Izzy's on the West Side of Town.

We have a lot of restaurants in Little Rock that are hot right now... and restaurants that are good... and restaurants we recommend. But then there are some places we forget about until we're gently reminded, and then we nudge our memories and ask our brains why that one didn't come up.

Izzy's is one of those.

Colorful, huge and sprawling out on The Ranch out on Highway 10, this current incarnation of the long-standing friendly restaurant stands out almost at the edge of town. It used to be on the edge of town decades ago when Bob Isbell ran it, and it got moved further out after he passed it on to his son and daughter-in-law, Robert and Heather Isbell. I keep wondering, now that it's surrounded by neighborhoods again, if Izzy's is going to move even further out Highway 10. Much further and it'll be in Lake Maumelle.

But Izzy's has always been a comfortable place -- friendly, brightly colored, safe for kids. And the tamales are one of the most underrated food experiences in town -- tasty but not too spicy, fat and served with additional bits, whether

it's cheese dip or salsa or chili. I have been known to go dine on just one with the chili... and crackers, of course. Shooting at Izzy's never produces studio-style pictures, of course, with every table having a different melange of photos and memorabilia under its surface.

Somehow, though, I'd neglected to take Grav out there, so we went on a frigid December day. I told him about the teas, the marvelous houseblended loose-leaf teas that you savor there and then take home for later. Izzy's teas are the bomb-diggety, I tell you what.

But Grav's not a big hot tea drinker like I am. He did, however, manage to spot a combination that I hadn't before. He noticed the frosted mugs for beer and requested his root beer in one. I honestly think he's smarter than me. Sometimes.

Now, deciding what to eat may be the hardest thing to do at Izzy's. It's full of choices -- not just for me, but for anyone with a crazy food sensitivity. Izzy's offers special menus for vegetarians and for those practicing a gluten-free diet. There's a lot of meatless offerings and a whole lot of different flavors. And when we asked for cheese dip, our waiter didn't even bat an eye when I asked for potato chips for

half instead of tortilla chips. Nor did he make a fuss when he came back to find Grav preferred potato chips with the dip, too.

The cheese dip at Izzy's is deep gold, almost orange, not very spicy but with nice deep and sharp Cheddar tones. It's a little runny for ruffled potato chips but that was all right. It's rather good.

The Nutty Bird comes with chips, but you can also have sweet
potato fries instead.

We debated over different choices while we nibbled chips. Grav asked about the Nutty Bird, which is turkey and cream cheese with sunflower seeds. I've had it before. It's pretty good, especially if you're wanting a cool sandwich in the summer. I told him about the Salmon Nicoise, which is a poached salmon fillet with salad. We discussed the tamales, and he pretty much stuck with it.

Now, tamales. Izzy's has two different sorts of tamales, beef and a vegetable tamale that's full of black beans and a smattering of finely chopped vegetables. Those tamales are served in all sorts of combinations. You can get One Big Tamale as an appetizer -- either the beef or the veggie -- with chili for the beef and cheese dip for the veggie. Or you can swap around -- salsa and guacamole are also

acceptable substitutes. You can also get a platter of two and either mix-and-match or get two of the same. This is what Grav did this time around, choosing chili-topped beef tamales served with more cheese dip. I think he was surprised just how filling they were.

Me? This time I decided to go for something I've wanted to try for a long time but always demurred. I went for the Wild West Chicken Pizza. Yes, I knew I'd be taking it home.

That's all right. This is a thin crusted fork-ready pizza that comes with a salsa base, with chunks of grilled chicken, red bell pepper and purple onion, black beans and bits of cilantro and mozzarella and provolone cheese, and jalapenos. There's not a lot of cheese on this pizza, but the crust edges are crispy and strong enough to be dumped in the cheese dip. The rest of the pizza, though, becomes soft with the salsa, and it's really meant to be eaten with a fork. It comes with sour cream, which is a good balance to the jalapenos -- but I found myself drizzling more cheese dip over the whole thing. Did I mention I really like the cheese dip?

One of these days I'll finally get the cheeseburger at Izzy's. I never get there. There are way too many dang fine menu choices and when I get to the line about burgers I sorta glaze over. I shouldn't, though -- they come highly recommended. And at some point I have a feeling Grav will be back for the Super BLT, which includes a slathering of -- you guessed it -- cheese dip.

The kids menu for Izzy's isn't quite the predictable usual items you get with a kids menu. Rather than the standard chicken nuggets and corn dogs I see everywhere, Izzy's offers bowls of pasta -- noodles with Alfredo, marinara, meat sauce or butter ("naked"), a grilled cheese sandwich or a cheese quesadilla. But if you have an adventuresome child like mine, consider getting them the One Big Tamale.

We didn't get desserts this time, but Izzy's does make a fine Key Lime Pie. I also forget that milkshakes are offered, and I need to try those sometime. Then there's the All-American, two scoops of vanilla ice cream on a brownie, drizzled with hot fudge and whipped cream. It's a two person dessert, and if you don't think so then more power to you, *I* can't eat it all by myself on a good day. It is righteously decadent.

That's the Salmon Nicoise I was talking about.

As I mentioned, you can find Izzy's at The Ranch... which, if you're not from Little Rock, that's not going to do you any good. It's off Highway 10 west of I-430 several miles, and it's behind Osaka (which is pretty fine Japanese-style eating). It's open 11 a.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and is closed on Sunday. You can also buy tea leaves there to take home.

Izzy's Restaurant
5601 Ranch Drive
Little Rock, AR 72223
(501) 868-4311
izzyslittlerock.com

Izzn't it nice?

