A Couple Of Stops By The Whippet in Prattsville.

One of those great small town restaurants that's grown a reputation over generations, The Whippet Dairy Bar and Family Restaurant in Prattsville is a place to visit, repeatedly. Let's take a look inside.

Get Set Up with the Set-Up at The Fish Net in Caddo Valley.

The longstanding catfish joint near DeGray Lake has been a family go-to for lots of folks over the years. The "set-up" may be the best bet on the table.

Fish Houses of the Diamond Lakes Region of Arkansas.

Sometimes the one that got away was meant to be dinner. When you miss out on the whopper that should have stayed on your line, consider one of these classic fish restaurants.

Murry's Restaurant, The Holy Grail of Arkansas Delta Catfish.

The roots of this Delta classic run back through two owners and several decades. Still a cash-only operation, Murry's Restaurant remains the must-visit culinary destination of the middle Delta.

Unbearably Good Catfish at C and C Catfish,Van Buren.

This restaurant has closed.


So, what does a bear have to do with catfish?  The folks at C and C Catfish in Van Buren have a direct connection -- and some pretty good catfish to boot.

The Redings, who own the place, put out a pretty good spread.  The offerings include steaks, snow crab legs, frog legs, fried oysters and crawfish tails, shrimp, chicken, and catfish.

I will go on the record to point out that catfish has to be really dang good for me to like it.  Muddy catfish leaves me cold.  Cold catfish leaves me... cold. But well-prepared, fresh catfish is a singularly good thing I can dig into.

So, C and C Catfish -- it's about a block off the main drag, Fayetteville Road on the north side of Van Buren.  You turn west onto Rena Road a couple blocks north of I-40 and just look for the only building on the right where folks are gathering.  From what I understand, it's the only sit-down seafood joint in town, so sometimes there's a crowd.

We dropped in on a family visit in September.  Didn't take long for Hunter to order -- there were a good dozen items on the kids menu and she went for corn dog bites -- which, heck, she's a kid, whatever.  We placed our orders and soon had set-ups delivered.

Now, when I say set-up, I mean the items that come to the table before the meal.  They included pinto beans -- cooked until the beans were creamy but not so far as to be indistinguishable from the fluid they floated in, delicately spiced but even better with shots of one of the many sauces available (I noticed Grav went for Louisiana Hot Sauce).

There was also green tomato relish (what I know as green tomato relish, also known as pickled green tomatoes, and NOT chow-chow... we're having an argument about this over on Facebook) in its own bowl, pungent and sweet. There was a plate of add-in including jalapeno slices, red onion slivers and dill pickles. There was a bowl of sweet coleslaw.

And then there were hush puppies.  Golly, hush puppies.  They can get me in such big trouble.  These were more on the flour-y and golden side, addictive to a fault, and PERFECT for those pinto beans.  We each dolloped out beans and I wiped mine up with torn-apart hush puppies.

Man, that's an excellent meal right there.  Oh -- a note -- if you're eating light, you can go ahead and get yourself a set-up with fries for $6.49.

So, that would have been enough.  Hunter was even digging on the pintos and making those hush puppies disappear, and then dinner arrived.  And for the first time ever, I am not going to post the photo of Hunter with her dish, because she made one of the most disgusting open-mouthed faces I've ever seen on this child, and I don't want to disturb your reading.  I have a reputation to uphold, after all.

All this other food, though... Grav had actually skipped the catfish, since he's even less excited about catfish in general than I am (as I said, I am very picky about my fish).  He just doesn't do fried fish.  He does smoked fish, and boy does he like his fish raw... but that's another

discussion.  He had instead of going for the catfish, chosen the Make Your Own Dinner and had selected fried oysters and fried crawfish tails, which came siding up to his not-so-neat pile of perfect just-cut fries like little gourds out of a cornicopia.  They were fresh-fried and those oysters were juicy.  I had to steal one just to verify their awesomeness.  Don't tell Grav.

My dish, though, was the catfish.  I mean, in my opinion, you don't go to a catfish place without getting the catfish (repeated visits, you get a pass).  So I got a three filet dinner, and it was too much.  The thick fillets

were very lightly battered, just barely golden and fall-apart nice.  They were just salted and peppered, nothing much more, and they were just... well, okay, I liked this catfish a whole lot.  I loved it even more with green tomato relish (the heck with tartar sauce) and I liked it on its own.  It's good stuff.

Those fries, though.  I just have to mention them because dang it, they were great.  They really were.

