2013 Arkansas State Fair Food Preview.

As you know, I try to give you an idea of what's new, interesting and available each year at the Arkansas State Fair.  This year is no exception.  Here are items you can try at the fair this year.  Do note -- this year, there's a fair fried food contest on Tuesday.  Yep, you guessed it -- I've signed up to judge.  Heaven have mercy on me!

More photos added below over the weekend!

Also, check out the 2012 new foods guide and the 2011 guide (which includes EVERY old favorite as well) for a comprehensive look at all those state fair goodies.

Deep fried pineapple upside down cake on a stick.

Fried catfish on a stick.

Cinnamon and sugar dusted fry bread.

Deep fried banana split.

Peanut and pecan caramel nut rolls.

Fried avocado slices.

This stand purports to sell a bacon-wrapped all-beef hot dog covered in
nacho cheese, sour cream and fried "taters."  No examples found today.

Citrus Blast, a yummy and refreshing beverage.

Grazzi Grinder.

Deep fried Rice Krispie treat.

Paizi's famed gyro.

Chocolate dipped Twinkies.

Inside a chocolate dipped Twinkie.

Philly Cheesesteak.

Frybread taco.

A fried what.

Inside a fried what.

Though I didn't see one, I did talk with the guy running this booth.  The Fried
Klondike Bar on a Stick is created by freezing a Klondike bar to 50 degrees
below zero and then dipping it in batter and deep frying it.

Fried Jell-O.

Fried chicken on a stick.

Fresh squeezed lemonade.

Beer battered fried pickles.

Beef and chicken kebabs.

Barbecue pork sandwich.

Barbecue chicken pizza.

Burrito, quesadilla and torta from
Taqueria Samantha.

Deep fried chicken and waffles on a stick.

The Mega Burger.

Apple pie funnel cake a la mode with the works.

Hog Log -- a pork steak battered and
deep fried, on a stick.

Deep fried S'mores Pop Tart a la mode.

Another view.

Rice water.

A multitude of chicken wings in various flavors.

Deep fried cream cheese filled sausage ball.

Caramel apples, the standby favorite.

Giant chicken fried steak dinner.

Pineapple whips.

MY pineapple whip.

Photos taken at the fair:

Hunter and Grav finishing their pineapple whips.

Chicken and waffle on a stick with
maple syrup -- much better fresh and hot!

Cougar juice:  A blend of ginger ale and pineapple juice and
a secret ingredient.

Breaded and fried pickles.

Barbecue chicken pizza.

Citrus blasts in a variety of flavors.

S'mores on a stick.

Hot buttered corn.

Gator on a stick.

Fried avocado slices.

Hot boudin on a stick.

Meat and onions on the grill at Paizi's Gyros.

Nachos at Kathy's Kabana.

Candy apples.

Caramel nut apple.

Turkey legs.

Beef kababs on the grill.

Grater taters with nacho cheese sauce.

Blooming onion with sauce.

Grilled sausages and onions.

Krispy Kreme bacon cheeseburger.

Fried Klondike bar.

One minute into a fried Klondike bar.

Termpura battered fried pickles.

Angry Dawg.

Grav consuming an Angry Dawg.

The turkey leg guy and his wares.

Red velvet funnel cake.

A smorgasboard of meaty things.

Italian sausages.

Midway snack food.

Devon Brooks, the first (and so far only)
guy to make it through the Mega Burger.

Pineapple whip and soft serve
vanilla ice cream.

Superdog crew.

Fry bread taco.  Yes, I ate ALL of this.

Coconut doughnut.

Old fashioned sodas.

Roasted sweet potato with brown sugar and
cinnamon.  This son of a gun weighed more than
a pound!

A combo plate of deep fried mashed potatoes, fried macaroni
and cheese, fried pickles and fried ravioli.

Fried apples with caramel sauce.

Chocolate sundae.

Chocolate soft serve on a cone.

Chocolate and nut covered cookie dough balls.

Fried catfish plate.

Ground beef balls.

Breadsticks.

Italian chicken tenders and Philly cheesesteak.