• BIRD'S THE WORD: Nutty Bird sandwich at Izzy's

Eclectic eating wasn’t invented by Applebee’s or TGIFriday. That kind of fun-filled atmosphere doesn’t have to come from a cobbled together set of memorabilia and such. You can find it at a homegrown place like Izzy’s.

Outside of the eclectic décor, there’s not much Izzy’s has in common with the chain operations. The biggest difference is in the menu, which features a lot of things that are very Arkansas-specific. Above that, there’s the tea.

We dropped by a while back (and yes, I’m terrible for just getting around to talking about it). Took the girl child with us for lunch on a very hungry afternoon. Truthfully, we’d set out to head over to a certain BBQ joint but saw the Izzy’s sign and decided it was worth a try right then and there.

The place was packed. It was about 12:30 p.m. and everyone and their dogs (that’s an expression — we didn’t actually see any dining dogs) were there for lunch. No worries — our host found us a booth in the back and paired us up with a highchair and slipped menus our way — which is why and how we learned about the tea.

• TEA TIME: One of Izzy's fabulous tea options

I love tea, by the way, not just iced but hot, fragrant, in so many varieties and in so many flavors. Izzy’s has an extensive Chinese tea menu, and you can take home tea to brew yourself. I had to give their Masala Chai ($3.75) a try, even before I’d cracked open the food menu. When it came, I was so pleased with the deep notes, the heavy punch of cinnamon and cardamom, and the underlying tones of anise and nutmeg… well, I was very pleased that the folks who came up with the idea also came up with the thought of letting patrons take home their tea leaves in little plastic containers. That’s just awesome.

Of course we wanted to sample all over the menu, but there’s just so much you can do in one visit. After ordering a Kids Quesadilla ($5.39) for Hunter, I asked to try One Large Tamale ($4.79) to go with our orders. The hubster went for the Salmon Nicoise Salad ($9.29) and I chose the Nutty Bird ($6.29).

• ONE LARGE TAMALE: Comes with great chili and crackers

The tamale came out with a bowl of chili and an assortment of crackers. I think the definition of Arkansas tamale has to include “comes with Saltines,” because I’ve come to the point I can’t imagine them being served without. The tamale was bigger than what I’ve had on average around here, about six inches long and decently wide in circumference, very meaty within an almost but not quite sweet cornmeal breading. The chili, though, was the real star. I could tell you just about every ingredient in it — it is almost identical to my own chili, though I think Izzy’s uses tomato paste instead of crushed tomatoes. The cumin isn’t too strong, the spice is laid back, and the meat isn’t too sparse. The crackers might as well be saved for the tamale — you’ll end up chasing that last bit of chili around the bowl if that’s all you order. Which, really, yeah — it’s all you need.

• SALMON SALAD: Nicoise with a big hunk of fish

The hubster’s Salmon Nicoise was a 180 from the tamale. The lightly poached salmon was served in a hand-sized portion to the side of a pile of greens and cucumbers, under which lay black olives and tomato wedges and over which contained chunks of Mozzarella. Not shreds, chunks — that first appeared so odd to us that we assumed they were Feta. Nope. The salad was served up with its House Vinaigrette on the side, and was of substantial portion to satisfy. The price was a bit high, but for a nice large piece of salmon poached in garlic butter it wasn’t bad.

I had to try the Nutty Bird, which is advertised on the menu as being “famous for 24 years.” I could understand why. The natural grain bread sandwiched in a generous portion of cream cheese, to which was attached sunflower seeds, tomato and thinly sliced turkey breast, with a leaf of lettuce glued to the bottom bread by a layer of Miracle Whip. It’s a nice light sandwich that’s more filling than it tastes, a bit overwhelmed at times by the cream cheese but still pleasant. It’s the sort of sandwich that makes you feel healthier for having eaten it. I like that sort of sandwich, especially with the multi-grain bread. It’s a texture garden. Had mine with sweet potato fries instead of chips, and ended up having to share most of them with Hunter. She likes sweet potato fries.

That was good, because I have to admit, the cheese quesadilla for her kids meal was rather boring. We probably should have gone with another option like one of the pasta dishes they offer kids or the “Naked Noodles” on the menu. It does seem a little odd that the kids meals don’t offer all that much food and are almost as pricey as the adult fare.

We decided that saving room for dessert was our goal, and chose the Izzy’s All-American ($4.29) (though I really wanted the Lemon Ice Box Pie; I was overruled). Out came this big boat with a long hot brownie in it, with a thick scoop of ice cream topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce on each end. It was difficult to get a photo of it; Hunter was all about getting her hands on some ice cream and she wasn’t taking no for an answer.

• CAN'T RESIST: Ice cream has its own gravity field

When we did get to it, we found it to be the decadent affair it purported to be. The brownie was nicely warmed to the point of melting the ice cream easily without being too hot to consume. Enough salt had been added to the brownie batter to bring out the sugary sweetness. If there was anything I could find wrong with the dessert, it’d be that the darn thing is so big that even between the three of us we couldn’t finish it without injury. It’s pretty darn good.

I want to go back and try the California Brick Oven Pizzas mentioned on the menu. They take up one page of the menu, and pasta dishes take up another. I’d be interested in trying a whole lot of other things there, too. But when I go back, no matter what I order, I’m going to get that One Large Tamale again. I just have to.

You’ll find Izzy’s way out Cantrell West on Highway 10 at The Ranch out there. It’s on the north side of the road a ways, so keep your eyes peeled. If you see Wal-Mart then turn around and come back because you’ve gone too far. For more information, check out their website or call (501) 868-4311.