Blue Plate Highways
Arkansas is roadfood-rich. From the oil fields of El Dorado in the south to the Ozark Highlands Trail through the mountains in the north, inconspicuous town cafés serve expertly...
The biggest city in Arkansas and also its state capital, Little Rock has something for every appetite. Those who are seeking a steak to remember can visit Doe’s Eat Place, offshoot of the original Doe’s of Greenwood, Mississippi. Here, you order tenderloins, ribeyes, and sirloins by weight and they are served family-style, meaning that they arrive hot from the kitchen already sliced, along with tongs for everyone to hoist their own from the serving plate.
Less swanky but no less impressive in Little Rock, beef can be had at Cotham’s Mercantile, where the hubcap hamburger really is that big, served in a bun to match. Eaters not so interested in red meat can visit The Root Cafe, a vegan-friendly place that boasts of an all-local larder and offers a vegetarian banh mi in addition to house-made sausages along with wonderful sauerkraut. Far-flung appetites would do well to check out The Pantry (of which there are two in town), which also offers vegetarian and vegan fare but specializes in such middle-European dishes as spaetzle, wiener schnitzel, goulash, and apple strudel with creme anglaise.
Arkansas is roadfood-rich. From the oil fields of El Dorado in the south to the Ozark Highlands Trail through the mountains in the north, inconspicuous town cafés serve expertly...