Wine glasses at the wine competition.

Cougar juice.

Devon Brooks post-Mega Burger

Hunter with chicken and waffle on a stick.

Angry Dawg.

Hog Log.

Grav consumes Angry Dawg.

Mega Burger.

The Creation and Creator of the Arkansas Delta Tamale.

This is the story of an immigrant who came to America and settled in Helena; of his son, who funded and cultivated a tamale; and of his grandson, who still sells the handmade dish today. Let me tell you about Pasquale's Tamales.

Edible journey to The Biscuit.

Sonny Garrett tweeted at me...

Well, Sonny, that's a great question... and considering you're coming from Mountain Home, you're taking a very musical culinary journey.  After all, Arkansas has many treasures -- and the preservation folk movement centered in Mountain View and Helena-West Helena's location at the heart of Blues nation make this a fantastic trip for music lovers.

Enough with the flowery speech.  Sonny, here's a list of recommendations to get you from point A to point B and through the festival itself.

American Burger Center in Melbourne. (Grav Weldon)

Heading out from Mountain Home -- the more direct, curvier route will take you through Melbourne, where a stop-in at American Burger Center is suggested.  The name belies the contents of the menu -- though there are a lot of burgers available, ABC is just as well known for a biscuit-topped chicken pot pie, a shepherd's pie, fried pork chops, chicken fried steak and Jack Daniels glazed chicken fajitas.  Breakfast is great, and they actually serve strawberry shortcake the way it should be served -- strawberries sliced with cream over fresh baked biscuits.  Check out the Facebook.

Biscuit and eggs at Meacham's
Family Restaurant in Ash Flat.
(Kat Robinson)

Speaking of biscuits, if you're going to go the other way and head to Ash Flat, you can find the biggest biscuits in the state at Meacham's.  Formerly BJ's Drive-In (way back in the 1970s), it's named for the family that runs it.  Dishes are made to order, so don't be in a hurry.  You'll be rewarded with good home cooking and wheaty and soft biscuits perfect for sopping up cream gravy.  Or honey.

Seafood platter at Who Dats
in Bald Knob.(Kat Robinson)

Either way, head south to Batesville and take Highway 167 south to Bald Knob... where epicurean delights await at Who Dat's.  We're talking big Creole style seafood platters, a food bar that's plenty for any meal and some mean seafood gumbo.  Also, big burgers -- but who goes to Who Dat's for dat?

Coconut meringue pie at The
Bulldog Restaurant in Bald Knob.
(Kat Robinson

Or do the classic drive-in and stop at The Bulldog Restaurant.  Sadly, it's not strawberry shortcake season (you can only get that when berries are coming out of the fields) but the coconut meringue pie is an acceptable substitute and there's a full range of ice cream desserts available, too.  The burgers are great square patties on round buns, a true griddle-style burger that's fantastic.  

Fried catfish sandwich at Gene's Barbecue in Brinkley.

If you decide to take Highway
33 down towards Brinkley, make a spot in your trip for a layover at Gene's Barbecue. The 'cue is okay, but the fried catfish sandwich is even better.  Gene's still believes in the ivory billed woodpecker, old radio hits and pickled stuff -- and picking up a jar of whatever's on top of the pie case isn't a bad bet.

Inside Kelley's Restaurant at Wynne.
(Kat Robinson)

If you choose to head due east on Highway 64 to Wynne, you should think about stopping in at Kelley's Restaurant.  Located within spitting distance of the right-hand turn onto Highway 1, it's a family affair with an excellent buffet and good pie.

Another good choice -- Colby's.  This great community restaurant offers everything but the kitchen sink.  The burgers are adaptable, tenacious and juicy, there's always a good dinner choice available and the eatery offers some of the best fried green tomatoes around.

Breakfast at The Old Sawmill Cafe
in Forrest City. (Kat Robinson)

Down in Forrest City, once you've passed under I-40 there's a street off to the right that will take you to The Old Sawmill Cafe.  Some say the idea of the place is similar to Cracker Barrel -- but the original shop Lib Bell started opened its doors in 1939!  Great breakfast bar, good place to sit and relax and watch the traffic go by.

