Ozark Mountain Country Restaurant

201 Keightly Dr. Little Rock, AR 72207 (501) 663-7319 

Decor: This place looks like an old time country general store. It looks similar to a Cracker Barrel, but smaller and doesn’t look as manufactured. They have a counter in front that hides an open kitchen. If you sit to the right side, you get to watch them make your breakfast. There are old time knick-knacks all over the walls.

Cleanliness: Very clean. They are eager to come by and clean your table. There was one guy who was just about jumping on us every time we finished with a plate or glass.

Service: When you first walk in, seat yourself. If you don’t you will hear “Seat Yourself” coming from various places around the room. Sit down and take a look at the menu. Make that a glance. You don’t want to mess around or you will be waiting for a while. It shouldn’t take that long anyway, because they only really have 4 breakfast meals and ala carte.

Cost: At first, we thought this place was expensive. They wanted almost $4 for just a plate with 3 pancakes on it. The Full Breakfast costs $7.99 and comes with everything except pancakes. Ala carte items average about $3. This was starting to look like it might break the budget. We ordered anyway and just decided that we would have to watch our spending. Then they brought out Pancakezilla* and we changed our minds quick. This is not your ordinary wussy plate of IHOP pancakes. These are 3 giant Paul Bunyan flapjacks. They fill the plate.

Taste: They aren’t the best pancakes in the world, but they aren’t the worst either. In fact, you will probably start to wonder if they kidnapped your Gramma and have her in the back cooking pancakes too large for her spatula. That’s exactly what they taste like. Grammacakes.

Tips:

• Don’t get greedy. This stuff is huge.
• Get here early. The parking lot is tiny and hard to move around in.
• Build one huge breakfast from the ala carte menu and share to save money.
• If you are having trouble finding it, that’s because it’s hiding behind the Rexall drug store and Pizza Prefect.
• They also sell smoked meats and other food by the pound.

* This plate of pancakes marks the end of an era. It caused Mike to utter words that he never expected to utter and brought a tear to his eye. Mike has been to diners, restaurants, and breakfast buffets all over America. This is the first time that he has ever had to say, “I can’t finish these pancakes.” Ladies and gentlemen, history has been made here today. Please, a moment of silence.

Popeye’s

3208 S. University Ave. Little Rock, AR 72204 (501) 562-8110 

Decor: A smaller Popeye’s location, it has the typical Popeye’s look, but seems more crowded. It could be bright and cheery inside if the ads on the windows didn’t cut off most of the light from outside.

Cleanliness: Bring your gloves because this place is sticky. We aren’t sure if they ever wipe the place down. The floors usually have a stain from dried up drinks.

Service: Abysmal. The people clearly don’t want to work there and it shows. Every time we go there,  they give us cold chicken and hard biscuits. One time, they tried to give us a box of spicy chicken and it was cold to the touch. We complained and the guy argued with us saying that it was just cooked. We told him to put his hand on the bottom of the box. He admitted it was cold and told us that we could wait 10 minutes for some mild. He clearly wanted us to just take our cold chicken and leave, but we joined the other 3 people waiting for fresh chicken. It ended up being hot, but we aren’t too crazy about their mild chicken.

Cost:  Expensive. The crappy service and bad food make it not worth it. They offer a 10% discount with your UALR card, but it seems to get revoked pretty much on a whim. They always have some excuse for not honoring it.

Taste: If you like cold chicken, this place is for you. This place is a disgrace to the Popeye’s name, especially after experiencing what Popeye’s should be like.

Tips:

• Drive the extra 5 minutes to the Markham location. It is worth the extra hassle.
• Don’t use the drive through. You need to be in there watching their every move.
• Be sure you have good tires if you want to go in the back way. The pavement has 6″ deep potholes that are 2 feet across. No joke.

Popeye’s

11501 W Markham Little Rock, AR 72211 (501) 312-9777

Decor: Basic fast food setting with pictures of Louisiana style food. The dining area is quite large and open with windows all around. They don’t seem to cover the windows with huge ads like most fast food restaurants.

Cleanliness: Very clean. The location has been there for a few years, but the place looks like they built it last week. The floors are shiny, the tables are clean, and even the condiment packets are sorted in a rack on the wall. This place is cleaner than Grandma’s bathroom!

Service: We were greeted by the friendliest, nicest assistant manager ever to wear a fast food uniform. He was so nice, it was almost creepy. Even better, he had a funny British accent and we think it was real. He was polite and helpful. He even made sure that our custom order would not cost more than a similar combo meal. When Mike asked about Sweet Heat sauce, he explained that they didn’t carry it like some of the other Popeye’s locations. It turns out that they are owned by different companies, so they carry some different products. That explains a few things about some of the other locations.

Cost: A little on the expensive side if you like to get full like us. Otherwise, it’s a fair price for families, especially if you get meal combos. Even though the prices are the same as other Popeye’s locations nearby, it doesn’t seem as bad at this one because it is much nicer.

Taste: What a difference from the other locations! The one close to our place always has old, cold, tough chicken and hard biscuits. This Popeye’s has good fresh made food. The rice was so fluffy, it almost bounced when we served it. The chicken was hot and crispy. Mike loved the onion rings, which were large and had a spicy kick to them. Ebony thought they were okay, but had too much spice on them.

Tips:

• Don’t forget to ask for the free onion rings while they last. The manager told us that they are giving them out to everyone who asks so they can see if they should be a full time menu item. The sign said free 6 piece onion ring. They gave us a box with 12 or so.
• Try to go a little later at night if you can. This is one of the busiest parts of Markham, and chances are you will be trying to cut across traffic and fighting for the turning lane with everyone going to McDonald’s, Hardee’s and KFC across the street.

Flying Fish

511 President Clinton Ave. Little Rock, AR 72201 (501) 375-3474

Decor: Looks like the inside of Grampaw’s tackle box.

Cleanliness: Looks cluttered and dusty because of the faded decorations, but actually quite clean.

Service: Order at the counter towards the back, then fish for a table. You have to pick up your own tray when the buzzer goes off.

Cost: About $7-8 per meal. Large, filling portions. More if you order beer. Way more if you order the bucket of beer.

Taste: We once ate here for 5 weekends in a row. It put another X in Mike’s shirt size. ‘Nuff said.

Tips:

• If you like your fish spicy, tell them to “Make it snappy!” It’s our favorite.
• Cheap meal for 2: get the 6 piece family pack. Feeds 2 real good!
• For a free meal, bring a singing fish plaque or show your fishing license.

Flying Fish is a fun place to go and a great place to take your family that’s visiting from out of town. There are fishing items all over the walls. The Liar’s Wall is covered with patrons’ fishing pictures. Another wall is covered with singing fish plaques. You can get all kinds of southern style seafood dishes like fish tacos, seafood gumbo, and oysters on the half shell. One small warning: you will crave this place every time you hear some dirty Mississippi mud blues.

After gorging yourself on fried catfish and hushpuppies, head over to the River Market and walk the Medical Mile to burn off some of that goodness or do some shopping with local vendors.