The Story in Van Winkle Hollow
A quiet place along Highway 12 between Rogers and Eureka Springs holds...
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In Arkansas, some of our best stories are told around a table.
You find them in restaurants where generations have ordered the same plate, at festivals built around a crop that shaped a community and in recipes passed down long before anyone thought to write them. They are also found in the fields, vineyards and farms that have supplied Arkansas kitchens for generations.
While a Food Hall of Fame might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about historic preservation, in Arkansas it makes perfect sense for us!
In 2016, the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame opened its first round of nominations. Created by the Division of Arkansas Heritage, the program honors the restaurants, proprietors, food traditions and events that help tell Arkansas’s culinary story.
10 years later, the list has become more than a collection of awards. It is a road map for tasting Arkansas.
Why Food Belongs in Arkansas Heritage
Arkansas Heritage Director Marty Ryall said the idea grew from recognizing the many iconic restaurants, food traditions and pieces of food history across the state. Food is part of a place’s culture. It connects families and communities, preserves agricultural traditions, and creates memories that can last long after a favorite restaurant closes.
The Arkansas Food Hall of Fame shines a light on those stories.
Each year, Arkansans nominate favorites across five categories:
- Arkansas Food Hall of Fame
- Proprietor of the Year
- Food-Themed Event
- Gone But Not Forgotten
- People’s Choice
The committee reviewing those nominations brings together diverse perspectives, including historians, chefs, restaurant owners and food enthusiasts. According to Ryall, those backgrounds lead to lively discussion before the group works toward consensus. That representation also helps the team cover different parts of Arkansas, preserving flavors and destinations synonymous with the Natural State.
Nine Years of Arkansas Foods
Unlike other Food Hall of Fame awards, the committee selects the Food of the Year rather than relying on public nominations.
Ryall said the group looks for something strongly associated with Arkansas. It might be an important agricultural commodity, a food with significant economic value or an ingredient tied to the state’s history. The list is long, and they still have plenty of options.
The selections have created quite a pantry:
- 2025: Cynthiana grape
- 2024: Honey
- 2023: Pecans
- 2022: Chicken
- 2021: Corn
- 2020: Rice
- 2019: Catfish
- 2018: Tamales
Tamales were the first selection and remain the only prepared dish on the list. Since then, the committee has focused on Arkansas-grown or Arkansas-produced ingredients that can serve as the starting point for many dishes, countless recipes and food traditions.
Rice, chicken, catfish, corn, pecans and honey tell stories about Arkansas agriculture. But they also lead us back to family recipes, restaurants, festivals and communities.
Meet Arkansas’s Cynthiana Grape
Selected as the 2025 Arkansas Food of the Year, the Cynthiana grape links Arkansas agriculture to a much older American story.
Cynthiana (Vitis aestivalis) is considered the oldest native North American grape still in commercial cultivation. It was identified as early as 1770 and is closely associated with the Norton grape, which was cultivated in Virginia and was commercially available by 1830.
Sometimes called the “Cabernet of the Ozarks,” Cynthiana is winter-hardy and particularly disease-resistant, qualities that make it well suited to the growing conditions in this part of the country.
The grape became part of Arkansas’s wine-growing tradition, particularly around Altus and the Arkansas River Valley, where commercial vineyards began to develop in the 1880s.
Arkansas officially recognized the connection in 2009, when the Arkansas General Assembly designated Cynthiana as the official state grape. The legislation was proposed by Audrey House of Château Aux Arc in Franklin County to draw attention to Arkansas’s grape-growing and winemaking heritage.
Today, Cynthiana remains connected to Arkansas wine country and to the generations of growers and winemakers who have helped establish the Altus area as one of the state’s distinctive agricultural destinations.
In other words, it is exactly the kind of food the Food of the Year designation is meant to highlight. One small grape can lead to stories about agriculture, immigration, entrepreneurship, Arkansas wine and the communities that grew around it.
Eat Your Way Through the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame
The Arkansas Food Hall of Fame becomes especially fun when you stop thinking of it as an awards list and start viewing it as a travel guide.
I have personally used the inductees and nominees when planning Arkansas itineraries. They can serve as anchor stops when deciding where to eat lunch or dinner on a road trip, but many are destination-worthy on their own.
Need a reason to head to Dumas? Taylor’s Steakhouse, inducted in 2025, has drawn diners to southeast Arkansas for years. Planning your route along Arkansas’s pie trail? Neal’s Cafe in Springdale, a 2022 inductee, gives you another reason to pull up a chair.
The 2025 class alone shows how geographically diverse the list can be. K Hall & Sons in Little Rock, Taylor’s Steakhouse in Dumas, and The Ohio Club in Hot Springs joined the Hall of Fame, while the Arkansas Pie Festival in Cherokee Village was recognized as a food-themed event.
Then there are the places that are gone but certainly not forgotten.
Those names can transport Arkansans back to childhood dinners, grandparents’ birthdays, graduation celebrations, first dates or summer road trips. Recognizing them preserves something that cannot always be captured in a building or a recipe: the memory of what gathering there meant.
The Arkansas Food Hall of Fame helps document the restaurants and food traditions that have shaped Arkansas communities, including those in small towns travelers might otherwise pass by.
Help Tell the Next Arkansas Food Story
The Arkansas Food Hall of Fame does not rely solely on historians or food experts to decide which stories matter. Arkansans get to help.
Nominations for the next class are open through Sept. 30, giving the public an opportunity to recognize restaurants, proprietors, and food traditions they believe deserve a place in Arkansas’s culinary history.
Hall of Fame restaurant nominees must be Arkansas-owned, cannot be national chains, and must have been in business for at least 25 years. Other categories include influential proprietors, community food events, beloved restaurants that have closed and newer favorites through People’s Choice.
Maybe that is the best part of celebrating 10 years of the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame.
The program reminds us that heritage is not only found behind museum glass or on a historic marker. Sometimes it is served on a plate. Sometimes it grows in an Arkansas field. And sometimes it is the restaurant you have driven past a hundred times, unaware that people travel from across the state just to eat there.
So, the next time you’re planning an Arkansas road trip, take a look at the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame and let food guide a stop or two. Oh, and if you were choosing another food to represent Arkansas, what would be at the top of your list?
Cover image by the author; all other images provided by the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism.
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