Las Fajitas of Bella Vista

After eating at the Verde Limon, we figured we should finally try out the main Mexican restaurant in town.  We were there for supper, during a Hawgs game.  Their decor is very bright!  Below is a photo of one of their booths. 

The salsa was good, with a slow burn.  But I really loved the chips!  They had a different flavor to them, like they were from a sweet corn.  Very yummy!

We had ice tea, and Frank had the Chicken Chimichanga.  I felt a little gun-shy after my last chimichanga, so I had the Camarones a la Mexicana (shrimp).  The tea was a little bitter, but not bad.  The chimichanga was pretty good.  It had shredded chicken, and was seasoned.  And it wasn't dried out.

I loved the shrimp!  They were cooked in tomatoes, onion, and bell pepper.  There were about a dozen shrimp, and they weren't overcooked.  The dish came with 3 flour tortillas, so I made little tacos/burritos out of everything.

The beans and rice were okay.  Frank thought the guacamole was better here than at Verde Limon, but it tasted a little too salty to me.  Overall, I really liked the place.  The food came very quickly once we ordered, and it was cooked properly.  Four stars.

Verde Limon

We went here a few weeks ago, right after they opened, and in the middle of the lunch rush on a Saturday.  Everything is green!  They have booths and tables with green plastic chairs.  There's a small bar, but it looks like it's mainly for mixing drinks, not for sitting at.

The salsa was fresh tasting and the chips were good too.  The salsa didn't taste hot at first, but then it built up to a nice burn.

We both ordered the Chicken Chimichanga, which is one of my favorites.  And of course I had ice tea.  The ice tea was pretty good, not bitter or anything.  But the chimichanga was a bit disappointing.  The chicken inside was white meat, and cut into pieces, and it was rather dry.  There was no sauce or anything inside the chimichanga.  I thought the guacamole side was good, but Frank only thought it was okay.  The rice and beans were kind of generic.

Overall, it was alright.  As I said, this was a Saturday lunch, soon after they opened for business.  So I can make allowances for not getting a tea refill, or not getting the bill until we were standing in line at the cash register.  It was also very noisy.  They had some kind of Mexican music playing in the background, and I could barely hear it over the noise of people talking.  So my final review is 3-1/2 stars.  Frank seemed think their food was more California-Mexican than straight Mexican, so that my have something to do with it too.

Johnny Brusco's Pizza

I wasn't sure what to expect at Johnny Brusco's, but just walking in the door I was favorably impressed by the smell - it smelled like a pizza place!  There are tables, booths, and a bar.  If you sit at the bar you can watch the pizza being made.  And they really make it here - they throw it up in the air and everything.  There are about 3 TVs around the outside wall of the restaurant, and 2 by the bar, but it doesn't have a sports bar feel, which I liked.

We went at an off time, before the supper rush (and during a Hawg game), so the TVs were on and a bit loud.  I said something about the noise when we arrived, and a few minutes later I noticed a guy going around turning the volume down on the TV sets.  Then they turned on the music, which was Country.

Frank had coffee and of course I had ice tea.  The tea was a little bitter, but at least then you know it's real tea.  And the coffee was actually good!  They didn't have to make a pot especially for Frank, there was already a pot going.  Usually Frank rates restaurant coffee on a scale of "crap" to "I can drink it."  He said this one was "pretty good." 

The food was really good!  They have pizza, calzones, stromboli, salads, subs, and dishes like spaghetti and lasagna. We ordered a 1/2 order of garlic knots, which was $2.50.

That's a lot of food for that price!  The knots are just dough knots, but they were cooked with garlic and butter.  And the garlic was very mellow, not scorched.  The marinara was really good too!  Very light and fresh tasting.

I had a pepperoni calzone, and Frank had the 12" (medium) pepperoni pizza.

They both tasted great!  The calzone is an actual calzone, not those pizza pockets you get at most places.  And as I mentioned earlier, they actually throw the pizza.  The pepperoni itself wasn't anything special, but it was good.  They also don't drown everything in sauce.

