A Bobby Burger, a Plate Lunch and Pie at Bobby's Cafe in North Little Rock.

The excellent diner near the Morgan Maumelle exit off Interstate 40 offers a good breakfast, great lunches and the enormous Bobby Burger. And of course, there's pie.

Dinerland: Littlefield's Cafe in North Little Rock.

Dining at all the fancy and new places is glamorous, but when the average joe needs a bite to eat at lunch, a good old fashioned diner fits the bill. That's exactly what you get at Littlefield's Diner in North Little Rock.

Take a Tour of the USS Razorback, A Fantastic Submarine.

Arguably the longest-serving submarine still existing in the world, having been commissioned by two different countries for 57 years of active duty, the U.S.S Razorback's permanent home is not on or in the sea but by the banks of the Arkansas River in North Little Rock. Let's venture out to the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum and explore within this nifty submarine.

Number 17, or Welcome to Hideaway Pizza in North Little Rock.

The famed Oklahoma pizzeria chain opens its first out-of-state location in North Little Rock with color, pizzaz and lovely eats.

Episode 1005, The One Where We Ate All The Chuy's.

From time to time, I'm given the opportunity to try new menu items at a restaurant. Today, Leif and Hunter and I went to sample the special Green Chile Festival menu at Chuy's, where we tried almost all of the things, and learned about Hatch green chiles and Chuy's Restaurant in the process.

Pie and Barbecue at Lindsey's Hospitality House in North Little Rock.

In Arkansas, pie with barbecue is just a standard, expected dessert. At Lindsey's Hospitality House in North Little Rock, it's the pairing of two beautiful creations side-by-side.

Puppetry at Toruk, a Cirque du Soleil Production, at North Little Rock's Verizon Arena.

Grav and I were invited in for a sneak peek at the production of Toruk: First Flight, currently being presented at Verizon Arena in Little Rock. Check out the Viperwolves and how they're operated in this special short.

Enjoy the North Shore in North Little Rock.

You can spend a full day and enjoy so many experiences along the riverfront in North Little Rock.  Several great attractions are set between the city’s retaining wall and the Arkansas River.  Here’s an end-to-end tour of things you can enjoy along this stretch.

Scenes from the Arkansas Pearl Harbor Day Ceremony at the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum.

On a bright December afternoon, three Arkansas Pearl Harbor survivors were honored with a ceremony commemorating that fateful date of December 7, 1941... as the former US Navy tugboat Hoga was formally welcomed to Arkansas.  Take a look.

21 Pies at the Pork, Poultry and Pie Dinner.

Saturday night, I was the guest of the good folks at the First Presbyterian Church in North Little Rock's Argenta District, at the third annual Pork, Poultry and Pie Dinner.  The meal of tasty barbecued chicken, pork, beans, slaw and breads was just a start to an evening of pies... from competition pies to friendly sharing pies. It was a great evening.

And you really need to see these pies.

The Demolicious Burger at Gail's Diner is Off The Hook.

There have been a whole host of restaurant ventures that have popped up at the corner of Military and MacArthur in North Little Rock, but none that have bothered to stick around these past few years.  The old Starlite Diner has been Starlite

Diner, then Hunka Pie at Starlite Diner and even Littlefield's Starlite Diner (Littlefield's is now Littlefield's Cafe on JFK).  What it's lacked is a strong dish, a strong chef and a little audacity and staying power.

The latest tenant to the space is Gail's Diner,

which, though open since October, celebrated its official grand opening on January 21st with a big ceremony by the city of North Little Rock and free food.  Which is all well and good, but don't you want to check it out before then?

That's exactly what Grav and I did one frigid Wednesday morning, braving icy winds to head over and see what Gail's had to offer.  We were quickly seated in the now-bright yellow interior dining room and given the very brief menu.  I debated between an omelet and pancakes, but

Grav saw what he wanted immediately.  He wanted a burger.

It took a little while for our cooked-to-order menu items, which was fine with us.  It gave us time to chat, sip hot coffee and note the changes on different platforms here and there, and to check email.  And when we did get our orders, we weren't disappointed.

I've been updating my breakfast spot roster, so I was very interested in what Gail's had to offer.  I could have chosen Jaylin's Country Breakfast, with two eggs, choice of breakfast meat (sausage, bacon or turkey sausage) and country potatoes, or I coulda gone for pancakes.