So, I was mentioning bears and catfish. Turns out there's a bear there.  No, really, a real stuffed bear that the Redings regularly dress up.  See, Brian Reding took that bear down.  With a bow.  I'm not joking.  Go look on the Facebook page and see.  Hunter was even a little nervous about it, and wouldn't get close enough to actually side up to that bear.

I need to get back over to C and C Catfish at some other point and try out some of the other delicacies.  For you catfish lovers, do know you can do an All You Can Eat on that catfish with the beans and coleslaw for $17,99 any time they're open. Really want to go all the way?  Do the $34.99 version and get as much shrimp, coconut shrimp, crawfish tails, fried oysters, crab legs, frog legs and catfish as you can shove down your gullet. No sharing and no take-out, please.

And you can get that catfish grilled or Cajun blackened, which is likely what I'm going to do next time I go.  That and maybe the crab legs.  

One more tip -- for seniors, C and C Catfish is a really good deal.  There's a couple dollars off difference for those catfish dinners.  Not bad.

C and C Catfish 

50 Rena Road

Van Buren, AR 

(479) 474-2555

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Reconnecting at the Grady Fish Fry.

Summer finally broke hard this week, cutting through months of cooler than natural temperatures to remind us that the earth’s scorching is as inevitable as the rise and fall of the tides. It would come, of course, at the time of greatest heat within the Arkansas Delta – that felt over the deep oil fryers at Ned Hardin’s farm in Grady, a sweltering event that could be considered the ring of fire for Arkansas politicians.

Sure as the Gillett Coon Supper can be cold and snowy, the Grady Fish Fry is certain to always be a blistering event, if only for those being raked over the coals or standing over those hush puppies. For me, though, it was cool and sweet, like the watermelon served by older men, as much as one would want to consume.

Each year, hundreds travel to the shriveling burg to sit in the Hardin yard and consume catfish, fries, slaw and melon together. They’re also reconnecting – generations of Grady folks who have moved away or been swept up with jobs, lives and obligations to be elsewhere most of the rest of the time. They’re young, old and in-between, rural and urban, some educated finely and others blessed with common sense. And there’s no hurry at all.

Of course, that wasn’t my thought when I was stopped dead on Interstate 530 heading south from Little Rock. Construction kept me from the very start of the experience, and from purchasing my ticket and entering right at 4 p.m. I wasn’t certain if I would still be received, coming in a half hour late. I shouldn’t have worried.

The line of signs a quarter mile away from the Hardin farm confirmed my thoughts political – there was every manner of campaign placard along U.S. 65B out a ways from the entrance. There were already cars parked alongside the road, and I followed thusly, though I would find a few moments later there was more than enough space for me to slide into the sideyard. No worries.

I crossed the road and passed the cluster of law enforcement officers directing traffic. It took just a moment to purchase my $12 ticket and to get in line for the actual dinner. To get to that point, I had to brave a gauntlet of eager politicians with buttons, stickers and fans. They were all very nice.


This welcomed me at the ticket taker’s table.

It didn’t take much to get to the catfish, which was all under this long ancient pavilion. A couple of ladies were handing each person a plate, napkin and utensils.

And then, it was pick that catfish up with some fries and get going. While it had been about 10 degrees cooler than Little Rock outside the gate, it was muggy hot inside the pavilion. That didn’t keep me from catching some shots of that marvelous catfish and the men working over the hot grease.

I will be completely honest here. I’m not a huge catfish fan. I try to stay away from cornmeal breading and I don’t think everyone does a good job of frying fish. That being said, I hadn’t even gotten a piece on my plate before I had one in my mouth. Oh golly, that was good.

Sometimes food fits the setting – and that was certainly the case here at Grady.

At the end of the pavilion, there was a mechanized affair going on. This was the famed hush puppy machine I’d heard about. The late M.E. Argo, a machinist and Grady Lions Club member, made the hush puppy machine back in the 1950s in his welding shop. Now, I won’t tell you how it was made, because for one I don’t rightly know and for two it’s unique. Go figure it out yourself. I can tell you it starts with a marvelous batter…

which is then fed into this machine.

The mechanism pumps out two dribbles of hush puppy batter at a time into very hot grease.

Men with paddles slowly shepherd them down the trench, turning them and ensuring they’re all this deep orange brown at the end.

See for yourself.



Now, if it wasn’t for the heat, I could sit and watch this all day – but we’re talking molten lava air here, bubbling bursts of greasy, wilty breeze blowing forth. It was like standing over an open furnace – which, in many ways, it was.