Overall, we both really liked the place.  The food was very good.  The service was also really good.  We went at an off time, which usually means the server either hovers or ignores you.  Our server was there when we wanted her.  She even refilled Frank's coffee.  You'd think that would be normal, but in our experience, servers usually ignore the coffee refill.  Our experience was good enough that I'm giving them 4 to 4-1/2 stars.  And Frank can't wait to try the meatball sub!

Daylight Donuts

Frank wanted some doughnuts while he was out, so he went by the most convenient place - Daylight Donuts.  This is the one in Bella Vista.  It's on the west side of the road, behind the Dairy Queen.

I've had bad luck with Daylight Donuts in other towns, so I was prepared for the worst.  It was a mixed bag.  The glazed donuts tasted okay, and I was surprised that the plain cake donuts weren't bad either.  They weren't as moist and tasty as Casey's, but they were fine.  But the chocolate covered donuts were horrible.  I had a regular chocolate covered donut, and Frank had one of those Bavarian filled things with the chocolate on top.  The chocolate tasted terrible!  I only ate about two bites and that was it for me.  That's how bad the chocolate was!  Overall, 3 stars, because the other donuts were okay.

Popeye's

I recently tried the one on Walnut St. in Rogers.  I went at an off time, but the service was a bit slow.  I've been seeing these commercials on TV for shrimp, but this Popeye's only had their normal Popcorn Shrimp (the only shrimp on the menu).  And I had to wait while they cooked it up.

Overall, I didn't get a great impression.  The service was slow, and the biscuit was so greasy that my napkins were soaked.  The Popeye's on 6th St./MLK in Fayetteville is a lot better.  Three stars.

Guido's Pizza - Springdale

Frank and I were in Springdale over the weekend and decided to check out the Guido's Pizza located there.  It's on Business 71/Thompson, a few miles north of the NWA mall, in a red brick strip mall on the east side of the road.

We walked in, and the smell was good, so I was very hopeful.  The sign said Seat Yourself, so we sat and a waitress came over and took our order.  There were 2 servers and they were both really really friendly, and chatty.  Frank wanted a pepperoni pizza, but I wanted an Uncle Tanoose, so the woman suggested we get half on each side of our pizza.  Now, Frank has worked in pizza before, and he said that's a pain in the butt, but since they actually suggested it to us, we did it.

The pizza was good!  There were tons of toppings.  The pepperoni was the good, flavorful pepperoni and there was a lot of it.  I had a huge amount of green peppers on my side, and tons of everything.  The crust was a bit different from what we're used to; I think it was thicker.  And the cheese wasn't straight mozzarella, there were yellow pieces of cheese too.  The ice tea was good as well.

The restaurant has booths by the windows and side, tables in the middle, and a bar.  The bar is separated from the rest by some booths and a divider.  And, of course, there's a small game room.  Overall, they were pretty good.  Not as good as the Guido's in Tontitown, but better than Bariola's.  Four stars.

Ozark BBQ and Smokehouse

I couldn't find this one listed on UrbanSpoon, and I couldn't add it, because I'm not sure what city it's in.  If you take Hwy 71 past Bella Vista, this place is past the Missouri line.  It's at the red light, across from Macadoodle's, and next to the Jug Store. [Edit] It's now at the red light south of Macadoodle's, next to the gas station. 


This is a small place, and they start smoking early in the morning.  There are about 6 picnic tables inside and about the same amount outside, and a drive-thru.  When we went there I had the Small BBQ Chicken Sandwich with 1 side (Potato Salad) and that was like $4.25 or something.  Frank had the Large Pulled Pork Sandwich with 2 sides (Beans and Potato Salad).

Let me say, their BBQ is pretty good.  It's real smoked meat.  The chicken was all white meat and I had mild sauce which almost had a little heat to it.  The pork looked like it was pulled after we ordered, and the hot sauce had a little heat to it.  I was disappointed by the potato salad though.  It looked like it might be homemade, because it had a few big hunks of red potato here and there, but it was salty (like maybe they salted the potatoes when they boiled them).  Unfortunately, it was so salty that I couldn't eat it.  (I do have a strong ability to taste salt though, so most people may not notice it at all.)  The beans were pretty good though, and a little sweet.

Overall, I'll say 3-1/2 to 4 stars.  The sides were a bit generic, but the meat is really good.  Like I said, they start smoking early in the morning, and you can taste difference.

