When Texas native Brock Hyland was in his junior year at UA Fayetteville, he read a piece in an issue of Oxford American titled “In Through The Back Door” by John T. Edge, which explores barbecue culture and history through multiple visits to Jones Bar-B-Q Diner in Marianna (Lee County). The article was published more than a decade ago, before Jones Bar-B-Q was recognized by the James Beard foundation as an “American Classic,” and it identified the iconic business as being one of the oldest Black-owned restaurants in the South and perhaps the oldest in the country. Hyland, a self-proclaimed barbecue nerd, couldn’t believe he wasn’t aware of that history.

“What concerned me about it was, how had I lived here for so long and I’m just now hearing about this, you know?” Hyland said. “That got the wheels turning for me that something should be done to highlight that living history and kind of bring awareness to the barbecue culture that we have here.”

Advertisement

It’s a culture that’s somewhat understated. Jones Bar-B-Q has certainly received some much deserved national acclaim lately after a fire almost destroyed the restaurant in February of this year. More than $80,000 was raised by the public to help save the institution, and, just this month, it was among the 50 U.S. restaurants that made a New York Times best restaurants list. Collectively, however, Arkansas barbecue isn’t in the national discourse along the same lines as it is in neighboring Texas, Tennessee and Missouri.

Rex Nelson, one of Arkansas’s most recognizable foodies and author of “Southern Fried: Going Whole Hog in a State of Wonder,” attributes it to the varieties of barbecue that can be found in the state depending on which of its six bordering states you’re closest to.

Advertisement

“There’s not just one style of Arkansas barbecue,” Nelson said. “Writers from outside the state find the Arkansas barbecue culture too difficult to tackle. So they don’t. It would take too much work.”

“I think we don’t talk about it as much,” said Scott Moody, co-owner of PK Grills. “Texas is really noisy about it. We don’t talk about it, and maybe that’s even an interesting angle for us to say we’re just a little cooler about it, I don’t know. I do not think it’s a quality issue.”

Advertisement

Hyland’s idea fully materialized during the pandemic while he contemplated his final project, known as the Capstone, as a student at the UA Clinton School of Public Service. Aware of the economic hardships and public health challenges restaurants were facing during the pandemic, Hyland conceived the idea for the Arkansas Barbecue Trail: 40 of the best barbecue joints in the state divided amongst the six natural regions and Little Rock metro. The idea was inspired by Texas Monthly’s barbecue passports. Participants will be issued Arkansas Barbecue Trail passports and collect stamps from the restaurants they visit on the trail to compete for prizes from sponsor PK Grills. The great Arkansas barbecue quest is also sponsored by Saracen Casino.

Advertisement

Kevin Shalin, author of the popular Mighty Rib food blog, said that he considers barbecue one of the most subjective of all foods and one that people will travel great distances to experience.

“There’s not many other foods that inspire that kind of act where you’re like, ‘Alright I’m going to wake up at eight o’clock on a Saturday morning and my sole purpose is barbecue today.’ That barbecue has to be elite, which I call destination barbecue, and I don’t think we have many of those places, but they’re starting to pop up. I’ve driven to Fayetteville just for Wright’s Barbecue. It’s that good,” Shalin said.

Advertisement

Shalin said one of the biggest hurdles he’s seen covering food here for the last decade is getting people out of their food comfort zones.

“… Getting people to travel farther than 10 minutes from their house and feeling comfortable doing that and supporting places that they wouldn’t typically support … I really think that’s going to be the key to bettering our food community as a whole,” he said.

Advertisement

For Hyland, the idea has always been about economic and community development for family-owned barbecue joints.

“Bringing awareness and increasing tourism to those places would help in any situation, but I think that it will be particularly impactful as we move out of this pandemic,” he said. “People travel for food. When I go to a new city, my main focus is what’s good to eat there. And I don’t think Arkansas should be any different in that regard.”

 

The contest began Nov. 1 at 12:01 AM CST, so go ahead and hit the trail. The contest ends either on Oct. 31, 2022, 11:59 PM CST or when all available prizes for a particular challenge have been awarded, whichever happens first.

Advertisement

Pick up a copy of the Arkansas Times’ current issue to get your passport. Visit any (or all) of the 40 BBQ joints listed in the Arkansas Times Barbecue Passport and remember to get your stamp at each one. In addition to your BBQ Passport, you’ll need a valid photo ID to win. For full rules and details, visit the contest page on PK Grills’ website here. 