But instead I decided on the Jimmy Veggie Omelet -- a lightweight three egg white omelet packed with spinach, cheese, onions, jalapenos and

bell peppers.  It came with a biscuit (not housemade, but still pretty good) and looked way too good to eat.  Unlike many other omelets featuring jalapenos, this one had just slivers of the hot peppers, and most of the flavor came from the vegetables, which had been sauteed beforehand.  This was just marvelous.

But it couldn't hold a candle to Grav's burger.  He had gone for a double patty Demolicious Burger, which contained the following:  two patties that were at least a half pound each, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, jalapenos, mustard, mayonnaise, bacon, grape jelly, American cheese and two eggs.  All together, that sounded absolutely

crazy, but somehow it all works.  The meat had been seasoned nicely and the burger came with crinkle cut fries -- all for the price of just $7.50.

So Grav went nuts on this burger.  After an initial bite

out of the thing, he resorted to cutting it up with a fork and got about a third of the way through, all the time telling me all the other burgers he's had that didn't live up to this one (he didn't get to experience the Monkey Burger with me last month).  He was elated.  Jubilant, even.  He says it's the best burger he's had in ages.  I believe him.

Now, we had to get on the road, but when I went to look at my photos, I finally read the back of the menu.  Turns out, Gail is Gail Dawn, whose mother ran Friends Catering and who's been cooking since she was 12 years old.  She studied under Chef Tami at Woodlands Farms Cooking School in Ohio, made the Dean's List at the Arts Institute International Cooking School and is a member of the APPCA, the American Personal and Private Chefs Association.  I'm guessing she knows what she's doing.

We turned down cookies and bread pudding, since we had to go and we were already quite full.  Grav ate the rest of his burger the next morning for breakfast and was still rambling on about it days later.  Next break in the schedule, we'll be back.

Gail's Diner
250 E. Military Road
North Little Rock, AR 72118
Facebook

Breakfast, Lunch and Chatter at Gadwall's Grill.

I know Gadwall's Grill is a classic.  I have memories, ever so long ago, of being a teenage bridesmaid in a particular October wedding where the reception was held in the back room of the then-somewhat young new restaurant in North Little Rock's North Hills restaurant.

My teenage years -- and that black bridesmaid dress -- are nothing but memories today, but Gadwall's Grill saunters on. Karen Bryant and Jane Schubert, a couple of sisters, sold their Wal-Mart stock in the late 80s and bought the former Rob's Place restaurant building on the dividing line between North Little Rock and Sherwood.  Named for a particular breed of duck, this neighborhood bar and grill manages to keep people coming in, year after year.

That's probably why on my latest visit there wasn't a table to be found... a late Saturday morning breakfast foray into the eatery atop a hilltop found few places to park, every table in the place taken and a few folks even waiting by the door.

Being on my own, I managed to grab a seat at the bar, where a copy of the statewide paper was sitting out and where a young man had a full mug of coffee in front of me before I'd even located a breakfast menu.  Not that I was going to need it.  I'd come with a particular dish in mind.

This happens to be it.  This is the Gut Bomb, scrambled eggs piled high with chili, jalapeno peppers and cheddar cheese.  You can have hash browns or breakfast potatoes with it, a biscuit or English muffin or toast as well.

Why was I so eager for

this concoction?  Masochism, I suppose, The sheer number of jalapenos tightly placed in a thick layer between cheese and chili would flatten even the most earnest diner.  Most of these ended up on the side of my plate... and my waitress asked if I wanted to save them for dessert.

But that chili... oh, man, that chili.  Gadwall's Grill actually offers two types, a white chili and one that's called Woman Made Chili, which is a beany, beefy cumin-laden concoction worthy of lone enjoyment.  I won't turn down beans for breakfast, and this ample serving that about obliterated the obligatory eggs beneath was substantial. I skipped lunch after this grand repast.

Of course, I have to mention something else.  This breakfast came with dessert -- I ordered my plate with the biscuit option and a side of chocolate gravy.  Now, I can take or leave chocolate gravy.  The Arkansas-based condiment is often abused and even outright replaced with soupy chocolate pudding some places.  It's often too salty or too sweet and sometimes outright unwelcome.  But that's not the case at Gadwall's, where the syrup-thick roux is buttery with the perfect sweet to salt balance.  It's the best chocolate gravy I've had in any restaurant, and 'twere not for the audience you get of cooks and wait staff when you sit at a restaurant's bar, I might have been better tempted to drink it straight from the bowl.  Doused as it were on pliant, thick biscuit halves, it was a marvelous end to a meal and a perfect coffee accompaniment.