India Mart

I wanted to throw this in here because I have been desperate to get Indian food for a while now.  There is a market on the back side of the same strip mall as India Orchard, which, of course, is affiliated with said restaurant.  They have lots of rice, mostly basmati, and tons of beans and lentils.  They have those "instant" packets of Indian food that are either already mixed or you just add water to them.  They have a few teas like PG Tips and Lipton Yellow Label Tea. 

[Side Note:  If you travel in the Middle East, a lot of the tea is Lipton Yellow Label, which should not be confused with the crap that Lipton and other companies sell in America.  Most real tea companies seem to sell the good stuff elsewhere and the crap in the US, because most Americans don't know the difference.  So I highly recommend trying the Yellow Label.]

There's a frozen section with fish and samosas, and a fresh vegetables section.  They have a small variety of McVitie's biscuits, and they even have Bounty bars!  (Now if they'll only get Lion bars!)  There's also some sodas from India.

Their website isn't up yet, but it's myindia-mart.com.  So shop there so that they'll stay in business!

India Orchard

This restaurant is in Bentonville, in a fancy strip mall.  If you take Exit 85 West, it's in the big curve by the road to the airport.  I'm kind of ambivalent about this place.  Mom and I had lunch here, and it was $12 with a drink, which I find a little pricey for a lunch buffet, even in someplace like Houston.  But we were hopeful, because there were a lot of Indians eating there.

The buffet wasn't that big.  There were 2 sections of Indian food and one that had American stuff and fruits, etc.  There were 4 - 6 dishes in each section, and soup.  Our waitress brought out some naan for us.

Okay, the food.  I didn't like the Saag Paneer; it had kind of a sour taste to it.  Maybe it's the type of spinach or maybe it's the region of India this style comes from, but I didn't care for it.

I tried the Dal Tadka, which appears to be yellow lentils, and it just tasted blah to me.  I mean, no real taste to it at all.  I've had some very good yellow daal before so I know it can taste good.

I tried to get some Chicken Biriyani, but there wasn't much left so it was hard to judge.

The Chicken Curry, however, was fabulous!  According to their menu, it's a tomato and onion based curry, which may be why it was not a familiar brown color.  But it tasted excellent and I got a really good burn going in my mouth.  The chicken was hunks of white meat and the sauce was great!

Like I said, I'm a bit ambivalent about this place.  I loved the Chicken Curry and Naan, but the rest of it I wasn't that fond of.  And I thought the price was high for a lunch buffet.  Now, they do have an extensive menu, so I would suggest ordering off the menu instead of getting the buffet.  I'll say 3-1/2 stars.

Top China

This place is in a strip mall on Highway 71 in Bella Vista, near Allen's grocery.

The restaurant itself is basically a hole in the wall.  There is NO buffet (I consider that a good thing!).  There are 2 booths and I think there were 6 tables, mostly for 2 people.  If you eat in, you'll get your food on a styrofoam plate or in a to-go container and they have plastic forks for you to use.  I definitely got the impression that it's mostly a to-go kind of place.  Also, the people upfront were Chinese, but so were the people in back, in the kitchen!

Okay, so my mom and I ate there and I have to admit I have been back a few times, because they're fast and easy to get to in Bella Vista.  Here's what we've tried so far:

Combination Plate: Pork Fried Rice with Sesame Chicken and Eggroll:  The rice was good, but I didn't notice too much about it.  Dishes here come with White Rice unless you get some kind of combo plate.  The chicken was a bit sweet and covered in sesame seeds.  I liked it.  The eggroll was actually fried, but somewhat generic.  I don't think it's homemade.

Chicken with Garlic Sauce:  It's listed as a Hot dish, but I found it semi-mild.  I mean, I could taste a little heat, but not that much.  I did find a little round pepper in it though.  There are a ton of vegetables in this dish, especially broccoli, and I really liked it.  Had a sweet undertone.

Mongolian Beef:  Also listed as Hot, and this time I could tell, but it wasn't overly hot.  Lots of regular onions and green onions, which I love.  Also had a sweet undertone.

Spring Roll: My mom ate this, so all I can say is that it looked like a Chinese spring roll.

