Business lunches often take place in fancy dining rooms with dark walls and soft lighting, white cloth napkins folded nicely upon white tablecloth and the cushioned seats made from poplar. Starting off with a round of Old Fashioneds, the menus offer field greens and pimento cheese followed by blackened salmon, a taco salad or maybe a chicken caprese sandwich.
Such upscale settings have always been popular spots for business lunches, and downtown Little Rock is filled with some excellent ones — Capital Bar & Grill, Samantha’s Tap Room & Wood Grill, and Cache Restaurant, to name just a few. They offer some comfort food, as well — this being Arkansas, after all — but the menus at these spots trend more Peter Millar than Carharrt, the settings more Mad Men than Mayberry.
Business deals, however, are made just as often in places where one might expect to bump into Andy and Barney — places where business gets done over plates of chicken fried steak, burgers or ribs, where those glorious hard-plastic red cups of Coke, or maybe even a Sam Pittman-style “col’ beer,” leave rings on the vinyl tabletop or checkerboard tablecloth.
Little Rock has plenty of these spots as well, and they too draw the Mad Men set. Inside them, diners are as likely to encounter a CEO as you are the cable guy, the next governor or the county sheriff.
Whether the business discussed takes place inside the Arkansas State Capitol, at a corner office, on a job site or in the middle of a rice field, establishments like Doe’s Eat Place, Homer’s East, Cotham’s in the City and Capitol Smokehouse & Grill provide the suits and the 9-to-5’ers alike a chance to fill up at lunch, bond over bread pudding and perhaps pound a suddenly much-needed 5-hour Energy on the way back to the office, whatever shape or form it may take.
The fare found at these spots represents the staples, the stick-to-your-ribs classics that define Southern appetites. Meat and taters, for sure, but there is plenty to appease the “healthier” palate — you know, turnip greens and the like. But the tamales, the catfish, the meat loaf — that is what drives these power lunch spots. These are the tried-and-true classics.
With all due respect to upscale dining and the talented chefs whose artistry and creativity tap new realms of flavor, it is doubtful gluten-free scallops ever turned a mouth to water. The tamales at Doe’s, the plate lunches at Homer’s and Cotham’s, or the meat loaf at Capitol Smokehouse, on the other hand?
The iconic establishments featured on the pages that follow became that way for one reason — the food is good. Simple and good. And hard-working men and women work up an appetite by lunchtime that requires more than soup or fish (unless the latter is of the fried cat variety, of course).
We salute them all — The Mad Men lunch spots and the Mayberry diners. Power lunches can be had over appetizers of cheese dip, fried okra, red pepper hummus or avocado toast, and the “see-and-be-seen” crowd is satiated either way.
Little Rock is an underrated food town, and whether one’s tastes lean trendy or greasy, the food is exceptional across the spectrum.
But this day, we honor the greasy. Adipe carpe!
(Photos by Jamie Lee)
Capitol Smokehouse & Grill
Candy Wilkerson’s Capitol Smokehouse & Grill is a John Daly drive from the steps of the Capitol, and the noon breeze often carries the aroma of tender, moist pork, cooked low and slow, across the upper Capitol Avenue corridor.
Wilkerson bought what became the Smokehouse in 2008 with her late husband, Doug. They had owned the popular Lucky 7 restaurant near McArthur Park for about a dozen years before spending another 10 in the school catering business. When the former Mr. Mason’s Pit Bar-B-Q on Capitol was put on the market in 2008, the Wilkersons decided it was time to get back in the restaurant business.
(Photos by Jamie Lee)
When they bought Mr. Mason’s, the purchase included the barbecue recipes, which the couple tweaked and enhanced. To the delight of their former customers from Lucky 7, the Wilkersons brought back the plate lunches that had made their previous restaurant such a hit.
“We have really good home-cooked meals like Mama used to cook,” Candy Wilkerson said.
(Photos by Jamie Lee)
Though known for its barbecue, the restaurant’s best-selling lunch dish is meat loaf. It is so popular, meat loaf is on the menu Monday through Friday as one of the daily specials alongside classics like chicken and dressing, fried chicken breast, chicken fried steak, chicken spaghetti, pot roast and catfish.
