LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — If you’re from the South, you know good home-cooked food. We also know everything about fryin', huntin' and grubbin’.
The Food Network set out to make a list of 32 regions with the best barbeque from coast to coast and two Arkansas staples made the list!
It’s called the Arkansas Delta. While we don’t have the reputation for barbeque as say, Austin, Texas or Kansas City. We do have our own unique flare centered in the Arkansas Delta. We’re talking about Jones Bar-B-Q Diner in Marianna and McClard’s Bar-B-Q Restaurant in Hot Springs.
The insert from the Food Network’s write up said, “The pitmasters there are known for pork shoulders, pork ribs and beef — specifically, a cut called a gooseneck round, served with a spicy and vinegary tomato sauce. That specialty is found throughout the state, but two places really stand out.”
Jones Bar-B-Q Diner opened up in 1910, which arguably as many say, is the oldest black-owned restaurant in the United States. And McClard’s was established in 1928. On their Facebook page they say they make their side dishes on the premises every day, using the same recipes Scott McClard’s great-grandfather used. "You can't buy this stuff off of a truck. You can't take beans out of a can and make it taste like my great-grandfather's recipe."
To say the least, we’re proud of these Arkansas-owned restaurants, and the wonderful people who run them! Congratulations!