Dining
Information in our restaurant capsules reflects the opinions of the newspaper staff and its reviewers. The newspaper accepts no advertising or other considerations in exchange for reviews, which are conducted anonymously. We invite the opinions of readers who think we are in error.
B Breakfast L Lunch D Dinner $ Inexpensive (under $8/person) $$ Moderate ($8-$20/person) $$$ Expensive (over $20/person) CC Accepts credit cards
BELLY UP Check out the Times’ food blog, Eat Arkansas arktimes.com
KAT ROBINSON
WHAT’S COOKIN’
BUBBA BURGER: Hamburger Barn’s standard with fries and onion rings.
Bigmouth burgers And Tex-Mex, too, at Hamburger Barn in restaurant-light Clark County.
A
rkadelphia is light on non-chain restaurants. Since the closing of Bowen’s a few years ago, families have been left with few options for good eats. That’s part of the reason we’re pleased Hamburger Barn has survived. The old country-style steak-and-chicken place on state Hwy. 51 a few blocks from Interstate 30 is still turning out great food for a variety of appetites. On our first recent visit, our companion chose the Macho Nachos ($7.29). The massive bias-edged elliptical bowl held a hearty amount of the ingredients: cheese dip right on top of thin tortilla chips, chili with beans, lettuce and tomato, salsa and sour cream. The bowl is more than a meal’s worth; you might want to share it with others. We were mightily pleased with our own choice, the standard Bubba Burger ($6.79). It’s a half pound of fresh-neverfrozen beef char-grilled to the diner’s desired doneness and served up on a big bun with the traditional fixings. Onion powder, garlic, black pepper and a touch of what we suspect to be paprika are lightly blended with the ground beef for an extraordinarily good burger; maybe one of
Hamburger Barn 2813 Pine St. (Hwy. 51) Arkadelphia 870-246-5556
QUICK BITE Hamburger Barn offers two desserts worth trying: a 4-inch slab of Apple Bread Pudding packed with cinnamon and laced with caramel and a Chocolate Molten Cake laced with caramel. Both are $3.99. There’s also Diamond Rock Root Beer from Diamond Bear on tap. HOURS 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. OTHER INFO Credit cards accepted. Beer.
the top five in the state. We chose to do a half-and-half for our side — the options being fries, onion rings or both — and fell in love with the beer-and-flour battered rounds, some of the best we’ve encountered. The skin-on fries were decent but typical. We made a return trip to see if our previous visit had been a fluke. Our fried
calamari ($5.99) was decently cooked, if a little plain, served up with a very sweet tomato marinara. We enjoyed the thin yet sturdy tortilla chips that came along with our cheese dip and salsa. The cheese dip was classic Velveeta and Rotel. The salsa was extra good, the way Arkansas salsa used to be before Pace started advertising that non-chunky salsa “came from New York City” — a fine cumin-heavy puree of tomatoes with onions. We liked it a lot. Our companion chose the burger this time, opting for the Bacon Chipotle Burger ($7.49), which is the same as the Bubba Burger with the addition of bacon, sweet chipotle-flavored BBQ sauce and hot pepper jack cheese. This burger was beefy. The chef added big fat slices of fresh ripe tomatoes that took the juicy scale of the burger up a notch. We also tried the chicken enchiladas ($8.99), which came with salsa and chips, a dollop of guacamole, another of sour cream and a scattering of pico de gallo on top of shredded lettuce. The enchiladas surprised us, since what we received looked like a large burrito, covered with a sour cream sauce and cheese on a bed of yellow rice. We were surprised again when we took a bite and discovered shredded chicken in a traditional red enchilada sauce on the inside. But what we enjoyed most that visit was a side of corn — in a variety of colors, just roasted enough to take off the raw edge, freshly cut from the cob. It was excellent.
THERE HAS BEEN A BIT of shuffling lately in the River Market’s Ottenheimer Hall. Fat Sam’s Louisiana Cafe — purveyors of some reliably tasty New Orleans-style eats — unfortunately was forced to close because of a family illness. Shugg’s BBQ Kitchen recently took over the former Fat Sam’s spot. Andina Cafe recently moved out of the west end of the hall and into a spot in the Tuff Nutt Building on East Third Street (and is scheduled to open possibly by the end of the week). Jim Rice, COO of the Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau, which handles leasing in the River Market, said the large spot formerly occupied by Shugg’s will most likely be split into two parcels. So far, there have been several proposals submitted, including a Mexican concept, a gourmet to-go operation, an ice cream concept and a few others that the LRCVB staff hasn’t had time to fully examine yet, Rice said. Rice didn’t disclose any specific applicants, but said he would probably be able to discuss more details later next week. When considering applicants, the committee takes into account “diversity of offerings.” “We don’t want three of the same things,” he said. The former parcel that housed Andina will not be leased for a restaurant, Rice said. The open-air nature of the space makes it difficult to effectively heat and cool, he said.
DINING CAPSULES
AMERICAN
65TH STREET DINER Blue collar, meatand-two-veg lunch spot with cheap desserts and a breakfast buffet. 3201 West 65th St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-5627800. BL Mon.-Fri. ACADIA Unbelievable fixed-price, threecourse dinners on Mondays and Tuesday. 3000 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, CC. $$-$$$. 501-603-9630. D Mon.-Sat. BIG ORANGE: BURGERS SALADS SHAKES Gourmet burgers manufactured according to exacting specs and properly fried Kennebec potatoes are the big draws. 17809 Chenal Parkway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-821-1515. LD daily. BOBBY’S CAFE Delicious, humungo burgers and tasty homemade deserts at this Levy diner. 12230 MacArthur Drive. NLR. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-851-7888. BL Tue.-Fri., D Thu.-Fri. BUTCHER SHOP Several menu additions complement the calling card: large, fabulous cuts of prime beef, cooked to perfection. 10825 Hermitage Road. Full bar, All CC. $$$. 501-312-2748. D daily. CAJUN’S WHARF The venerable seafood CONTINUED ON PAGE 32
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