Pancho's Is A Dip Best Served Cold - A West Memphis Arkansas Classic.

If you look in the deli or cold foods section at any Walmart, Kroger or Harp's around Arkansas, chances are you're going to find a fine selection of dips for your chip that come from the great city of West Memphis. Let's take a look at cheese dip from Pancho's Mexican Restaurant.

Lost To Time - Browning's Mexican Restaurant.

Browning's Mexican Restaurant as it appeared in the late 1950s.

I'm a Little Rock girl, but my Little Rock memories barely contain anything of adventures to Browning's Mexican Restaurant in the Heights. That may seem a sin to those who regard its influence as a classic amongst Arkansas restaurants. In my defense, I was young, I grew up near Casa Bonita, and when I reached adulthood Casa Manana appeared close by.

But yes, even I have memories of a Saltillo platter at the old standby.  I think that, for a certain set of Little Rock resident, it was something you had to do at least once.

Today, the Heights Taco and Tamale Company opens in the space that housed Browning's for more than 60 years.  I'm sure you've seen the previews... somehow, I didn't make the cut to get in early, but when I do enter the doors as a paying customer, I'll share my experiences.  Before I do, though, I should note the restaurant that managed to imprint itself on Ark-Mex cuisine.

Cheese dip and salsa at Browning's Mexican Grill, 2012.

That cuisine has been a part of Arkansas culture for more than 80 years.  We have good records of Little Mexico, the Donnelly's place in Hot Springs.  You'll remember me talking about Blackie Donnelly, the Irish guy who took his wife to Mexico and brought back the spices they used to create the world's first cheese dip (don't worry, he brought her back, too).  Little Mexico was one of the to-go places for an Arkansas translation of Mexican dishes back in the 1930s.  In West Memphis, Pancho's came along in the 1950s.  In Benton, there was El Cena Casa.

John Tom Browning.

In Little Rock, Browning's started serving in 1946. John Browning and his son-in-law, Boyd Montgomery, opened its doors shortly after the end of the second World War.  It changed hands a few times over the years, but up through the early '00s it managed to maintain a certain flavor and atmosphere.

Ark-Mex food is different from Mexican fare and from Tex-Mex, too.  Ask anyone who's spent a great deal of time in Texas and visited "Mexican" restaurants both here and there.  Cheese dip is a

Boyd Montgomery (on left).

curiosity to those folks.  They don't understand it.  Tex-Mex restaurants put more cilantro and lard in their dishes.  They include more barbecue and chipotle, lots of dry rub and chorizo, and goat is available in some places.  Tamales are pork, often from a pig's head. Chips tend to be thinner.

Ark-Mex food has evolved around the inclusion of cheese dip.  It tends to utilize more pintos than black beans, darker American and Cheddar cheeses instead of white or Mexican cheeses.  Tomatoes are a big part of the equation, fresh and in the salsa.  Tortilla chips are thicker, and there's a prevalence of tamales that include chicken and beef in addition to pork.

When that interpretation was still being worked out, abominations were created.  For some reason, some of our restaurants here never got over the idea of smothering everything, and I do mean everything, in yellow cheese. Casa Viva, the inferior short-lived successor to Casa Bonita, was accused of using Campbell's Cheddar Cheese soup over its enchiladas.  There were waves of interest in different things... nachos in the late 70s, fajitas in the late 80s, quesadillas in the 90s and the fish taco in the 21st century.

Browning's menu from 1949.

Browning's did cater to a lot of that, even from the very beginning.  Its original Browning's De-Luxe Mexican Dinner included a guacamole salad, chili con queso, a meat or cheese taco (the meat being ground beef), enchilada, tamale covered with chili con queso (also all beef),

Interior in the early 1950s.

fried rice, fried beans, with toasted or plain tortillas.  It also came with bread or crackers, a dessert and a choice of hot or iced tea, Coca-Cola or coffee.  It was all of a grand sum of $1.75.

There were many other things on the menu, as you can suspect.  Don't think this putting an egg on everything idea is

One of the original wall murals painted by Mallie Vena.

new... the 1949 menu offers eggs on enchiladas.  There was "spaghetti or rice con chicken," an appetizer of celery and olives, the three layer "Chef's Special Clubhouse" sandwich, pimento cheese sandwiches and a large selection of steaks. fried chicken, fried oysters, ham steaks and the "LIGHT-MEATY-

Vic Slater once cooked at Brownings.

TASTY Chilled Shrimp Plate" as well as individually fried White River catfish, lobster and peach halves stuffed with cottage cheese.  It even served breakfast.  Browning's, after all, wasn't just a Mexican-esque restaurant; it celebrated Arkansas foods as well and threw in the kitchen sink for good measure.

The famed Plato de Saltillo.

And yes, even on that first menu, there's the Plato de Saltillo, the dish the restaurant would be best known for, a meat taco and meat taco and enchilada, smothered in cheese and served with tortilla chips.  Back then, it was only a buck.

A flyer from 1976.

As the years went by, the restaurant expanded.  Do you recall the location out on Baseline, or on McCain in North Little Rock, or on the "New Benton Highway?" Do you even recall the New Benton Highway?  There was also El Patio on University, which was within my range (yes, my friends, I am originally an 09-er, and if you know what that means, you know what it means) for us to enjoy that pureed "salsa" sauce with yellow chips in a bag that would always develop grease spots.  The Browning's flavor, after all, did make it out of the Heights.

