Foodways

Fingers holding a bottle cap "Riley's"
Arkansas Brewing Company
Arkansas Brewing Company (originally Riley-Lyon Inc.) was a short-lived brewery in the 1980s based in Little R...
Two white men smiling with books on table in front of them
Arkansas Cornbread Festival
The Arkansas Cornbread Festival, an annual celebration of Southern culinary heritage, was inaugurated in 2011...
Two-story building with "Jones' Bar-B-Q Diner" sign
Arkansas Food Hall of Fame
The Arkansas Food Hall of Fame was established by the Department of Arkansas Heritage (DAH) in 2017, with the ...
Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance
The Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance is a nonprofit collaborative network of more than 400 hunger relief organi...
African-American woman smiling in collared top
Eliza Jane Ashley (1917–2020)
Eliza Jane Burnett Dodson Ashley spent more than thirty years as the cook in the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion...
Rows of uncovered wooden vats with wooden walking path in between them
Atkins Pickle Company
Atkins Pickle Company was the major industry in the town of Atkins (Pope County) for more than fifty years, an...
Single story white concrete block restaurant building "Joe's Bar-B-Q"
Barbecue
Barbecue (both the cooking technique and the social institution) was introduced into the Arkansas Territory an...
Ripe red tomato on green vines with leaves in pot
Bradley County Pink Tomato Festival
The Bradley County Pink Tomato Festival celebrates the pink tomato industry in southeastern Arkansas. Origina...
Metal "Beer of Arkansas" building with three garage bays and blue awning with parking lot
Breweries
Beer brewing in Arkansas dates back to the mid-nineteenth century. Documentation on early beer brewing in Arka...
Brick building with oval shaped windows with cars in parking lot and hanging "Little Italy" sign on two lane street
Bruno’s Little Italy
Bruno’s Little Italy in Little Rock (Pulaski County) is one of the most well-known restaurants in central Ar...
Hand holding up a plastic bucket with spice shaker on top of it in bar
Cavender’s All-Purpose Greek Seasoning
Lester “Spike” Cavender of Harrison (Boone County) created Cavender’s All-Purpose Greek Seasoning with h...
Lamb chop with caviar and pesto on dinner plate
Caviar
Arkansas caviar, which is distributed nationally, consists of eggs from certain freshwater fish caught in the...
Plants and tree in garden with multistory building with covered porch in the background
Chateau Aux Arc Vineyards and Winery
One of several new vineyards in Arkansas, Chateau Aux Arc of Altus (Franklin County) promotes itself as the la...
Dipping a chip in a blue bowl of cheese dip on a red plate
Cheese Dip
Cheese dip is considered to be an important part of Arkansas’s food culture. Not only is cheese dip more pop...
"Cotham Mercantile" sign on old store with covered porch with lake in the distance
Cotham's Mercantile
Cotham’s is a Little Rock (Pulaski County) restaurant that began as a country store in Scott (Pulaski and Lo...
two-story wooden building with stone pillars and grape arbor alongside it
Cowie Wine Cellars
On August 17, 1967, Cowie Wine Cellars was established as a federal and state bonded winery in Paris (Logan Co...
Retro storefront with benches order window and signs "breakfast all-day" "Mulberry's finest burger"
Dairy Dip Diner (Mulberry)
Located in Mulberry (Crawford County) just off Interstate 40 is the Dairy Dip Diner, locally owned and operate...
Metal "Beer of Arkansas" building with three garage bays and blue awning with parking lot
Diamond Bear Brewery
Diamond Bear Brewery in North Little Rock (Pulaski County) revived beer brewing in the state of Arkansas. It...
Interior of a distillery with metal stills and hoses
Distilleries
In nineteenth-century Arkansas, the distilling of spirits was done mostly for home consumption. Some small-sca...
Green restaurant menu with drawings of pea plants
Dixie Cafe
The Dixie Cafe was a chain of home-cooking restaurants based in Little Rock (Pulaski County) that grew into tw...
Cars parked beneath awning next to metal building with big red sign saying "Ed Walker’s French dipped sandwiches"
Ed Walker's Drive-in and Restaurant
Ed Walker’s Drive-in and Restaurant at 1500 Towson Avenue in Fort Smith (Sebastian County) is a thriving ico...
Business sign "Feltner’s Whatta-Burger" in front of single story building
Feltner’s Whatta-Burger
Feltner’s Whatta-Burger at 1410 North Arkansas Avenue in Russellville (Pope County) is a venerable restauran...
Red crawfish in white man's hand
Food and Foodways
Because nutrition is essential to human survival, the production and consumption of food has been central to l...
Exterior of "Franke's" restaurant with covered walkways and tower on parking lot
Franke’s Cafeteria
Franke’s Cafeteria was established by C. A. Franke in Little Rock (Pulaski County) in 1924. It was widely re...
Breaded and fried pickle spears stacked together on plate topped with fresh jalapeño slices next to side cup of ranch dressing
Fried Dill Pickles
In 1960, Bernell “Fatman” Austin (born on February 26, 1921) leased a parcel of land east of Atkins (Pope ...
Grapette bottle cap
Grapette International, Inc.
Grapette soda was developed by Benjamin Tyndle Fooks in Camden (Ouachita County) in 1939. Once one of the best...
White women and children in eastern European costume
Greek Food Festival
aka: International Greek Food Festival
The Greek Food Festival, which is organized by the Annunciation Gre...
White man in suit and tie posing on a porch with a large watermelon
Hope Watermelon Festival
Hope (Hempstead County) annually celebrates its claim as the home of the world’s largest watermelons with a ...
Newspaper ad picturing two men standing by a conveyor belt with cookies and headline "cookies by the thousands"
Jackson Cookie Company
The Jackson Cookie Company, which originated in North Little Rock (Pulaski County), produced a variety of conf...
Two-story building with "Jones' Bar-B-Q Diner" sign
Jones Bar-B-Q Diner
Jones Bar-B-Q Diner, a nationally known eatery in Marianna (Lee County), is perhaps the oldest continuously op...
Cars parked outside single-story restaurant with neon sign
Kream Kastle
The Kream Kastle is a family owned and operated restaurant located at 112 North Division Street in Blytheville...
Single-story building with signs blue siding and awning over the entrance
Lassis Inn
Lassis Inn is a catfish restaurant located at 518 East 27th Street in Little Rock (Pulaski County), founded in...