I rarely eat cheese dip. It’s not that I don’t love melted cheese, it’s just not a dish I seek out. That said, I do understand and respect how important cheese dip is to the identity of our local food scene. So, last week I posted this question on Facebook: “What is your absolute favorite cheese dip in the Little Rock area?”

In all, 43 different restaurants were mentioned in the thread, an extremely high, albeit, not surprising number given the extreme popularity of this dish in Little Rock. Here are how the results broke out…

Top 5 Vote Getters

Heights Taco & Tamale Co. (23)
Mexico Chiquito (16)
Big Orange (15)
Local Luna (14)
Dizzy’s (11)

My Take: Commenters have mentioned the dynamite cheese dip from several of these restaurants before on this blog, so I’m not surprised to see so much love and support for these top five. Dizzy’s and Loca Luna are not places in my regular rotation, so I can’t personally attest to them–but it gives me a “no-fail” app to try when I check out these places.

Other Popular Cheese Dips

Local Lime (10), The Fold (8), Lost Forty (7), El Porton (6), La Hacienda (6), Baja Grill (5), Buffalo Grill (5), Senior Tequila’s (5), Canon Grill (4), Casa Manana (4), El Palenque (3), The Faded Rose (3), Gadwall’s (3), Cheers in the Heights (3), Cantina Laredo (3)

My Take: From this list, I’ve had the cheese dip at El Porton, Baja Grill, Local Lime, and The Fold. All were quite enjoyable. Can you believe I’ve never even been to Buffalo Grill? What should I order, besides the cheese dip? Unfortunately, I’m not a fan of the food at Canon Grill, Cantina Laredo, or Senior Tequila’s, so I don’t see those cheese dips happening in my immediate future.

Others Receiving Mentions

Purple Cow, Alley Oops, Izzy’s, Super 7, Tacos 4 Life, Taco Pronto, Red Door, Taqueria Karina, Chuy’s, Trio’s, North Bar, Prospect Bar, On the Border, Santo Coyote, Town Pump, Blue Coast Burrito, Samantha’s, Boudreaux’s, Markham Street Grill, Gypsy’s, Cactus Jack’s