Of course, I’m thinking all these nice young gentlemen in their white shirts and hats are just sweet as can be. It didn’t hit me until after I saw one particularly polite fellow assisting some of the oncoming diners that these guys are prisoners.

That’s no joke. The state helps the Grady Lions Club out by providing them with some labor for the day, along with the talents of the Cummins Prison Band, which blasted out hits from The Temptations and the Eagles (which would have been even better had they known all they words to "Lyin’ Eyes").

At other stations, you can get a beverage (water or iced tea – sugar’s on the table) and the appropriate accoutrements for your catfish (tartar sauce in packets, lemon or onion wedges and slaw). I picked up my slaw and had a seat.


Of course, the prerequisite shot of my dinner:

First off, I have to tell you, those hush puppies are addictive. They’re a little sweet and they’re small, easy to pop. I preferred them to the fries and the catfish and almost everything else – though the catfish was fresh, airy and clean. No muddy bits here.

Of course, once you’re seated, you’re fair game. I was approached by no less than six different politicians while consuming my repast. Mike Ross even sat down close to me and chatted with a couple of lovely ladies.

Asa Hutchinson was also working the crowd, as were a dozen or better candidates for state offices. In fact, there were booths outside the gates not only for different contenders but to register to vote as well.

I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere, the spots of conversation here and there and the Cummins Prison Band (except for the aforementioned “Lyin’ Eyes,” the lyrics of which were apparently not made privy to the lead singer). There were gentlemen there twice my age who flirted and grinned, individuals greeting each other for the first time in a year or a decade, kids playing and all around folks marveling at their good fortune to be able to share such a comforting repast.

I couldn’t wait to finish my dinner, and went and found watermelon before I was done with my last fillet. Cold and sweet, melon at the Grady Fish Fry is served up under the proffered funeral home pavilion, as much as you can swallow.

This particular year’s event is the 59th occurrence. Each year it’s held at E. C. “Ned” Hardin’s place on what used to be the main drag through town. It’s run by and benefits the Lions Club, and it’s always a sellout.

The action never slowed down. The band would pause for a few minutes for a break, and the volume of the crowd swelled. At any particular point from five o’clock on, I could look towards the gate and see a significant line of individuals waiting their turn for catfish.

I never did open my tartar sauce packets. The fish was good, and I ate far more of it than I should have. I also talked Arkansas food with several individuals, lamenting the loss of Ed and Kay’s in Benton, wondering how Aron Phillips is going to do with Phillips Fish Market in Forrest City, debating whether Lackey’s or Rhoda’s or Pasquale’s tamales were the best and see-sawing over the merits of sweet versus unsweet tea. There were hundreds in attendance, yet I never met a stranger.

These community events may have become political just because of who attends them, but they are not political events per se. They are community gatherings, celebrations, homecomings – exactly the sort of thing you need in places like Grady, where the population has shifted away.

I could have stayed all evening, but it didn’t seem quite fair to take up the table space with so many waiting. Besides, the longer I stuck around, the more catfish I ended up eating, and as it was I felt like I needed to be rolled out on a wheelbarrow. Yes, the catfish is that good. If all catfish were that good, I’d eat a whole lot more of it.

Even today, hours later, I’m still craving those hush puppies and wondering if I could scooch a recipe out of someone. Next year, I’m taking my daughter. Hunter would be all over some hush puppies, and I bet she’d be dancing to the band.

Too late to go this year, but do plan for next year. Follow the I Like Grady Facebook page, and mark your calendar for the third Thursday in August. You’ll have a real good time.

For an intriguing story on the Cummins Prison Band, visit Kate Jordan's blog.

Dondie's White River Princess: Hang On To What You Got.

The whitewashed riverboat alongside the White River in Des Arc has never set to the river beside it; it's not seaworthy and was never meant to float. Yet the idea of this place has floated a dream -- and a lesson -- if you have something good, keep ahold of it.

Dondie's White River Princess opened in the late 1980s, a catfish buffet concept restaurant created by Dondie Guess, a local entrepreneur with a big idea. Idea seemed sound enough -- sell catfish from a fancy boat right next to a river known for its catfish. However, Dondie had some big dreams, and they involved a place that got a heck of a lot more traffic than little Des Arc could manage.

Dondie wanted to try his luck in Branson. So he offered his establishment for sale to Mike Skarda. Now, Mike wasn't a restauranteur but he loved to grill, so he decided to give this a go.

