Restaurants That Make Holiday Dinners For You in Arkansas.

Here's a growing list of places around the state of Arkansas where you can pick up your Thanksgiving, Christmas or any other holiday dinner with all the fixings - so you don't have to cook.

Smoked Turkey and Slaw - The Burge Family Tradition.

Alden Burge came to Arkansas in 1953. He brought his family up from Shreveport, bought a home and went to work in the oil fields nearby. Mr. Burge loved to barbecue, and he built his smoker in the backyard and got to smoking. Fellow co-

workers and neighbors asked him to start barbecuing for them and he did, eventually even making up smoked chickens, beans and coleslaw to sell at high school football games each fall.

Some nine years later, Burge was offered the

chance to buy a little dairyette at the intersection of Highway 82 and Highway 29. It seemed a prime opportunity for his family -- so he and his wife and their three kids jumped in to create this family-run barbecue joint. It caught on quickly -- fueled by the great wonders of smoking Burge had refined and paired with a magnificent round of burgers, ice cream desserts and family traditions. The place became well known for its smoked hams and turkeys -- which some folks passing through would take with them -- and for smoking goat and serving peppermint ice cream on Independence Day.

The Burge family bought the Little Rock restaurant in 1974, a small storefront on R Street with a few tables and a kitchen. In 1979, the Burge family bought the space next door and expanded the place into what it is today. Alden's son Jack Burge ran the restaurant until just a few years ago.

Jeff Voyles owns Burge's today.

“Back in the day, he would sit here in this corner and talk with his customers,” current owner Jeff Voyles told me one afternoon while talking on the west side of the restaurant. “This was the smoking side, and that was the non-smoking side.”

Voyles bought the restaurant five years ago at the insistence of Jack Burge. “I was an investment broker for 20 years,” he stated, “I was with Stephens here locally, and Jack Burge was a client of mine. I handled his personal investments. I would send his hams and turkeys to all my investment clients for holiday gifts, birthdays and so forth.

"I picked up right away that when I sent a ham or a turkey to a family for the holidays, the next year I couldn’t send them a coffee mug. If I did they’d think they’d done something wrong or that I was mad at them. So I was getting good business for him and he was also a good client of mine.

“I think when he started thinking about retiring,” Voyles continued, “particularly because it was a business his father started and had his name on it, he didn’t want to just put it up for sale. He brought the idea to me about seven years ago, said ‘Jeff, you outta buy this place off me, you’d be great at it.’ And I said ‘Jack, you’ve lost your damn mind!’ Now, I was wearing suits and ties every day in the corporate world… we kept talking about it, and I looked at it for about a year and a half, and I thought ‘you know what? Why not?’ so I did it. Gave away all my ties, my suits… it’s similar [to investment banking] because it’s still about customer surface, doing what you need to do to make the customer happy. The difference is, when I went to work in the morning at Stephens, I never had to wonder if the floors had been mopped, if the air conditioning was working, or if there was a leak. Here, every day, whether it’s at this location or the one in Lewisville, there’s something that needs to be tended to. Sometimes it’s an urgent matter and sometimes it’s twenty small items. But that’s also the difference between running a small business and working for a larger operation.

“When I came in I was very careful not to undo what had become such a terrific tradition,” Voyles shared, pointing out 1966 era license plates from his personal collection, different memorabilia on the walls and the new booths that line the far walls. “I added these booths – those two came

Chopped barbecue beef po'boy at Burge's in the Heights.

from Jerry Van Dykes. They were here for over a year – and I have customers that have been coming in three times a week for the past 30 years, who would do a double take and say ‘have those always been there?’ and I’d say ‘of course they have!’ and then I’d let them in on the joke, that I’d just put them in two weeks ago. But everyone loved them, so I added these [indicating the ones on the other wall] a year ago. Cosmetically, that’s all I’ve done.

“From the food standpoint, the first year I was here, I tried the turkey melt. I had Willie cook one up and I bit into it and it was cold. I asked ‘why isn’t this grilled hot?’ ‘We’ve never done it like that’ I was told, so I said ‘these are turkey melts, I think they need to be grilled hot.’ Our turkey melt sales went up dramatically, one of our best-selling sandwiches.

