The 2019 finalists for the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame have been announce by the Department of Arkansas Heritage. The hall recognizes restaurants, proprietors and food-themed events throughout the state.
Among this year’s finalists, in the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame category, is Burge’s Restaurant. The eatery began in Lewisville in 1962 and also has a Little Rock location. The small, retro-feeling restaurant is most famous for its smoked turkeys and hams.
The Hope Watermelon Festival was also a finalist in the Food-Themed Events category.
Each year, a total of five finalists are inducted and are broken into three categories. The hall of fame designations have been issued by DAH since 2017. If either Burge’s or Hope’s watermelon festival are inducted, they would be the first entry from southwest Arkansas to be recognized.
Other 2019 Arkansas Food Hall of Fame finalists are as follows:
• Arkansas Food Hall of Fame: AQ Chicken House, Springdale; 4-Dice Restaurant, Fordyce; Bruno’s Little Italy, Little Rock; Craig Brothers Cafe, DeValls Bluff; Doe’s Eat Place, Little Rock; Keeney’s Food Market, Malvern; Kream Kastle, Blytheville; the Ohio Club, Hot Springs; Star of India, Little Rock.
• Proprietor of the Year: Capi Peck, Trio’s, Little Rock; Loretta Tacker, Tacker’s Shake Shack, Marion; Peter Brave, Brave New Restaurant, Little Rock; Sami Lal, Star of India, Little Rock; Scott McGehee, Yellow Rocket Concepts, Little Rock.
• Food-Themed Events: International Greek Food Festival; Our Lady of the Lake Church’s Annual Spaghetti Dinner; Tontitown Grape Festival; World Championship Duck Gumbo Cookoff.