Strawberry pie at Nana's Diner in Forrest City. (Kat Robinson)

About a mile down on the left side of the road you'll find Nana's Diner.  Yes, food is good, but you really need to just stop for pie.  They make great pie.

Mr. Harold Jones at Jones' Barbecue Diner
in Marianna.  (Grav Weldon)

Now, folks in the know will tell you just keep moving, especially if you're moving early in the morning.  Keep on moving right down to Marianna and turn off Highway 1.  You'll take a left on Chestnut, a right on Alabama right before the railroad tracks, then a left a bit down the road on Louisiana.  Nearly two blocks later on the right, you'll see the two story whitewashed building emitting the scent you've been following for miles.  That's Jones' Barbecue Diner, and if you have arrived early enough (and since others will be coming, that early enough means maybe eight or nine in the morning) you can get yourself a three dollar pork barbecue sandwich with or without slaw from the only man in Arkansas who has actually won a James Beard Award.  That's right, Jones' Barbecue Diner's been named an American Classic, and if you ask politely Mr. Harold Jones will take the medal off the wall and show you.
Jones' Barbecue Diner.

If it's after noon or if Mr. Harold's out of 'cue, head out towards Mississippi River State Park and stop in at Cap 'N' Jack's at the triangle... and have yourself some of this.  Kim calls it Duck Tail Fudge, and it is too much.  Dream-makingly good.

Ray's Dairy Maid in Barton.  (Grav Weldon)

So, you're heading down Highway 1 or Highway 49, either way, right down into Helena-West Helena.  I'm certain you'll want to stop for a burger and some pie, right?  And one of the best pies ever has to be Nana Deane's coconut pecan pie at Ray's Dairy Maid in Barton.  I mean, after all, Alton Brown stopped in.  Though, if you're coming in close to festival time, you might call your pie order in before you get there to make sure you've reserved a slice.

No joke at Burger Shack in Helena-West Helena.(Grav Weldon)

Once you get into Helena-West Helena, look for this sign on this little drive-thru.  It's not a joke.  This is Burger Shack, and from any estimate I've been able to determine, it's not just the best Coca-Cola in town, it's the best Coca-Cola in the state.  The lines are clean and it's sparkly and delightful.  You can add flavors, but who's got time for that?  Also, umpteen gagillion flavors of soft serve.

Now, if you were coming any other time than The Biscuit, I'd suggest you look for this trailer right here along Highway 49 on the west side of town.  But it won't be there during the festival.  It'll be on Cherry Street, not far from the Delta Cultural Center and all the action.  You want to stop here.  You NEED to stop here.  That's because this is the truest iteration of the Arkansas Delta Tamale, I kid

The genuine Pasquale's Tamale.  (Grav Weldon)

you not.


It's where you can obtain those marvelous Pasquale's Tamales -- a tamale brought down through the St. Columbia family passed down from Peter St. Columbia -- who came all the way from Cefalu, Sicily in 1892 and who ended up settling in Helena.  He learned how to make tamales from Mexican immigrants who came to work the cotton fields.  The recipe was perfected in a little soul food cafe rented out to a lovely couple who gave it their own twist.  The prime beef tamales developed through Peter and his son Pasquale (called Sam) and through that restaurant and on down the line to grandson Joe, who's still making them with his wife Joyce today.  They're excellent -- but you'll love them even better if you get a mess of them with chili and cheese and onions and peppers.

And then of course, there's the food of the biscuit.  I took a series of photos at last year's festival.  You won't have any trouble finding good food on Cherry or Walnut Streets... just remember to stay hydrated, relax and enjoy yourself.

Fried chicken in Arkansas: History, second helpings and hints.

Fried chicken from The Skillet Restaurant at the
Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View.

Pan-fried, deep-fried or pressure-fried—we love our fried chicken. Born of similar dishes brought to the south by both African and Scottish ancestors, the traditional fried chicken served as “Sunday’s best” generations ago remains on the table as the crispy-crusted comfort food of the South. But as for how the bird came to roost on the dinner table, that's a story and a half.

