50 States of Wonder
Black Apples and 6 Other Southern Specialties Thriving in Arkansas

This two-table eatery in the town of Marianna was the first restaurant in Arkansas to ever receive a James Beard Award. The owners, James and Betty Jones, hadn’t even heard of the awards before winning in the 2012 “America’s Classics” category. The sign out front reads “since 1964,” but the operation dates back to at least 1910. James Jones’s family recipes are the same ones that his grandfather used when he sold barbecued meat out of his home, and that his father used when he opened up a restaurant known as “the Hole in the Wall” (so called because everything was served through a window).

Today, James runs the pit and restaurant. Oak and hickory logs burn in a cinderblock barbecue pit, where pork shoulders—the only meat he sells—smoke for 12 hours at a time. Aside from pork by the pound, the menu also includes sandwiches. The sheer simplicity reminds diners that perfect barbecue needs no smoke and mirrors, only smoke. (Read more.)

Opossums are known for fake-outs: They play dead when they’re not. But “possum pie” doesn’t include any kind of marsupial, dead or alive. Rather, this Arkansas specialty earned its nickname because it “plays possum,” meaning it also tries to fake out diners with deceptive layers. Don't think too hard about the name.

The dessert often includes chocolate custard—along with a hidden layer cream cheese, sour cream, or vanilla pudding—beneath a mountain of whipped cream. Bakers typically opt for a pecan sandy crust and finish off the pie with a sprinkle of pecans. Stoby's serves their possum pie out of a repurposed train depot and dining car. (Read more.)

Every fall, hundreds of chefs from all around the country head to Bentonville to take part in a heated competition. They baste, emulsify, marinate, and flambé. They make everything from bratwurst to lollipops. But they all have something in common: They’re cooking with squirrel. Squirrel meat has been a part of the American palate since before the colonial era, but Joe Wilson—who organized the inaugural World Champion Squirrel Cook-Off in 2012—has done his best to rebrand the protein for the current age. 

It’s now an annual event, drawing hundreds of squirrel-cookers and thousands of spectators. Judges rate dishes based on presentation, texture, and “use of squirrel,” and the winners take home a cash prize. (The remaining proceeds are donated to charity.) (Read more.)

Those who grew up in the mountainous regions of Appalachia or the Ozarks likely remember the smell of rich, dark gravy cooling in a skillet on the stove. Before gravy adopted savory connotations, it simply referred to any stove-top sauce thickened with roux. 

Resourceful chefs made gravy from scraps, leftovers, and whatever else might’ve gone to waste. That said, the basic combination of cocoa powder, flour, milk, and sugar (and in some kitchens, lard or bacon grease) is no consolation prize. A visit to Phil's, in the highly unusual National Park town of Hot Springs, will reward you with chocolate gravy, among other Arkansan specialties. (Read more.)

Hot Springs, Arkansas, is home to a national park unlike any other. In addition to its springs and bathhouses, the area is well-known for its storied history of illegal gambling, hiding fugitives, and protecting underworld figures. Al Capone had his own room in the town’s Arlington Hotel, while Bonnie and Clyde bathed in the healing waters to recover from injuries. 

Walking down one side of Central Avenue today, you’ll notice that Superior Bathhouse—a destination where guests could once get hydrotherapy and mercury treatments in the early 20th century—is now a brewery. They serve everything from kölsch to stout to IPAs, and even offer a root beer made with water from the hot springs. (Read more.)