The 10 Best Restaurants In Little Rock, Arkansas

Little Rock has a long history as a seafaring city, with boats coming and going and fresh sea produce constantly arriving on its shores. Brave New Restaurant is perfectly placed, on a river-facing dock, to make it feel like you’re navigating its waterways on a journey of taste discovery. The city’s skyline is paraded in front of the smoked salmon salad, the veal with wild mushrooms or mixed grill, bringing out the best of both day and night with a light river breeze easing through the deck. Menu updates are constantly made to keep the restaurant as enticing as it was on its opening day.

Dizzy’s Gypsy Bistro feels like a family affair, and that’s exactly what it is, though everyone is welcomed with the same warm hearth, mystical charm and quirky menu. The main draw, and the main point which is remembered by visitors, is the award-winning cheese dip, which is a béchamel-based delicacy with three cheeses, four grilled pepper varieties, pico de gallo, salsa, sour cream, and green onion. In addition to the famous dip, Dizzy’s also offers more than the usual restaurant service, with charity soirées, salsa dancers, music groups, and children’s musical nights throughout the year.

Art can come in many forms, ranging from the visual and sensory to the personal. Best Impressions, one of the most renowned casual restaurants in Little Rock, provides a symbiosis of a good number of these different kinds of art. The culinary creativity in its American fusion menu is a delight for the palate. The artistic vision given by the artwork on display just on the other side of the partition, at the Arkansas Arts Center, coincides perfectly with the food and the visual panorama offered by its floor-to-ceiling windows looking onto green open space finish off the tableau with panache. The menu revolves heavily around salads, pastas and classic mains (chicken, burgers, steaks) with a brunch option as well, and some rather seductive desserts, red velvet cake is not always on the menu in sit-down restaurants, but it is at Best Impressions.

The burgers may be big, but the disclaimer should be that they are not, thankfully, orange. They do, however, come in many different colours at Big Orange, and are infused with different ingredients and accompaniments and served with careful attention to detail, which makes Big Orange a hamburger restaurant for a special occasion. The responsible sourcing and sustainable development of the two Big Orange outlets are proudly displayed on all of their communications, a sign of its dedication to quality service and ethical eating. The process here is simple, choose a style of burger, a side and type of fries. The choice, however, isn’t as straightforward. Diners can pick from a range of mouth-watering options, including white truffle pecorino burger or blackened tilapia burger sandwich, truffle-garlic herb fries or Kenebec potato chips served with chipotle mayo sauce.

A prime-cut steak cooked to perfection should be enough to elevate Doe’s Eat Place to a position of renown in Little Rock. However, in case there’s any doubt as to the quality of the meat, there is also a very important claim to notoriety. Doe’s was former President Bill Clinton’s staff hangout during the 1992 election campaign, and bears his image on the walls to this day. The famous interview with Clinton, published in Rolling Stone magazine, was carried out over a steak at Doe’s, with Clinton dressed down in khaki and giving a brief low-down on the history of Doe’s before the difficult questions ensued. Tamales are also a house speciality, and come with one of three formulae, sauce, sauce and fries, or sauce, fries and salad. A very important fact to remember is that Doe’s classes itself as ‘no-frills’ and it’s no less delicious and culturally significant for this fact. © lucianvenutian/Flickr

Ya Ya’s translates into English as ‘grandma’s’, and the accompanying idea conveyed by its carefully-chosen and nostalgic name is that the restaurant offers a personal and eclectic European style, passed down from generation to generation from the ‘original’ grandma of the USA, Europe. Greek, Italian and French influences are all worked into the dishes, which also incorporate another homely feature, a playful twinkle, which means that the service is friendly and the food is uncomplicated but joyful and colourful.

South on Main is more than just an innovative restaurant and culinary space. It’s also an entire cultural experience which has at its helm an ingenious head chef, whose dishes complement the concerts, talks and recitals which are held under the same roof as the meals. The menu offers a crisp, unpretentious selection that is varied enough to be truly appetising, while still retaining its simplicity. Freshness of preparation and cultural content of the South on Main programme is certain, and a credit to this recently opened Little Rock institution.

Situated in The Burgundy Hotel this classy establishment is presided over by Head Chef Scott Rains. The modern American menu is creative without being pretentious, and blends modern favourites such as biscuits and gravy with fusion-style surprises such as squid strips served in a dainty basket. The eponymous Table 28 is reserved for special occasions only, and is glorified with a six-course taster menu for the guests lucky enough to be able to reserve it. The menu prices are fixed according to an ethically calculated percentage of profit margins for producers and farmers, and donations are publicly made to a local children’s hospice by the restaurant’s management.

Despite the name, it’s impossible to buy a whole hog at this culturally entrenched restaurant in Little Rock. There is, however, a hearty selection of ribs, smoked chicken, tender beef brisket and pulled pork, all readily available for sale on plates the size of small US states. Guests can, and should, also take out Whole Hog’s award-winning sauce to recreate the experience at home. Another Bill Clinton mention. Whole Hog café eating utensils are buried in the former US president’s time capsule, set to be retrieved and opened in 2104.