But wait, there's more.

So, Woman Made Chili.  I can and indeed have eaten it on its own and with crackers.  As far as I am concerned, it's the reason Gadwall's continues to exist.  Gadwall's has been many things over its 25 or so years... with a brief expansion to West Little Rock and a span of time

with a next-door eponymous pizzeria.  I know there are individuals who would rather swear on the Great Northern bean and chicken breast white chili, and it's more than adequate.

But Woman Made Chili is Gadwall's raison d'être, a substance that permeates the menu on Bonsai Nachos and short chili dogs.  It is simply hearty, delicious eats.

Grav and I recently stopped in for a bite, where he tried the Chicken Nachos, a platter-sized mound of tortilla chips slathered in cheese dip (of the yellow, spice-packed variety), gobs of shredded chicken, black olives, jalapenos and tomato chunks.  An impressive site to behold, and far more than one individual should undertake in a sitting.

I did rather enjoy the Old Fashioned Cheeseburger, a mustard-accented griddle smashed burger on a toasted seedless bun with a hunk of white onion amidst the customary lettuce, tomato and pickle.  But my best enjoyment came from dipping it in my bowl of accompanying Woman Made Chili.

Lest I get carried away with all this chili talk, I should mention the desserts.  Gadwall's Grill offers a substantial selection of fried pies and a daily cobbler.  But it also offers Brownie Under -- a frosted housemade

brownie crowned with vanilla ice cream, sweet and very thick and gooey and more than you expect.  Brownie Under is the proverbial "waffer thin mint" for diners -- I suggest sharing as your only recourse to painful overfilling.

Gadwall's Grill is not a trendy place.  It is stuffed with memorabilia of a quarter century or better of north-of-the-river life.  The wait staff is friendly and the regulars are thick.  You'll find a good comforting meal within.

Gadwall's Grill
7311 North Hills Boulevard #12
North Little Rock, AR 72116
(501) 834-1840
Website

Burger joint of the week: Starlite Diner.

• KAT ROBINSON
• CLASSIC BURGER: Starlite Diner's The Original

There has been a lot of hubbub over the North Little Rock Streamliner-style diner these past few years. It’s changed hands, it’s battled with whether or not it’ll be 24 hours… but one thing’s for sure: its burgers typify the American Classic style.

Starlite Diner offers seven variations on its griddle-fried burger. The Original ($5.25, $6.25 with cheese) comes with green leaf lettuce, tomato, white onion and ridged hamburger dills and choice of condiments, along with a handful of fries.

• KAT ROBINSON

Like most good classic burgers, The Original comes on a toasted bun speckled with sesame seeds. In this case, it’s a buttered bun — which adds a nice extra layer of moisture and salt to the sandwich. The meat has a nice char to it, not over the top. Inside, it’s medium well. You don’t get an option on that.

• KAT ROBINSON

The fries are skin-on, sometimes spot-on and sometimes a little spiritless. They almost always come a little undersalted, an easy fix.

• KAT ROBINSON

All together, it’s a pretty decent burger. You can double up on the patties for $2 more or go for other variations — including the Levy Burger (same with bacon and cheesE), the Swiss Patty Melt (with caramelized onions on rye), the Buffalo Burger (with buffalo sauce, Swiss cheese and blue cheese crumbles) and the Japaleno Cheeseburger (jalapenos, pepper jack cheese and “Bub” sauce, whatever that is).

• KAT ROBINSON

I still maintain that the best burger on the menu is the MacArthur Chili Cheeseburger ($7.95). The buns are turned inside-down on the plate, a beef patty is put on top in the middle and the whole affair is smothered in homemade chili, Cheddar shreds and white onion bits. It’s the chili that really makes it great, a beef-bean-tomato chili that soaks into the bun and patty equally. But I’ve talked about that before.

If there is one gripe I have about the burgers at Starlite Diner, it’s that they’re a little pricey for what you get. These aren’t gourmet burgers, they’re road food, and they should be accorded the same sort of pricing structure.

• KAT ROBINSON

You’ll find Starlite Diner at Military Road and MacArthur Drive in North Little Rock. I’d give you a phone number, but both the numbers I have for them won’t connect this morning. Still, they have a Facebook check-in page. I guess that’s something.