Overall, I liked it.  The 3 dishes I've tried so far all had a sweet undertone to them, but that's fine with me.  I also like the fact that they can make it hot; too many places nowadays have Americanized the crap out of their food.  I'm provisionally giving them 4 stars because the food is good and fast, but I haven't tried their noodles yet.  Also, they have stuff on their menu that I've never heard of, so I'm looking forward to experimenting!

Hook Line & BBQ

Another Bella Vista restaurant, of the BBQ variety.  It's not bad.  You walk in, past the food prep area with its tin "paneling" and order at the cash register, and then go sit in the restaurant section.  They have BBQ and Catfish, which I haven't tried yet.  We got ours to go.

I had the Pulled Pork Sandwich with Cole Slaw and Frank had the Pulled Pork Platter with Brown Beans and Potato Salad.  And of course I got an ice tea to go.  The tea was fine.  The pulled pork was actually good.  Not great, but perfectly decent BBQ with a good sauce.  The cole slaw was a bit sweet, but it grew on me more and more as I ate it.  The potato salad was mayonnaise-based, and a bit bland.  The beans were really good.  They seemed to be mostly pinto beans with some red beans thrown in and they tasted great.

Overall, 3-1/2 stars.  Like I said, not great, but perfectly decent BBQ and I would eat there again.

Dairy Queen

This is the Dairy Queen in Bella Vista.  We were passing through and stopped by a few times on our journeys back and forth.  This is one of the only drive-thrus in Bella Vista.

Chicken Strip Basket
I remembered them from my youth and thought, why not?  The basket comes with 4 chicken strips (tenders), french fries, Texas toast, and warm white gravy (country gravy) for dipping the strips.  It was good.  I mean, yeah, it's a bit generic, but it is fast food.  The gravy was peppery and warm and went well with the strips.  And I'm a sucker for Texas Toast!

Cheeseburger
I got it the way it comes, with the cheese melted and ketchup and pickles and lettuce.  And I think it had onions.  The fries are okay, nothing special.  But the burger is flame-cooked!  You can taste the smoke.  I remember when Burger King had "flame-broiled" burgers, but I haven't seen those ads in a while.  Is DQ the home of the flame now?

Overall, it's fast food, but it's edible fast food:  3 to 3-1/2 stars.

Casey's General Store

Normally I don't rate convenience stores, but in this case I'm making an exception.  We were wandering around Bella Vista over the weekend and a new store had popped up at the corner of Lancashire and Forest Hills.  We stopped for gas and then Frank ran in for some coffee.  There was a huge line inside buying donuts, so Frank bought some.  Let me say right now, that Casey's has the best cake donuts in Northwest Arkansas!

I was amazed!  The regular donuts were very good too - they were moist and yummy.  But the cake donuts were fabulous!  The plain cake donuts were moist and tasty, with a hint of nutmeg.  Or, as Frank says, "that's how they're supposed to taste."  I usually don't eat cake donuts because they're so dry, but I loved these.  I also had a chocolate covered regular donut.  It sat around till late afternoon, and when I finally ate it, it was still moist too.  The donuts from Harp's and Royal are usually dried out by then.

We also tried the apple fritters.  I haven't had a good one in years - usually they're too sweet or too glazed.  The ones at Casey's were pretty good.  You can actually see apple chunks in the fritter, and it's not too sweet.  We were pleasantly surprised by that.  Overall, I'd have to rate Casey's as one of the best donut shops in the area.  Four stars.

Edit:
We finally ate something besides doughnuts.  Cookies:  I thought they were a bit generic, but the icing is good.  Brownies:  Fairly generic.  Subs:  Not bad.  At least as good as Subway/Quizno's if not better.  And the pricing is similar - $5 for regular 12" subs, $3.79 for regular 6" subs.  And they seem concerned about the quality.  The last time I ate at Quizno's I got sick, and ditto Frank for Subway.  I still say 4 to 4-1/2 stars for doughnuts, but 3-1/2 for food.

Pho Saigon

It's been so long since I've eaten here that the last time I did it was called Red Palace.  At that time it claimed to be a Chinese and Vietnamese restaurant.  I guess the opening of the pho shop across from the University changed all that.  Anyway, I had a coupon, which is always a good excuse to eat out.