For a city and even a state that remained secluded and mysterious to the rest of the world, Browning's was a treat.  Once the doors opened, and men like Sam Walton, Bill Clinton and the Stephenses managed to get Arkansas spoken of in terms that didn't include "hillbillies," things changed.  Our palates

The Mexirrito, my go-to dish from Browning's.

changed.  And by the dawn of the 21st century, places like Browning's were having a hard time of it.  The restaurant closed in 2010, only to be purchased, renovated and reopened and eventually fail again.

I noticed on the menu for the new Heights Taco and Tamale Company, amongst the offerings, the Plato de 1947.  It includes enchilada, taco and tamale... but it's no Plato de Saltillo.  No, my friends, that sounds like it may be lost to time.

Then again, Scott McGehee, John Beachboard and Russ McDonough's Yellow Rocket Concepts has managed to bring back other original flavors.  Of note is Local Lime's Taco Kid Tuesday, which revives many of the popular items from the old Taco Kid.  Perhaps, once Heights Taco and Tamale Company encounters its first few weeks of customers, we'll see a revival of the dish most associated with the old Browning's.

One way or another, the Browning's known by generation of Little Rock natives is gone for good, only to remain in the memories of those who congregated at its tables.  If you'd like to take a trip down memory lane, the restaurant's last owners have left a Facebook page active that includes many photos from the eatery's early days.

Bentonville: Glasgow's Restaurant Suspended in Time.

Bentonville is full of new, trendy and opulent restaurants.  But one of its oldest remains just east of Rainbow Curve, a bastion of the original Ark-Mex eateries that used to cover the state.  

Glasgow's Mexican and American Foods, when it was first constructed, was located south of the main portion of town on U.S. 81.  

Russellville: Taco Villa is Consistanty There.

When it comes to dining like a local, and being a RussVegas local, that local Tex-Mex joint you visit is Taco Villa. And for those of us who have ever spent time at the little brown shack on 4th Street, the flavors at this place will always bring back memories.

Sustaining: Canon Grill.

• KAT ROBINSON
• BIG TUNA: Albacore steaks at Canon Grill

The recent tornado left us without power or gas, which meant we were sent scurrying out to find sustenance any way we can. I figured this was just as good as anytime to check out some restaurants I hadn’t visited before.

The hubster and I ended up at Canon Grill on Kavanaugh on a Monday afternoon, weary and tired from too little sleep. We needed something filling and sustaining to make it through yet another day of cleanup. I’m happy to say our lunches did just that.

Our waitress Daina set us up with tea and gave us plenty of time to decide, checking back on us two newbs perusing the menu for the first time. I was a-feared that Paul would have issue, since he had specifically said he was not interested in Mexican fare for lunch and most of the entrees at Canon Grill are Mexican-esque at the least. Never to fear — he found a nice tuna steak dinner to order up.

It came with a salad, and Daina rattled off the dressing options: “We have Parmesan Peppercorn, which is really good. We have Ranch, Honey Mustard, Raspberry Vinaigrette, oil and vinegar and a really disgusting fat free Ranch.” When we raised our eyebrows over the comment, she continued “it tastes like molten plastic.” I can appreciate that sort of honesty.

• KAT ROBINSON

Paul ordered his salad with the Parmesan Peppercorn dressing, which was nice and lightly spicy and very cheesy. The salad was more than ample in size; lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, green bell peppers and a healthy dose of Mozzarella cheese. It was served up with a big basket of Club crackers. I kinda wished I’d gotten a lunch salad.

• KAT ROBINSON

The salad came along with his Albacore Tuna Steak ($12.59). The tuna was actually two half-to-three-quarters-inch sections of fish, grilled lightly with lime and served up with rice and a zucchini-heavy blend of fresh grilled vegetables. The tuna was a little over-cooked for our tastes, but was still quite palatable and tasty. The rice was a nice Mexican style rice. The veggies had strips and slices of zucchini and little hunks of mushrooms, onions and tomatoes.

• KAT ROBINSON

I’d gone for more Mexican fare with the Grande Burritos ($8.99 for one steak and one chicken, $8.49 for two ground beef and $7.99 for bean) and was not disappointed. I wanted cheese dip but wasn’t in the mood for tortilla chips, and this dish roundly satisfied. Served up with the same rice as Paul’s tuna plate, it was accompanied by nicely spiced refried pinto beans. 

• KAT ROBINSON

The grilled chicken and grilled steak burritos were lovingly smothered in the house queso, a nice white low-spice cheese dip that worked with everything on the plate. Indeed, I kept mopping it up with every forkful. The chicken was a bit light on spice but the steak fajita strips were perfectly seasoned, nice and peppery with a bit of onion flavoring.

I wish we’d had room for Noni’s Homemade Chocolate Bundt Cake ($5.49), advertised as “homemade chocolate Bundt cake topped with homemade hot fudge served with Yarnell’s vanilla ice cream.,” but we were sitting just perfect and didn’t want to rock our gastronomic boat. Next time, perhaps.

Canon Grill is right in front of the Hillcrest Kroger on Kavanaugh. It’s open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. most days, until 9 p.m. on Sundays. Looks like a decent place to experience a Happy Hour. (501) 664-2068.