“We cook everything from scratch. You order a burger or fish, we cook it to your order. We aren’t cooking 60 pieces of fish and waiting for people to come by. And when we’re really crowded, people may have to wait 15 minutes for fish, but what I’ve seen is people would rather do that. Plus, they’re in an environment where they’re comfortable and having a good time. They know their food is cooked just for them.”

Staff at Burge’s in the Heights tend to stick around, including three members of a single family – Louise

A cooler near the front counter contains all sorts of easy to
take home delights, including hams and turkeys, smoked
cheeses, coleslaw and that famed turkey salad. There are also
bottled beverages for those who'd rather have their drink
out of glass than out of the fountain.

Henderson and her daughter Audra Henry and son Willie Ward. “Mama, we call her Mama, Louise in the back, she just finished her 30th year,” Voyles went on. “She makes our coleslaw from scratch, our world favorite turkey salad. We sell 80-100 containers of that a day, more during the holidays. It’s not unusual for someone to come in and get six quarts with a checklist in front of

Burge’s Smoked Turkeys sells around 12,000
whole smoked turkeys a year, but the spiral
sliced half-ham is the company’s biggest seller.

them, they’ve come from Dallas and they’ve been told not to come back without it! Our turkey salad travels to Oklahoma, New York… a lot of kids who grew up in this area, when they call their parents, that’s on their request list, ‘next time you come, bring the turkey salad.’ ”

Both the Little Rock and the Lewisville restaurants
are still going strong, but it’s the smoked turkey operation that’s earned the Burge name its greatest claim to fame. The Burge's website is, after all, SmokedTurkeys.com. All the birds are smoked in Lewisville, in a facility that’s grown exponentially as word has spread about the famed Burge’s smoked turkeys. The smoker kicks up early each year, smoking turkeys as they come in. The smoked meats are then frozen and kept in reserve until they’re needed. Voyles says it’s a big operation.

“We’ll ship out just in November

and December, 16-20 thousand packages, in what really comes down to about 12 shipping days. We spend the year building up our capacity and product, and send most of it out in a very short window. Ninety percent of our mail order business happens in those two months.”

While there are both a catalogue and a website for ordering, many still choose to dial the company’s 1-800 number. “They want to call the same girls they’ve talked to for the past 25 years, talk about the weather and place their order. But we do have a good number of people who are placing orders straight from the website. What I’ve found is that I pick up more corporate customers – as those people receive that package, now they become customers. They like the products, they want to order something else.

“There will be particularly during Christmas as we hit the end of the season, we’ll run out – we run out of the bone-in turkey breast by the second week of December. A good rule of thumb -- invariably folks will want to pick it up the day before Thanksgiving. We encourage them to come in Tuesday or even Monday – to try to keep there from being 400-500 people at one time trying to pick up their turkey!”

Voyles says one thing has changed. “I have picked up more catering business since I’ve been here. I tell these folks – only problem, if you send them our food this year, you’ll have to do it again next year. We’ll send catfish, coleslaw, fried pies… next time around they’ll ask ‘do you want us to send [fast food restaurant]’ and they’ll demand ours!”

He says it’s always easy to spot the newcomers. “Our menu is 40 feet long. I can always tell when someone new comes in – because of the time it takes them to figure out what they’re going to have. I always ask them where they’re from, and sometimes I‘ll get someone who says oh, 15 minutes from here, they’ve passed by many times and never knew we were here.”

** Fun Fact ***
The Leftover Plate at Burge’s got its name because the day the restaurant set everything out to put together the menu, it was the last thing to be selected. Ten to twelve plates of the combination of turkey salad, tomato slices and peach half with cottage cheese are sold each day.

Burge's in the Heights
5920 R Street
Little Rock, AR 72207
(501) 666-1660


Burge's
526 Spruce Street
Lewisville, AR 71845
(870) 921-4292

SmokedTurkeys.com

11 Things To Pick Up For An Epic Arkansas Holiday.

Panicking over putting together the perfect holiday dinner here in Arkansas?  Here's some advice on the 11 things you should consider for your family dining traditions.  Click the links provided for ordering information. Be sure to order early -- and if you can't be early, call ahead and make sure what you need and want is still in stock.