How did Arkansas manage to absorb the epicurean staple? Before this land was settled by immigrants, the cuisine of Native Americans was based on what was available—and that varied by region. Settlers introduced pork, since pigs could root about anywhere, whether in Delta mud or on rocky Ozark plateau, and they consumed everything from table scraps to roots they dug up.

And then there were chickens. Yardbird was more highly prized in earlier years for eggs than meat, but for those special occasions, chicken came to the table.

Chicken fried chicken at the Chuck Wagon
Restaurant in Bee Branch.

Why fried? That’s a good question. Most settlers from Europe were accustomed to having their chicken roasted or stewed—traditions that date back from Roman times. The Scottish folk, however, are believed to have brought the idea of frying chicken in fat to the United States and eventually into the Arkansas Delta in the 18th and 19th centuries. Similarly, African slaves brought to the South were sometimes allowed to keep chickens—which didn’t take up much space—and when they flour-breaded their pieces of plucked poultry, they paprika-popped and spice-saturated the meat before putting it into the grease. And the grease? Well, it’s less time consuming and requires fewer resources to heat lard or oil in a cast iron vessel over a fire or on top of a stove than to bake something inside. Hence, that propensity for jointing and processing chicken with the skin on, dipping in flour and buttermilk and egg and dropping into a hot skillet of grease or lard took hold.

If you are lucky, there’s someone in your family who loves you enough to fry you your own chicken. But we’re a state (and by extension a nation) of folks who have less time than we’d like, and we tend to want our fried chicken provided by a reputable restaurateur. More often than not, I fall into the latter cateogry, and have therefore had my fill of bird from the left and right, north and south of this great state.

The fried chicken at Rhoda's Famous Hot Tamales is
often overlooked.

The best I have found is that offered by one Ms. Rhoda Adams, the proprietress of a little humble place called Rhoda’s Famous Hot Tamales in Lake Village at the southeastern corner of the state. Although known far and wide for those tamales and equally wonderful pie, the true humble masterpiece of Ms. Adams’s kitchen is fried chicken. Salty, juicy and an orange gold—this bird is meant for consuming with white bread and sweet potatoes, preferably with sweet tea.

Fried chicken and other foods from the ample lunch
buffet at JJ's Cafe in Lake Village.

The town on the whole is tight on local restaurants, with just a few joints to check out amidst the regular chains. One of those places is JJ’s Café, which used to be JJ’s Lakeside Café before it settled in a little closer to the heart of town. Thin on the crust, this bird is built on a bundle of black pepper and paprika, and is usually served on the buffet with creamed potatoes, white gravy and green beans.

The "Eye-Talian" Dinner at the Tontitown Grape Festival.

Lake Village is where another strain of the fried chicken gene popped up in the heredity of our gastronomic identity. That’s where a group of Italian immigrants tried to make a home at the end of the 19th century. These folks found work and lodging as tenant farmers on the Sunnyside Plantation, but found life there harsh and cruel. Some 40 families chose to follow Father Pietro Bandini out of the Delta in 1898. They traveled to the north and west and braved through the Ozarks and the Boston Mountains to settle in the northwest corner of the state. The town they founded, Tontitown, was named after 17th century explorer Henri de Tonti. They grew apples, peaches and strawberries and whatever vegetables they could get to force up through the rocky soil—and eventually turned to grapes.

A plate of fried chicken and spaghetti
at the Tontitown Grape Festival.

Of course, we all know today about that grape tradition—and how the community celebrates each August with the Tontitown Grape Festival. And that couple-year stint in Lake Village rubbed off on those traditions, too. At the festival’s multi-night “eye-talian” feast, fried chicken (a recipe learned from their south Arkansas neighbors) is served along with spaghetti noodles made the way they were when those past generations were still in Italy.

Mary Maestri's now offers its fried chicken and spaghetti
as Chicken Parmigiana.