Pieday: Banana cream at Letti's Cakes, Etc.

• KAT ROBINSON
• MELLOW YELLOW: Banana cream pie from Letti's

• KAT ROBINSON

My North Little Rock readers have been on me for some time to try out the sweet delights over at Letti’s Cakes Etc. on JFK. It always seems like when I’m in the neighborhood I’ve just eaten, so I’ve had to pass.

I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me earlier to get something to go, ya know? So last week I did just that, running by during the lunch hour to pick up some cupcakes and pie.

I’ve heard rumors about how good that banana cream pie is. Now, I’m not much for banana cream, though I have delighted in the version offered at Chip’s Barbecue. Banana cream seems like it’s missing something, like chocolate and cherries and caramel sauce. Yeah, I guess when I eat a banana cream pie I’m wanting a banana split.

• KAT ROBINSON

But I didn’t get that sensation with Letti’s banana cream. I went in and asked if it was available, and out came this virgin uncut pie, creamy-topped with dried banana slices dotting the cream. It smelled heavenly.

Thing is, it was sliced for me on top of the cupcake case, and the cupcakes looked ever so good. I had to pick up a couple of cupcakes as well. You know, research.

• KAT ROBINSON

I noticed while I was checking out that Letti’s also serves soup and sandwich lunches. Who knew? Apparently not I.

So I get to the car with two small boxes, one containing the two cupcakes I had purchased and one with the slice of banana cream pie. I took my photos, carefully tucked the boxes in and went on my way.

Thing is, though I’d eaten a few hours before, I was still hungry, and as I headed to the radio station to do my spot I kept thinking about that pie. I could smell it. It was sweet and a little pungent. I had planned to drop my sweets off at the house to spend a little refrigerator time so I might try them later on. But…

• KAT ROBINSON

Well, the honest truth. The banana cream pie did not make it home. I ended up pulling over into a post office parking lot, pulling out an emergency fork (I keep disposables just for this reason) and opened that box. I didn’t even think about taking another photo, I just wanted that pie.

And what a nice pie. The banana cream was a very deep yellow, with sweet pudding-like notes throughout. The dried banana slices really didn’t add a whole lot to it except crunch, but they were far better than the sometimes slimy “fresh” banana slices I’ve had on other pies. The nice loose-packed graham cracker crust was just enough for the bottom, not too thick and not too cinnamon-y. I found myself licking my fingers. It was a good pie.

• KAT ROBINSON

Now, this is the part where I should just wrap up the review and not go on. I mean, I’ve already revealed my shame about tackling that pie. I ended up not making it home before the radio show, and when I was done a couple of hours later I had mucho errands to run — including picking up my child and taking her elsewhere. I realized I was still three or four hours from dinner and I was hungry again.

Geez, I’ve turned into some sort of glutton! Or perhaps it was the scent of those cupcakes, which had melted just a little in the sunlight while waiting for me in the vehicle.

• KAT ROBINSON

I had to try one. So as I sat at a stoplight trying to get home I plucked out that pistachio cupcake — pistachio! Wow! — and bit in. It was very light, just subtly flavored with the nut, and it was GREEN. Green green green. It was kinda funny. I checked the rearview mirror to make sure my tongue wasn’t also green. Yay, it wasn’t.

I checked my shirt for crumbs before picking Hunter up. And that should have been the end of that, no? No, of course not. We got through our errands and got home for the evening, and as I’m getting all our stuff out of the vehicle for the day Hunter tells me quite clearly, “Momma, I want something sweet.”

“Um, okay, strawberries?”

“No.”

“Chocolate?”

“You have a cupcake.”

I just looked at her for a moment. How did she know that? How in the world did she know I had a cupcake in the car? So in the end, I just got a little bit of a taste of the red velvet cupcake I’d brought home. And she ended up with cream cheese frosting on her nose.

Now, Letti’s cupcakes are good, I’ll give you that. But that banana cream pie? I’ve been thinking about it, and I may have to go back over there and get a whole one before company comes Tuesday night. It’s been a long time since I had such a good banana cream pie. I think I’ll do that. Maybe. Oh, heavens, what if I ate THAT in the car?

You’ll find Letti’s Cakes Etc. at 3700 North JFK in North Little Rock. The place is open every day except Sunday starting at 10 a.m. (501) 771-2837 or check out the Facebook fan page.