Food & Drink
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What Southern Tastes Like Now
Traditional comfort food fills tables across Arkansas - so do dishes by James Beard-recognized chefs.
Classic Southern food is the backbone of Arkansas dining, with barbecue, fried catfish, hushpuppies and pie featured in legendary diners and roadside cafes across the state. But this isn’t standard fare. Barbecue, in particular, is a point of pride from the century-old Jones Bar-B-Q Diner in the Delta, a James Beard America’s Classics Award winner, to decade-old Wright’s Barbecue in the Ozarks, whose pitmaster earned a semifinalist nod from the James Beard Foundation.
Legendary spots often hide in small towns such as Rhoda’s Famous Hot Tamales in Lake Village and Wilson Cafe in Wilson. Food lovers routinely go out of their way for these authentic meals and menus.
In small and large towns, Arkansas agriculture shows off at an array of farm-to-table experiences. Rÿn in Bentonville serves a multi-course tasting menu guided by its “crop-to-kitchen” ethos. In Little Rock, The Root Café sources fresh ingredients from small areas farms to create a menu that ranges from burgers and soups to salads and pastries.
You won’t find Arkansas’ farm-to-bottle flavors anywhere else. At Delta Dirt Distillery in Helena-West Helena, sweet potatoes and corn grown on the family’s fourth-generation farm are distilled into award-winning vodka. In Hot Springs, Origami Sake uses Delta-grown rice and Ouachita Mountain spring water to produce its refined Junmai sake.
Winemakers turn local harvests into expressive reds and whites at Arkansas wineries that host tours, tastings and seasonal festivals. The same craftsmanship shows up in breweries, pouring everything from hazy IPAs and barrel-aged stouts to crisp pilsners and fruit sours in taprooms along cycling trails, historic downtown squares and even within a national park.
The artisanal food scene runs deep, with producers like Serenity Farm Bread in Leslie, which has been baking old-world sourdough in a wood-fired brick oven for more than 30 years. That same spirit of craft shows up at street level, where food trucks serve everything from lumpia to birria. Food festivals across Arkansas celebrate heritage and flavor in all forms. You might find wild-game cook-offs one weekend, a world cheese dip championship the next weekend and long-running festivals honoring Greek, Filipino and Hispanic foods throughout the year.
This is southern cuisine without limits. Come hungry.