Pho Saigon has a drive-thru window, and I had an old menu, so I placed my order and drove through to pick it up.  I had the Vermicelli Noodles with Char Broiled Sliced Pork and Shrimp and the Vietnamese Fresh Spring Roll.

In general, it was okay.  The Vermicelli dish was noodles with pork and shrimp, some bean sprouts and cucumber, and nuoc mam (fish sauce).  It was a bit different than the last time I had it!  Originally, the noodles were different.  In other places I've seen them referred to as patter, but I'm not sure if that's the real name.  Those noodles were like a woven noodle mat and the dish came with lettuce and you could make a kind of wrap out of everything.  The new dish is still good, but I liked making wraps (I guess part of me still enjoys playing with my food!).  At least they use real rice noodles, not spaghetti noodles, so that was fine.

The spring rolls contained lettuce, cilantro, sliced pork and shrimp and came with a peanut-style sauce.  I prefer the fish sauce so I dipped my spring rolls in that instead.  They were okay too.

Overall, I guess that's the main thing I can say:  They are okay.  I used to live in Albuquerque, which has excellent Vietnamese food.  I had no idea there were that many Vietnamese people there until I worked for the Department of Labor and the public library in the Vietnamese part of town asked if we could translate some of our brochures into Vietnamese.  So if you open up a Vietnamese restaurant in Albuquerque, it has to be good enough to stay in business.  Pho Saigon isn't bad, but they're just okay.  Three stars.

Ice Cream Delights

This is an ice cream parlor/sandwich joint in Eureka Springs, out near the Railway Station.  And they don't take plastic; cash or checks only.  They're a small place, with small tables and small chairs, and a bit of a Coca-Cola theme.  I had the Chopped BBQ Brisket Sandwich and Frank had the Reuben.  They each came with a pickle wedge and a small package of Lay's Potato Chips.

The Reuben was on a pumpernickel-rye swirl bread, about normal sandwich size.  Frank liked it, but said it had more Thousand Island dressing than he prefers.  My BBQ sandwich was pretty good.  Not a huge amount of meat, but enough, and an okay sauce.  It was on a large hamburger bun.

Overall, not bad.  The sandwiches were about $6 a piece, which isn't too bad for Eureka Springs.  The owners were nice and kept filling up my ice tea.  Say 3 to 3-1/2 stars.

Bubba's Barbecue

We were exhausted after spending all day hiking up the hills, so Frank got the BBQ to-go.  We both had Pulled Pork Sandwiches, I had the Potato Salad, he had Baked Beans, and he got an order of Chili.  The sandwiches came with a container of Sauce and a container of Coleslaw (to put on the sandwich).  There were also Rippled Potato Chips and a Garlic Pickle.

The Sauce was pretty generic, and so was the Coleslaw.  The Pork itself was good, but the big burger bun it was on started to break apart as I ate it.  Frank liked the Beans; he said they were spicy and had flavor.  The Chili was mild but good.  I didn't like the Potato Salad, it was kind of odd.  Not a mustard or a mayonnaise potato salad.  Frank said he didn't dislike it.

Overall, it was kind of generic.  Frank said the service was very good, but the food was only okay.  So 3 stars.

Main Street Cafe

Another Eureka Springs restaurant, and this one does take plastic.  We were walking there anyway and ran into a guy handing out 10% off coupons.  We always eat breakfast there because they have some good ones.  This time I had the 3-Egg Denver Omelet, without cheese, with Wheat Toast.  Frank had the Main Street Favorite: Pit Ham with Biscuits and Gravy.

There's nothing fancy about this place.  It's mostly booths, with a few tables, and an antique radiator in the back by the bathrooms.  The food is just plain food, but there's plenty of it and it's good and reliable.  Good hearty breakfast food, just what you need for tanking up before a day walking the hills in Eureka.  3-1/2 stars.

Bavarian Inn

This is a German-Czech restaurant in Eureka Springs.  It's one of our favorites!  We started off our dinner with Cream of Sauerkraut Soup and fresh Rye Bread.  I really like their rye bread because there's no caraway in it.  For our entrees, this time I had the Sauerbraten and Frank had the Goulash.  We also shared an Optimator (really good German beer).  For dessert I had the German Chocolate Cake (to go, because I was stuffed!).