But the festival’s not the only place where you can enjoy the Ozark standard of fried chicken and spaghetti. The Venesian Inn is likely the best known of the batch (now that Mary Maestri’s has moved to Springdale). It still serves, after all these years, crusty blonde chicken served up with a pile of spaghetti covered in that slightly runny marinara, which most of us top with a healthy dusting of Parmesan. Fat, shiny rolls are the best way to consolidate the grease to keep it from dribbling from the fingers.

The AQ Combo at AQ Chicken House in Springdale.

Nearby in Springdale, the AQ Chicken House is still dishing up its original, lemon pepper-enhanced bird after 76 years—even in its traditional AQ Combo, which includes spaghetti under marinara which is topped with a more than adequate melted conglomeration of mozzarella and Italian-blend cheeses. The rolls here are wheaty, but the chicken is distinctive, with a strong and almost acidic flavor that identifies every bite with the location in which it is served. AQ, which stands for Arkansas Quality, also serves a couple of other varieties of fried chicken—a smoky barbecue sauce-laden version and its “chicken over the coals”—but neither are as welcome.

Neal's Cafe in Springdale.

Catty-corner down the road in an old pink diner, you’ll find Neal’s Café and its own interpretation. Still serving “the best of better foods,” Neal’s offers its chicken fried golden brown with potatoes and green beans, and it still proudly pan-fries every piece.

Fried chicken family-style dinner at the Monte Ne
Inn Chicken Restaurant near Rogers.

The real chicken dinner experience, though, comes outside Rogers at a little place off Beaver Lake—the Monte Ne Inn Chicken Restaurant. Named after the passed-on resort partially swallowed by the lake, the low-slung building houses what could be the best fried-chicken experience in Arkansas. You’re seated at a table—with your party, or if you’re alone you’ll likely share with strangers—and food is brought out in bowls, starting with a crock of bean soup. String beans, corn, mashed potatoes, gravy and coleslaw are delivered, along with small containers of apple butter and creamery butter and a fresh, soft loaf of bread—and a platter of fried chicken, deep brown-red with a tight skin and an impossibly juicy interior. You need reservations if you go.

Fried chicken at Myrtie Mae's in Eureka Springs.

One of the state’s oldest fried chicken operations started in the 1920s not far away in Eureka Springs, in the front room of a house that belonged to a woman named Myrtie Mae. When travelers would come through the gap from the west, she was ready. Guests would knock on the door and Myrtie Mae would seat them in the front room. She’d head to the back, behead a chicken, pluck it, batter it, fry it and serve it up with creamed potatoes, gravy, vegetables and fresh bread—all in about an hour’s time. There aren’t any chickens behind the Best Western Inn of the Ozarks where Myrtie Mae’s Restaurant (contact TK) is housed these days—but the chicken is still marvelous, no heat or spice to it, just simple chicken in simple crust.

All through the Ozarks today, you can still find great fried chicken at places like the Ozark Café in Jasper (usually white meat and deep fried) and at the Low Gap Café at Low Gap (pan-fried and peppery).

Fried chicken plate at Bobby's Country Cookin' in Little Rock.

With fried chicken coming in from both the northwest and the Delta, you’d figure that Central Arkansas would be almost like the confluence of chicken. Sadly, this isn’t the case everywhere. The big chains like KFC and Popeye’s have found us here, and the demand for more places that serve a bird battered and deep fried is lower. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t good places to find the dish.

Dark meat with sweet yams and peas at David Family
Kitchen in Little Rock.

Of them all, David Family Kitchen has to be my favorite. Offering soul food at its heartiest, the old-school restaurant on Broadway serves its chicken up fat and juicy. I mean it—probably the fattest chicken legs and thighs I have encountered came to me on a Styrofoam plate placed on one of those red tabletops. Salt and pepper in a buttermilk batter make for fine fried chicken, no doubt.

Fried chicken with green beans and potato salad
at Capital Bar and Grill in Little Rock.