The list of sides reads like the menu for Thanksgiving in Heaven — mashed potatoes, turnip greens, squash casserole, green beans, baked potato salad, baked beans and cole slaw.
(Photos by Jamie Lee)
The barbecue at the Smokehouse has been written up and praised by national food bloggers. In 2010, it was even featured in Maxim, which rated it “one of the 10 best temples to ‘cue in the world.”
As Doug Wilkerson told Sync Weekly that same year, the secret to the ‘cue at Capitol Smokehouse is a combination of pecan and hickory for smoking, not using wet or green wood for the fire, and most importantly, make that fire cook meat low and slow.
Doug passed away in 2016, but his wife carries on the Capitol Smokehouse way with a focus on customers and making them feel welcome. Candy said good food is most important but happy customers who can get in and out quickly when needed is a close second. As for the latter, that can be a challenge when the legislature is in session and lawmakers make the short walk. The Smokehouse’s proximity to the Capitol comes in handy.
“During the legislative session, it’s a huge advantage,” Wilkerson said. “We’re within walking distance from the Capitol and the federal building, as well as many state agencies.”
Doe’s Eat Place Little Rock
The tale of Doe’s Eat Place is a familiar one to Little Rock foodies. Delta restaurateur and pilot George Eldridge had been flying clients and friends to the original Doe’s in Greenville, Miss., for years. Eventually, he bought the right to bring the name and menu to Little Rock and in 1988, opened Doe’s Eat Place Little Rock.
(Photos by Jamie Lee)
Other independent Doe’s have since sprung up, but Doe’s Little Rock stayed true to the original’s no-frills tradition in its “decidedly downscale” location at the corner of West Markham and Ringo streets in a back corner of downtown Little Rock.
Katherine Eldridge and former President Bill Clinton
Like its Greenville counterpart, Doe’s Little Rock is known for its steaks and tamales, and its renown went national during Bill Clinton’s presidential run in 1992. Doe’s was a favorite of then-Gov. Clinton, and it became a hangout of Clinton campaign staffers. Clinton was even interviewed and photographed for the cover of Rolling Stone at Doe’s.
The January following the ’92 election, Eldridge and former Doe’s chef Lucille Robinson were guests at Clinton’s inaugural ball.
Since then, Doe’s has served as a bucket list location for musicians, politicians, athletes and other celebrities visiting Little Rock. The restaurant has been written up in other national publications, including People, and was the subject of AMP’s “Digs of the Deal” series.
Katherine Eldridge took over ownership of Doe’s Little Rock from her father in 2012, and the restaurant carries on the tradition as prime business lunch spot. Eldridge said the three different dining rooms are ideal for business lunches.
“It’s easy to find a spot that is private enough to talk business,” she said.
Though steaks are on the lunch menu too, Eldridge said the restaurant’s acclaimed cheeseburgers and hot tamales are the most popular items at lunch. Also popular? The spaghetti with chicken or meatballs. The spaghetti, burgers and steaks have all received glowing reviews from food critics and bloggers.
The Eat Your Way Across the USA blog called Doe’s steaks gorgeous and up to “three pounds of pillowy porterhouse, sirloin or T-bone.” The blog even called the ambience delicious, a “sort of pool-hall chic with a worn linoleum floor, pictures of Delta bluesmen on the wall, and waitresses in blue jean cut-offs and sneakers.
Over the years, Eldridge learned just how to accommodate the lunch rush that provides such an eclectic atmosphere.
“Know your customers and their needs,” she said. “Get their order, and then don’t interrupt. Watch them closely in case they need anything.”
Homer’s East
Former Gov. Frank White appreciated a good meal as much as the next executive, and he is credited with calling Homer’s the lunch spot where “the elite meet to eat.”
Of course, it has also been said, likely by many lawmakers who have cleaned a plate at Homer’s, the unassuming little diner in an industrial area near Clinton National Airport, that more bills have been passed on the floor at Homer’s than on the Senate floor.