That was back in 1990, maybe 1991. Mike took over and ran that buffet for a while, but he saw a need to expand the menu options and added one item after another -- steaks, specialty seafood dishes, appetizers and pasta. He still kept the buffet going, though, selling catfish and frog legs, shrimp and mudbugs to a standard crowd every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night (and the first Sunday lunchtime of the month).

But what happened to Dondie? Bless his heart, he headed to Branson, built a new boat right on the Highway 76 Strip, and it quickly sank -- not the boat, mind you, but the restaurant housed within. Discouraged, he reportedly sold the landboat to another owner and headed back to Des Arc, where he hoped to buy the White River Princess back.

Nothing doing. Mike told Dondie "I'll sell you my farm, but I won't sell you the boat."

I wouldn't worry too much about Dondie -- he now owns Car City and does pretty well for himself. And I wouldn't worry about Dondie's White River Princess, either. See, the business really can float -- even if it does so a couple dozen meters off the White River.

We made our most recent visit on a Thursday night, heading out from Little Rock for a destination an hour away. The heady scent of seasoning and smoke brought us through the doors and we quickly found ourselves seated in a dining room with a view of the beautiful White River arch bridge. There were noises overhead as well as around us -- the landboat has more than one service floor, all decked out in wooden tables on wooden floors with the sweetest waitresses you can imagine.

Hunter this trip had spied the buffet on arrival and begged a shot at it -- and there she found not only fried catfish fillets and steaks but hush puppies, corn nuggets, apple sticks, smoked ribs, chicken strips, fried shrimp, peel-and-eat shrimp and spicy boiled crawfish. For a five year old Arkansaw girl, this was heaven, and she got herself extra helpings of these and beans, coleslaw, tomato chunks and pickle spears.

Now, Grav had been attracted by a menu of epic ratios -- and the one that best grabbed his attention was the chalkboard special of a 22 ounce Cowboy Steak for the bargain price of $15.95. After the salad of iceberg lettuce and tomato and blue cheese dressing and the cottony-soft brown bread served up with uber sweet honey butter, the monstrosity was delivered to the table -- a ribeye and rib combination that fell over the edge of the plate and dared Grav to consume its considerable span. It came with a baked potato the size of a shoe and a cursory bowl of vegetables, which provided a splash of color to complement the red of the steak's rareness.

Me? I had gone conservative and chosen the $12 Lobster Stuffed Shrimp dish, which had been recommended to me. Eight fat butterflied shrimp were delivered with a hearty dollop of a homemade lobster dressing atop each -- in turn set upon a ramekin of buttered angel-hair pasta.
They were served with a different potato offering -- this time, slices of potato that had been dipped in the steak seasoning and grilled alongside the meat -- and, strangely enough, a solitary biscuit that Hunter and I about got into a fight over.

Alerted to the big camera Grav carried and then shot with same in his kitchen, Mike Skarda came out to speak with us as we dined. He shared bits of the tale of how Dondie's came to be in his possession (a couple of frequent customers provided the extra color for the story later) and about his clientele. A full 80 percent of diners come from somewhere else -- including a bunch out of Mountain Home (three hours or more away!) who make a regular trip down for Thursday night's dinner, overnight in Little Rock and shop there and then return home. Dondie's wouldn't survive without the folks that come from afar, and Mike is thankful.

He's busy the other days of the week too -- in fact, he's the Prairie County judge! His daughter... well, bless her heart, she didn't go into the restaurant business after him. Instead, she headed to New Orleans and has become a sommalier (that's a fancy wine taster for you folks who didn't know). Son-in-law's a Scotch taster. Those are some fabulous family connections.

We had to stick around for dessert -- and while Grav had a New York Cheesecake covered in chocolate sauce, Hunter and I dived into the Hot Fudge Cake that Mike's wife had made.  It was splendid -- light chocolate cake layers with ice cream in-between, covered in whipped cream and chocolate sauce and a cherry on top. You can also have yours with peanuts.

Dondie's isn't just right down the street from anything... but it is worth the drive out to Des Arc to get some good vittles at a reasonable cost. I've heard the 18 ounce Porterhouse is an experience, and I'm excited to try it next go-round. My suggestion is to go on a Thursday, because on Friday and Saturday nights a wait is almost a given. You can call the restaurant if you have any questions at (870) 256-3311 or go find it at the south end of the city's riverfront park -- and be sure to check for specials on the Facebook page.