The Arkansas Barbecue Trail:

Ozark Mountains 

Brother’s BBQ   301 Southridge Parkway, Heber Springs, 501-362-5712

Bubba’s Barbecue  166 W. Van Buren, Eureka Springs, 479-253-7706

Lucky Luke’s  220 Garland Ave #1, Fayetteville, 479-521-7550

Penguin Ed’s   230 S. E Ave, Fayetteville, 479 521-3663 / 2773 E. Mission Blvd., Fayetteville, 479-587-8646

Sugar Booger’s Barbecue   12191 AR-21, Huntsville, 479-665-2424

Wright’s Barbecue  2212 Main Drive, Fayetteville, 479-313-8618/ 208 NE. 3rd St., Bentonville, 479-367-2619

River Valley 

Reid’s Hometown Barbecue 42 W. Main St., Booneville, 479-675-2159

KnightFire BBQ  308 W. Race Ave., Searcy, 501-322-9971

Neumeier’s Rib Room  424 Garrison Ave., Fort Smith, 479-494-7427

Ridgewood Brothers BBQ   2611 W. Main St., Russellville, 479-886-4386

Rivertowne BBQ  205 S. 3rd St., Ozark, 479-667-1808

Suttle’s Roadhog BBQ   2008 W. Dewitt Henry Drive, Beebe, 501-882-1034

Little Rock Metro

Count Porkula at The Rail Yard  1212 E 6th St, Little Rock, 501 804-9561

H.B.’s Barbecue  6010 Lancaster Road, Little Rock, 501-565-1930

Lindsey’s Hospitality House  207 Curtis Sykes Drive, North Little Rock, 501-374-5707

Pig ’N-Chik BBQ  7824 Highway 107, Sherwood, 501-834-5456

Sims Bar-B-Q  2415 Broadway St., Little Rock, 501-372-6868 / 1307 John Barrow Road, Little Rock, 501-224-2057

Smokin’ Buns   25401 AR-107, Jacksonville, 501-988-2867

Terri Lynn’s BBQ and Delicatessen  10102 N. Rodney Parham Road, Little Rock, 501-227-6371

Whole Hog Cafe North Little Rock  4333 Warden Road, 501-753-9227

Ouachita Mountains 

McClard’s Bar-B-Q 505 Albert Pike Road, Hot Springs, 501-623-9665

Smokin’ in Style BBQ   2278 Albert Pike Road, Hot Springs, 501-767-9797

Stubby’s Bar-B-Q 3024 Central Ave, Hot Springs, 501-624-1552

Piney Woods 

Allen’s BBQ Company   3100 Hollywood Road, Arkadelphia, 870-403-0331

Backyard Barbeque Company  1407 E. Main St., Magnolia, 870-234-7890

Burge’s Hickory Smoked Turkeys and Hams 526 Spruce St., Lewisville, 870-921-4292

JJ’s BBQ 1000 E. Main St., El Dorado, 870-862-1777

Lower Delta 

Craig’s Bar-B-Q  15 Walnut, De Valls Bluff, 870-998-2616

Cypress Corner Bar-B-Q 8298 Hwy. 1 South, Lexa, 870-295-6546

Hoot’s BBQ & Steaks  2008 US-65, McGehee, 870-222-1234

Jones Bar-B-Q Diner  219 W. Louisiana St., Marianna, 870-295-3807

Kibb’s Bar-B-Q  1102 E. Harrison St., Stuttgart, 870-673-2072

The Wood Shed BBQ & Catering  9621 Hwy. 270, White Hall, 870-247-7424

Upper Delta 

Burt’s BBQ  285 SFC 843, Palestine, 870-261-2498

Delta Q  112 N. Washington St., Forrest City, 870-633-1234

DePriest BBQ  1107 N. Main St., Brinkley, 870-734-9965

Dixie Pig  701 N. 6th St., Blytheville, 870-763-4636

Kream Kastle  112 N. Division St., Blytheville, 870-762-2366

Lackey’s Smoke House  601 Malcom Ave., Newport, 870-217-0228

Ray’s Rump Shack  918 AR-18, Lake City, 870-616-0989