Your Mama’s Good Food and Bobby’s County Cookin’ both hold their own in this battle, and both deserve to be on any list. But if there’s any contender to the marvelous David Family Kitchen chicken, it’s the white-collar soul of Capital Bar and Grill. Only available on Wednesdays, the chicken has the flavor of a long soak and brine, with little grease and surprisingly thin crust on the bird. Steady and slightly sweet (is there tea in that batter?), it’s perfect. Plus the potato salad is addictive.

Three piece dark at Gus's Fried Chicken in Little Rock.

Of course, thousands have made pilgrimage to Little Rock now for what was once a Memphis-only dream: that of a bite of the sharply peppered Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken. Years ago, I had a chance to speak with folks in the family, and they said they’d never cross the river, since only family members were allowed to know the holy secret of the famed batter. I guess they got over that or around it somehow. The newly opened restaurant in the River Market may have a much better bird than the original, but that’s purely due to the freshness of the frying oil. Gus’s also has that slaw that’s the same sort but better than old KFC—and a different but equally tasty potato salad to CBG.

Fried chicken family style at South on Main in Little Rock.

I will go out on a limb and predict that the next great mecca for fried chicken in Central Arkansas will be at South on Main. I have been privy to the lightly seasoned, lightly breaded wonder Chef Matt Bell’s kitchen is putting out, and I can unequivocally say it should be considered the seventh wonder of Pulaski County, if not the world. Matt says it’s going to be offered from time to time, and when it comes up, go.

There are other places for good fried chicken. A couple lie along old Highway 64 on what some affectionately call the “diner drive,” (that might just be me, but it works). In Conway, the stop-in is at Holly’s Country Cooking, where the crust is thick, salty and sweet – yes, sweet in its own amazing way – and gone if you get there too late when it’s offered.

Fried chicken dinner at The Old South in Russellville.

Further up the road, the old stalwart would be The Old South in Russellville. Elvis ate here, and I suspect he would have been all about the crusty, crumbly battered fried chicken that hasn’t changed a lick in decades.

Hester’s in Hot Springs still brings folks in after all these years, even though its fried chicken is always served up on the buffet, all crusty and brown. At The Skillet Restaurant in Mountain View, it only comes to the buffet on Sundays – but the staff can’t fry up enough chicken wings to please everyone – and that’s saying something, since they order all sorts of extra wings to make things work up there.

And then there’s Mama Max’s. Maxine Milner still makes up fried chicken the way I remember it – in a pan, dipped in a buttermilk and egg wash, served up crusty and brown and with fresh vegetables that have been cooked that day and never seen the inside of a can. Her chicken does what chicken should – excite the mouth with the blend of crispy and crunchy and pliant meat; fill the stomach without irritating the digestion; hearten the soul to recall the memories of a time gone past.

Fried chicken with fried cabbage, sweet potato casserole
and Red Hot apples at The Feed Lot in Caraway.

And that’s where we come back to the Delta. The tradition hasn’t died—it’s flourished. A few years ago, The Feed Lot opened in a little town called Caraway, previously best known as the home of the All-American Redheads, a famed women’s professional basketball team. I would not be surprised if The Feed Lot becomes known far outside our state’s borders. Its version made me cry one day, so tender and extraordinarily juicy that I soaked six napkins with it. The secret choice there is to get some redhot apples and corn with it, and make sure you have rolls to sop.

Fried chicken at Dew-Baby's in Stuttgart.

That tradition is still going strong in Stuttgart. Known as the “Rice and Duck Capital of the World,” the town boasts one fine purveyor of the dish we’re talking about in a gray building along Michigan Street, at a lunchroom run by eight sisters and a sister-in-law. This is Dew-Baby’s. Named after the mother who nurtured them, Dew-Baby’s is a bastion of good comfort and soul food. The fried chicken has a tight crisp to it, where the meat has a strong, long buttermilk soak and just a hint of lemon pepper and gospel. That’s not a typo—the sisters are well known for sharing the Word of God with their customers over chicken thighs and a mayo-and-bacon-laced iceberg salad.

Fried chicken dinner at Mather Lodge at Petit Jean
Mountain State Park near Morrilton.

These things should be evident with any good fried chicken, no matter its lineage of recipe, whether from Italian or African or Scottish roots—and they are sacred in these storied kitchens and dining halls. Go enjoy you some.