Sauerbraten is like a roast beef, but the vegetables are all kind of ground up into a sauce.  And there are these amazing dumplings - kind of like a not quite cooked bread consistency.  The Goulash is hunks of meat in a paprika sauce, again with dumplings.  (If you've only had goulash in a cafeteria, then you've never had goulash!)  The German Chocolate Cake is 3 layers of chocolate with 2 layers of a coconut-nut mixture between them.

This is one of my absolute favorite restaurants.  The service is always great, the food is amazing, and there's German music playing in the background.  The ambiance is a bit dark and, well, German lodge-looking.  Also, they do take plastic.  I'd have to say 4-1/2 stars!

Garden Bistro

The Garden Bistro is a small restaurant in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  They try to use local produce and cook everything from scratch.  The section we were in had 8 tables, and there's an outside dining area too.  The music was good but just a bit loud for us.

Appetizers run about $5.95, sandwiches $8-$11 and entrees more around $12.95.

I had the Chicken and Vegetable Stromboli (looked like a calzone to me).  It was really good!  There were mushrooms, jalapenos, feta, cooked tomatoes and fresh tomatoes inside it.  In fact, I couldn't eat the whole thing.  Of course, I ate most of the honey-oat-wheat bread in a pot.  That was excellent!

Frank had the 1/2 Club Sandwich with Potato-Cheddar-Bacon Soup.  The Club has turkey, bacon, provolone, avocado, tomato, fresh greens, cucumber, sprouts, and an avocado-dill ranch sauce.  Frank liked the club and said the soup was okay.  I tried his potato salad and it was a bit pickley.

Overall, I liked them.  Especially the bread!  Frank thought they seemed slightly pretentious, but I didn't get that.  But they are one of those places with food like strawberry-lavender soup.  I'd say 3-1/2 to 4 stars.  They do take plastic (not everywhere in Eureka does).

Boar's Nest Bar-B-Que

I just ate at the new Boar's Nest, and I must say it was a disappointment.  Some of you may remember the old Boar's Nest on Wedington.  A small place, that constantly smelled of woodsmoke and had the absolute best Mustard Potato Salad that you have ever eaten.  Just a few wooden booths and rough walls.  Well, it's gone.  They moved across the street into a bigger place maybe two years back, and completely changed.

The new Boar's Nest is sort of a combination sports bar and college hangout.  There's a 3-sided bar with a wall of beer cans, and wooden booths and tables.  There are also 14 - I kid you not - 14 televisions.  Some of them are actually on the wall of the booth right in your face.  There's also a small pool table and a PGA arcade game.  In good weather you can sit outside on the patio, or you can sit next to the glass garage doors that slide up near the bar area.

Food-wise, we were disappointed.  The previous Boar's Nest had fabulous BBQ and mouth-watering Mustard Potato Salad.  The new Boar's Nest has BBQ, burgers, and "bayou classics."  They no longer have Pulled Pork, so Frank and I both got the Chopped Pork Platter.  It comes with 2 slices of french bread and my 2 sides were Potato Salad and Etouffee.  Frank got Potato Salad and Fried Okra.

The BBQ wasn't really bad.  I mean, it was BBQ pork!  But it was a bit generic and not as smokey or flavorful.  The sauce was okay; it had some spice to it, but nothing special.  The okra was your generic frozen package of fried okra that a lot of restaurants use.  The worst thing was the potato salad.  It's made with potatoes and has a dressing of herbs and sour cream, and it wasn't that good.  I hated it.  Frank ate it but said it wasn't any kind of potato salad he'd ever seen before.  The brightest point of the meal was the etouffee.  It's shrimp etouffee, and actually had some heat to it.  It was a little more tomatoey than I'm used to, and had mushrooms in it, but it wasn't bad considering we're not in Cajun Country.  I'm not sure I could eat it as an entree though.

Overall, we were disappointed and won't be eating there again.  Partly because of the food, partly because of the ambiance.  If you want nubile young things in skimpy shorts and cowboy boots serving your food, then by all means, go to the Boar's Nest.  But if you want good BBQ, don't bother.  It's become a place with generic hangout food.  Two-and-a-half stars. [They were sufficiently not bad that I considered 3 stars, but that implies that I would eat there again.]

Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen

I'll admit it, I love Popeye's!  I'm originally from Louisiana, so I've been eating Popeye's for a long time, and they are my favorite fast food fried chicken spot.  I always get the spicy chicken white meat and it's delicious!  The chicken is well cooked, the skin is crispy, and it's a little spicy.  The biscuits are also my favorite!  They're incredibly buttery and rich, so don't eat too many.  My favorite side dish is the Mashed Potatoes with Cajun Gravy.  The gravy is fabulous!  The Dirty Rice is also good (dirty rice is just rice with a little meat in it).

A word about spice.  I don't think Popeye's is that hot, but if you're from the Mid-West, there's a good chance you will find it hot.  Be careful.  Every time I've gone to Popeye's the people have been friendly and the service has been fast, so 4 stars.

Bariola's Pizzeria

First, a little background:

What exactly is Guido's and Bariola's?
Guido's Pizza is a pizzeria that started in Tontitown and spread to Fayetteville, Springdale, and Rogers (not sure of the exact order there). The ones in Fayetteville and Rogers were owned by the same person, and last year he split off from the Guido's brand and became Bariola's. Guido's is still in Tontitown and Springdale.

My reviews
Last year, in early December, I did a comparison of the two pizzas called:  Grudge Match: Guido's vs. Bariola's.  I used the Guido's in Tontitown and the Bariola's in Fayetteville.  I did this because my previous experience at Bariola's was not good.  Shortly afterward I received an e-mail purporting to be from the owner of Bariola's saying that my concerns were correct and he was in the process of fixing them.

Our most recent order
Frank placed the order a little before 5 pm.  He said the order process was okay, but he had to repeat that it was for pick-up a few times.  The girl on the phone said she was new, and sounded like it, but she was friendly, although she tried to sell him some extras too.  He was told 30 minutes for the pizza, which is fairly typical.  They usually say 20 to 25 minutes, unless they're really busy.

When he went to pick it up, he went to the drive-thru and he was home by 5:30 pm.  He said it was pretty dead there.  When we opened the pizza, it was luke-warm.  Usually it's still hot, so I'm assuming they made the pizza immediately and then it sat around until we arrived.  In the past, we've generally had to wait because we showed up when it was supposed to be done, and it wasn't.

Conclusions
The one or two people Frank dealt with were friendly, so that's good.  But there is still no bell at the drive-thru window; the owner said he would change that.  The pizza was good, but not great.  The pepperoni was okay, the crust was okay, but overall, it was nothing special.  Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad or anything.  But it was a little generic.  So I'll have to say 3-1/2 stars. 

Zaxby's

I'd never heard of Zaxby's until they showed up on 6th Street (MLK) a few years ago. Their commercials looked interesting, and since I try not to eat regular fast food, I thought I'd give them a shot.

I went by after the lunch rush, so there was no one in the drive-thru. The person on the intercom was friendly, as was the person at the window. And they were fast. I guess fresh chicken tenders is their thing, so I got a House Salad with Fried Tenders.

The salad was really good. It was real lettuce, not iceberg. There were tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, and what I'd swear was cornflakes, on it. The tomatoes were a bit hit or miss. Some of them were a bit tasteless, while some were flavorful. Considering how hard it is to find good tomatoes, especially at a fast food place, I thought the tomatoes were good. As for the cucumbers, when was the last time you saw tasty cucumbers on a fast food salad? The cheese was cheese, and if I remember correctly, there were 2 types (orange and white). And yes, every now and then I ate something like a corn flake. It's never occurred to me to put cornflakes on a salad, but now I may do that at home sometimes.

Overall, the salad was really good. The tenders were hot and fresh - trust me, you can't reheat a tender and get it to taste like fresh. The only negative was the salad dressing. It tasted fine, and there were 2 packs of it, which I really liked. But one of the main ingredients was High Fructose Corn Syrup. Since everyone else uses it, I guess I can't really complain too much. I'll save that rant for a different posting ;) The fast food salads I've eaten over the last few years have gotten pretty bad, so I'll have to give Zaxby's 4 stars for theirs.