The Department of Arkansas Heritage has named its fourth class of finalists for the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame, a program launched in 2016 to “to recognize Arkansas’s legendary restaurants, proprietors and food-themed events across the state.” Nominees came in from all 75 Arkansas counties in five categories: Arkansas Food Hall of Fame, Proprietor of the Year, Food-Themed Event, People’s Choice and “Gone But Not Forgotten.”
The finalists are:
Arkansas Food Hall of Fame
AQ Chicken House of Springdale (Washington County)
Bruno’s Little Italy of Little Rock (Pulaski County)
Cattleman’s Steak House of Texarkana (Miller County)
Ed Walker’s Drive-In & Restaurant of Fort Smith (Sebastian County)
Feltner’s Whatta-Burger of Russellville (Pope County)
Kream Kastle of Blytheville (Mississippi County)
Murry’s Restaurant of Hazen (Prairie County)
Neal’s Café of Springdale (Washington County)
The Ohio Club of Hot Springs (Garland County)
Star of India of Little Rock (Pulaski County)
Proprietor of the Year
Capi Peck of Little Rock (Pulaski County)
Matt McClure of Bentonville (Benton County)
Peter Brave of Little Rock (Pulaski County)
Sami Lal of Little Rock (Pulaski County)
Scott McGehee of Little Rock (Pulaski County)
Food-Themed Events
Bradley County Pink Tomato Festival (Bradley County)
International Greek Food Festival (Pulaski County)
Our Lady of the Lake Church’s Annual Spaghetti Dinner (Chicot County)
Tontitown Grape Festival (Washington County)
Gone But Not Forgotten
Habib’s Café (Phillips County)
Mary Maestri’s (Washington County)
Shaddon’s BBQ (Phillips County)
On the selection committee: Paul S. Austin, Swannee Bennett, Evette Brady, Julienne Crawford, C.C. (Chip) Culpepper, Cindy Grisham, Stacy Hurst, Montine McNulty, Tim Morton, Rex Nelson, Tim Nutt, Kat Robinson and Christina Shutt.
The winner in the People’s Choice category is based on the number of nominations for a particular restaurant, so no finalists will be announced. That news, along with the winners in the other four categories, will be announced at an induction ceremony at 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24 at CALS Ron Robinson Theater. A reception precedes the ceremony. Tickets, $20, can be reserved by emailing andrew.vogler@arkansas.gov or calling 501-324-9346, or by visiting arkfoodhof.com.