Other great places for fried chicken in Arkansas:
Williams Tavern Restaurant at Historic Washington State Park
Chuck Wagon Restaurant at Bee Branch
More on Urbanspoon

An abridged version of this piece appeared in the August 2013 issue of Arkansas Life.

Bernell Austin, the Duchess Drive-In & Fried Pickles.

Atkins was once known as the Pickle Capital of the World. In 1945, the Goldsmith Pickle Company located a plant in the town. Fifteen years later, a guy by the name of Bernell Austin leased a parcel of land from the Griffin Oil Company for ten dollars a month, set on building a restaurant. The little eatery called the Duchess Drive-In was pink and popular with plant employees who’d drop by after work.

Austin, known as “Fats” or “Fatman” to many of his constituents, looked for ways to increase business. In 1963, he struck on a new idea, battering and deep-frying hamburger dill slices and selling them for fifteen cents for a basket of fifteen. Thus the fried pickle was born.

Austin wasn’t happy with that first recipe. He tweaked it and eventually settled on slicing dill pickles the long way and dropping them into a spicy batter before deep frying them to a golden brown. The recipe remains a family secret, though many claim that the Old South in Russellville has gotten ahold of the formula.

With the coming of the new interstate, Austin decided to line up and take advantage of the better traffic, building a new restaurant called the Loner Drive-In out toward the overpass and opening it in 1968. He closed the Duchess Drive-In in September of that year; two weeks later, an eighteen-wheeler ran into the building and destroyed it. Austin continued to operate the Loner Drive-In until he retired in 1978. He passed away in 1999.

Fried pickles at the Arkansas State Fair. (Kat Robinson)

Today, the recipe is definitively used at the Atkins Pickle Festival, held over two days every May. The family estimates some 2,500 orders are placed during the event each year.

Now, I would not claim to know Austin’s famed recipe. But I do know the recipe that’s been taught to me, and Stephanie Wilson has one of her own. Both are below. Feel free to give them a try.

Fried pickle spears at Uncle Dean's Catfish. (Kat Robinson)

Fried Pickles
Stephanie Wilson

1 egg
1 teaspoon dill weed, divided
6 to 8 kosher dill spears, brine reserved
½ cup cornmeal
½ cup all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper

Beat your egg, adding a ½ teaspoon of the dill weed and about a tablespoon of the pickle brine. Mix the cornmeal and flour, adding the other ½ teaspoon of dill weed and salt and pepper to taste.

Dredge the pickles in the cornmeal and flour. Coat them in the egg mixture and then dredge in the cornmeal and flour again. Freeze for about an hour. Deep fry these until golden brown and serve with ranch dressing.

From ModernDayMoms.com

Fried Pickles
Kat Robinson

1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup rice flour or cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ cup water
½ cup pickle juice
1 egg yolk
4 cups dill pickles, cut into ¼-inch slices (this works better than presliced hamburger dills)
Oil for frying

Sift dry ingredients together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk liquids and egg yolk together and then incorporate into dry ingredients. Set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Heat oil to 375 degrees. Working with about a ¼ of the pickles at a time, drop slices into batter and stir around. Using a slotted spoon, remove from batter and carefully place into hot oil. Fry for one to two minutes (like fried okra). Serve warm with ranch dressing.

Lassis Inn: Fish and More Fish.

One of Central Arkansas's oldest restaurants offers a delicacy found in few other eateries anywhere. Find out about the Lassis Inn and the fish they call buffalo, and our experiences with it.

The Best of Better Foods: Neal's Cafe in Springdale.

The only restaurant in Arkansas that serves the magnificent "pulley," Neal's Cafe has offered good fried chicken, home cooking and pie since 1944. Let's take a look inside.

Hot Burgers, Cold Ice Cream and Nostalgia at The Dairyette in Mt. Ida.

Since 1958, Mt. Ida's Dairyette has been the go-to dairy diner for locals and visitors alike, seeking ice cream and burgers. Find out more about this great roadside stop.