Down here, it was pretty much a grab an go affair, and it’s only been in the last few years that I can remember noticing places that were real actual sit down restaurants.  One such restaurant that I had heard of is Damgoode Pies.  There are a few locations in Little Rock and one in Fayetteville, so it’s not a chain the Domino’s sense of the word.  It’s the kind of place that looks a little sketchy on the outside to be honest.  From outside appearances honestly it has kind of a dive sort of feeling.  Inside is slightly better.

Now aside from being funky and ultra casual, this place has a very friendly atmosphere.  It’s the kind of place where you see young hipsters eating in one booth, and older men with pitchers of beer enjoying a baseball game in the next.  It’s very casual and laid back overall, but better than the ambiance………………….is the pizza.  I like pizza in general, but I LOVE pizza from Damgoode pies.  They have a variety of toppings, crusts, sauces, and cheeses that can either be made into your own combination, or you can have one of their delicious pizzas of their own creation.  My personal favorite is “The Hog” which is a creation of pepperoni, sausage, bacon, and canadian bacon.  We order it stuffy style, which means they put down a crust, add your toppings, add a top crust, bake it and then when it comes out of the oven they top it with your sauce.  This is genius because the pizza doesn’t get soggy in the least because rather than inside the dough, the sauce is on top.  I have been here a few times now, and I can’t get past this pizza.  Everyone I talk to says that every pizza they try is delicious, and one day I will get past The Hog and move on, but it’s just SO GOOD I can’t!  One thing I have tried are the cheese bread sticks which are garlicky and delicious, and when dipped in ranch dressing are nothing short of heavenly.

Check out their website at www.damgoodepies.com and if you are in Little Rock or Fayetteville, stop in and taste the deliciousness.

We ended up in Hope, Arkansas when looking for a place to eat lunch.  Hope is not only the birthplace of Bill Clinton, but of the maid of honor in my wedding!

We ended up in downtown Hope. There seems to be a church on each corner.

We found a cute little place called The Whistle Stop Cafe. How could we resist?

Bakery AND deli? Sounds great. They had a daily lunch special,  which happened to be meatloaf on that day. All lunch specials are $4.99, drink included.  You don’t find a bargain like that very often. Anyway, we got sandwiches.  Rod got a Reuben. To be honest, I didn’t really think he would get a good Reuben in Hope, Arkansas. I was wrong. He loved it. He’s incredibly picky, even refusing Hamburger Helper tonight just because we had dirty rice (from a box) this week once, and anything with hamburger appears to be Hamburger Helper.

I got a cheeseburger. Again, my expectations were smashed when I got a burger that was a hand formed patty from fresh beef. Another touch that I loved that was with each sandwich meal you got a mini dessert. Ours was a small muffin. I think that is an awesome idea because most of the time you are too stuffed for dessert but would like a taste of something sweet.

On the way to the ladies room I peeked in the kitchen and had a nice chat with the owners. They knew we were from  out of town right away.  Maybe we looked like tourists, or we had Texas tags on the car. Whatever it was, they were nice and they wanted to know if we liked our food. I told them I was a little surprised at the quality. Overall, a great find in Hope.

While I was chatting, Rod ordered some banana pudding. I guess I chatted too long.

This is the type of place we love to find. They are moving to a new location next week and I’m not sure of exactly where it will be. I know it is still in downtown Hope, so if you are there, give it a try. It makes it even better if you have been driving around, singing 70’s rock for a few hours!

I would say a most certain YES.  I came to this conclusion a  few days back when we found ourselves in DeKalb, Texas.  It’s very much the kind of town where the churches outnumber the restaurants, but it does have a few little cozy places to grab a burger and a soda.

You might even see a few people on horseback as you cruise town looking for a bite to eat.

We stopped to eat at a little place called Varsity.  Once we got inside, we saw it wasn’t as little as we had thought judging from the outside.  We got our usual type of orders, with only Boo branching out.   She got a Philly Cheesesteak and sweet potato fries. Both were delicious. (Of course I tried it!)

Rod got the burger he had been craving.  I think its called the Varsity Burger, and it was met with approval from Rod, who as I have said before, is a very discriminating eater.

I got the chicken fried steak.  And then it hit me, wow, we write about chicken fried steak a lot…………how many different ways can I explain it?  What makes it different?  First of all, every little place does something a little bit different in terms of breading, and frying etc.  But what really makes each place special is the nuances in service, the people you see, the managers, and the ambiance.

That home-grown feeling is what we are looking for when we try these places, and this one had plenty of that (and a good chicken fried steak to boot!)  The manager came over to visit with us as she did the other patrons.   In talking to her we found out that they have Friday Night Fish Night (YEAH!!) and a breakfast buffet on Saturday.  Of course, we plan to sample the fish as soon as we can.

I love that we are going out of our way to try places that are locally owned.   You just can’t get the food or the service in a chain that mass produces and covers their servers in flair!   I hope that you find yourself trying the same when dine out.   If you are in DeKalb, try The Varsity.   And if you find yourself missing a dining partner, email me because I would gladly go back!

We got there just before the Friday night crowd started in.  We decided to order two appetizers, oysters on the half shell and bruschetta.   In my excitement to see Boo try her first raw oyster, I forgot to get before pictures.   Here is the aftermath.

We also got a little eager on the bruschetta and were grabbing it off the plate right away.   The pictures do not in any way do justice to the food.   As soon as you tasted the tomatoes you could immediately tell how fresh they were, and the cheese was perfectly melted  over the tomatoes and fresh bread.

Everything at Jackie OHS is made to order, even their dinner salads which Boo said was the best she had ever had.  A lot of restaurants just sort of churn out mass salads and you really can’t make any special requests, but they made hers just as she ordered with lots of cheese and a house dressing that is actually made IN HOUSE.

Boo's Salad

The main course came out just as we were finishing our appetizers.   Rod ordered the surf and turf.   He had his choice of steaks and either crab legs or shrimp.   He chose crab legs, again so Boo could have a taste.   (I find it funny that at the beach this summer we ate no seafood.  Everywhere smelled so fishy to me I couldn’t stand it)

I got a hamburger and the wasteland chips. These are the leavins’ of a the homemade french fries they make. I felt like I was doing a good deed for the environment while also having a delicious treat.   They came with a dipping sauce that was addictive. The hamburger patty?     It wasn’t in a perfect circle which to me indicates that instead of flopping a pre-made frozen number on the grill, they actually take real fresh ground beef and make the patty.  This of course is always a better, tastier, juicier choice.

Next was dessert.   We had been set on bread pudding and we certainly weren’t disappointed.  Rod said it was right up there with the best bread puddings he has ever had.  He said the fresh cream enhanced the flavor. He is seriously the pickiest eater ever, so if he says wow this good, that really translates into go buy some now.

If you’re looking for a restaurant that has a fast paced, mass produced feel, Jackie OHS is not your place.  However, if you want some delicious food, in a relaxed atmosphere where you can soak up the ambiance and have some conversation, then make it a must do on your restaurant to do list.  The owners of this restaurant actually come around greet the tables and make sure that everybody is enjoying their food, and their whole entire restaurant experience.  It felt like the kind of restaurants we used to go to when we wanted to enjoy a special night out.  Not that every chain restaurant is evil, but sometimes they have the feeling that they want you to speed eat so they can have a fast turn over.  Jackie OHS wants you to enjoy everything about their place, at your own pace.  Great food, home made desserts, good prices, and fantastic atmosphere make for a winning combination that you definitely need to try.

I feel like my pictures were did not do justice to the food, so take a look at their website. They also have a facebook page!