Dining Out in Arkansas

Ok. Let's get this out of the way quickly. Any place that serves ALL YOU CAN EAT FRIED CHICKEN is cool with Web.

Web came into town and was psyched for some more good 'ol Southern cookin'. We decided to hit up the Monte Ne Inn, a local place renowned for their fried chicken.

The two of us polished off two heaping bowls of the best Fried Chicken. The Monte Ne Inn also served all you can eat bowls of yummy mashed potatoes, cole slaw, potato salad, sweet corn, and green beans (ew... we left those alone). Oh yea, can't forget the apple butter jam that went with the bread... apple butter is a common spread for bread down here in AR, and it is tasty!

Although the food was delicious, the decor left a lot to be desired. The main dining chamber, home to many a b-day party and special event that evening, looked like a medieval torture chamber! We could just see the little chicken necks getting jammed into some of these instruments of death... not that it stopped either one of us from chowing down!

In the end, for $10 per person including drinks, we both walked away saying to ourselves... "What you got, Colonel Sanders?"

The next day, we knew we weren't visiting some lame tourist trap when we rolled up to Smokin' Joes and saw a parking lot that had about 40 pick ups lined up in front, all of them American. Yes, we pulled up in our little Acura.

Smokin' Joes is an authentic BBQ joint... it's got the actual smokehouse situated right next to the dining area... you could literally eat the air walking up to Smoking Joes it smelled so damn good. Kinda like rollin' past a McDs on a random night out, except without making you feel the urge to run to the restroom.

Savory ribs, huge onion rings, and mac and cheese. What's not to love?!

AQ Chicken House. Want to guess what the AQ stands for? We were thinking about all these elaborate, high-falutin things that AQ stood for, but it turned out to be pretty straightforward:

Arkansas Quality (AQ) Chicken House, since 1947.

We sat in the main dining area which was packed with locals. As usual, we were the only Asian couple eating out... a couple literally did a double-take walking past us! However, we barely noticed as Web was too busy devouring his Chicken Fried Steak (Deep Fried Chicken slathered in gravy), while I housed another giant plate of Fried Chicken.

Web says these meals are "good for us", but I'm not so sure.