1.  Ham.  Each year around the holidays, Petit Jean Meats produces, mails and provides in-store 100,000 bone-in hams and 80,000 boneless hams for the dinner table. Grocery stores throughout Arkansas carry those hams, but if you’d prefer the convenience of having

your holiday meat delivered straight to the house, place your order this morning it’ll arrive in time — as long as you live in the state of Arkansas. Additional shipping charges may apply.

2.  Turkey.  Burge's Smoked Turkeys are very popular for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and it's not too late to get yours. Jeff Voyles, the owner, says they'll have plenty, but suggests coming in a few days in advance of the holiday, since there's always a day-before rush. The store on R Street in the Heights will be busy, but you'll be able to get your whole turkey, smoked turkey breast and more -- even some side dishes -- there. Burge's sells around 12,000 whole smoked turkeys a year, but the spiral sliced half-ham is the company’s biggest seller.

Hillcrest Artisan Meats carries Freckle Face Farm turkeys as well as locally raised chickens and ducks available.

If you're wanting to get your own turkey, Sim's Barbecue will smoke it for you, but you need to call first and make sure they have room. You drop off your bird in the morning and go fetch it in the afternoon.

Also, check with Cross Eyed Pig BBQ Company -- which does excellent smoked turkeys and hams.

Consider a whole turducken (a hen stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a turkey) from Floyd's Meat And Seafood (this is also where you get oysters if you want to make oyster stuffing).

Butcher and Public offers a variety of holiday meats -- from turkeys to hams to lamb and even more.  Check with Travis for your meat needs -- and while you're at it, pick up some sorghum breakfast sausage.

3.  Dressing. You cannot beat the chicken dressing from Dan's I-30 Diner in Benton. It's absolutely marvelous and moist, and even if you're having turkey, the chicken in the dressing will be quite excellent.

4.  Eggplant Casserole. Franke's Cafeteria offers many of its popular menu items in family portions for the holidays, including its famed eggplant casserole and whole pies, such as egg custard, pumpkin and cinnamon.

5.  Potatoes au Gratin.  Diane's Gourmet in Little Rock offers a variety of amazing side dishes and desserts, including one of the best renditions of potatoes au gratin around.  You'll also find broccoli cheese casserole, mac and cheese, cheese crackers and baked pies available there.

6.  Cranberries.  Honestly, I can't stand most cranberries (too many slurping solid chunks from cans as a kid, I suppose) but I can eat the tar out of the cranberry orange relish at E's Bistro in North Little Rock.  Elizabeth's also carrying green bean bundles, dressing and pies.

7.  Green Beans.  I cannot stand green bean casserole.  Fortunately, my brother usually eats ALL of it over the course of the afternoon, so no worries there.  Plain green beans are all right, but if you're looking for something to pick up that will be light, delicious and particularly wonderful, check with the folks at Catering To You for some of their marvelous Green Bean Almondine.

8.  Sweet Potato Casserole.  Okay, most everyone should know how to make sweet potatoes by now, but if you're really in a pinch, go get a pan.  Terry's Finer Foods does an excellent rendition.

9.  Bread.  My mom makes crockpot cornbread stuffing for the holidays from her own fresh-baked cornbread, usually from War Eagle Mill Cornmeal Mix.  But butterflake rolls from Ed's Custom Bakery are also usually on the table.  Other choices that would achieve the epic rating for your dinner table:  Boulevard Bread Company's Pagnotta (GREAT for sopping up a little giblet gravy), Community Bakery's Pocketbook Rolls, Silvek's European Bakery's Hallah Bread.

10.  Pepper Jelly. Wait, what?  Okay, you can have your cranberries... I like pepper jelly as a condiment with my turkey.  I'm a big fan of Liz and Linda's Pepper Jelly, but anyone who makes a good one is AOK in my book.

11.  Pies.  This year, a lot of fantastic pies have come onto the scene.  Order yours in advance from your favorite pie shop -- or consider some of the new offerings for the crop -- such as  Bourbon Pecan Pie at Local Lime and Big Orange; French Apple Pie from Terry's Finer Foods; and all sorts of pies at Sweet Love.

There are of course many chain operations offering made-and-done turkeys and Thanksgiving dinners at places such as Cracker Barrel and Copeland's -- and of course you can still pick up a Thanksgiving dinner from Kroger or Edward's Food Giant. These will run you anywhere from fifty to eighty dollars.