Opened in 1986, Homer’s — now referred to Homer’s East since expansion out west about a decade ago — sits unassumingly on Little Rock’s Roosevelt Road, a quick taxi from the airport. Owner Katrina Vaughn makes sure the original is the same greasy spoon that attracts business suits and line workers alike.
“I personally think the key to our success has been good food and good people,” she said. “On any given day, you can find construction workers, attorneys, teachers, business owners, families and even politicians in the dining room. We aren’t fancy, but we pride ourselves on good food and great customer service. At Homer’s, we want you to feel like you are home.”
The daily plate lunch specials do a good job of doing just that, and Vaughn said they remain the diner’s best sellers. The top tastes are the country-fried steak, meat loaf, and chicken and dressing, she said. “All our entrees are served with two vegetable sides and a delicious yeast roll, the type of meal I grew up on for family dinner.”
(Photos by Jamie Lee)
Homer’s industrial location suits its blue-collar menu. It is not a far drive from downtown but is most definitely off the beaten business path. Still, Vaughn said Homer’s East attracts diners from all over the city.
“Our location isn’t fancy, but we do everything we can to provide a delicious home-cooked meal and friendly place to dine,” she said.
Those home-cooked meals extend to breakfast as, well, and include staples like biscuits and gravy and the Homer’s special — two eggs (any style), two hotcakes, hash browns, and a choice of sausage or bacon.
Weekly lunch specials include meat loaf, chicken-fried chicken, oven-baked chicken, country-fried steak, chicken and dumplings, chicken and dressing, a catfish dinner, a Mexican plate, and even grilled salmon and a veggie plate (large or small), and Homer’s is known for its burgers too.
Vaughn insists that the recipe for longstanding success is simple: good food, great service.
Work and life can be difficult at times,” she said. “So it’s nice to have a place for lunch that makes you feel the comforts of home.”
Cotham’s in the City
If the Capitol Smokehouse is only a Daly swing from the Capitol, then Cotham’s in the City is but a KJ Jefferson deep shot to Luke Hasz from the halls of government.
After all, as they say in real estate, it is all about location, location, location.
Owner Jon Griffin said the restaurant’s prominent spot at the corner of West Third and Victory streets, right where downtown starts to take form and just two blocks from the Capitol building, serves it well. Like Doe’s, Cotham’s bills itself as the place where “the elite meet to eat.”
“We are a perfect spot for folks handling business or politics to drop in for a quick, home-cooked bite,” he said, adding that “we are walking distance from several surrounding businesses.”
Griffin said the location is a great advantage, especially when the legislature is in session.
“We love that time of year when legislators, lobbyists and our non-political regulars all rub shoulders together,” he said.
Oct. 1 marked the 24th anniversary of the opening of Cotham’s in the City, an offshoot of the former Cotham’s Mercantile in Scott. The original, built in 1912, became known as a hangout for prominent state politicians (think Bill Clinton, David Pryor) for its bayou setting and delicious comfort food like the famous “Hupcap Burger” and Mississippi Mud pie.
When the city cousin opened in 1999, all but the bayou setting was replicated in downtown Little Rock, and dealmakers who do not have time to make the 30-minute drive to the western reaches of the Delta had an option.
The original mercantile burned down in 2017, but its spirit lives on at Cotham’s in the City. Griffin said the most popular menu items, as expected, are the cheeseburger and the daily plate lunches, which include a half-pound hamburger steak, chicken and dumplings, chicken-fried steak, fried chicken, and fried pork chops.
The Hubcap Burger has always held a spot inside the pantheon of central Arkansas burgers, and its name was born of its size. In 2009, the burger was featured on the popular TV show, Man v. Food. Cotham’s even has an entry in the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, the online database of all things Arkansas run by the Central Arkansas Library System.
The restaurant is as iconic as any in Arkansas.
“Cotham’s has been ingrained in this community for years,” Griffin said. “We have learned over time that it’s really just about good food and good people. Our customers know that we are as invested in them as they are in us.”
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