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!