him. Thankfully, the melted cheese on top didn't absolutely smother my burrito, but was just enough for some nice flavor and gooey-ness.

Let's take a look inside:

I'm a red meat kind of gal, so I ordered steak in my burrito, and let me tell you, it was some of the most tender and flavorful steak I've had in a long time. Jay got the steak fajitas, and the flavor of the steak was even more pronounced in those. I'm talking melt in your mouth deliciousness.

After eating absolutely everything and downing a couple of beers, we were content but still needed a little something sweet. When we asked our waiter what desserts they had, we only got the question, "Do you like ice cream?" Heck yes we do! The next time we saw him, our waiter brought out this delciousness.

Warm chocolate brownie topped with vanilla ice cream rolled in (what I believe was) cinnamon, topped with chocolate sauce and accompanied by a banana. Do I really need to say more? I love my desserts, and frankly this tops a lot of desserts served at those fancy-pants places.

It was only 7:30, but after this excellent dinner, I was ready to go to sleep.

I was very pleased with my rediscovery of Juanitas, and considering the excellent food and equally wonderful service (attentive but not overwhelmingly so and a nice, laid-back personality), I have a feeling we'll be back much more.

Are there any places you've recently rediscovered after a long absence that have made you wonder why you were gone so long? Any places you feel you can slum it to and still get a really good meal?