A couple weeks back, I posted this question on Facebook:

“Tomorrow…you’re moving away from Little Rock but can take one specific restaurant dish with you to your new city. Which one dish are you taking?”

We had plenty of great responses, so I wanted to take a few … 25 to be exact, all from different restaurants … and highlight them in a post. Some of these dishes below are quite popular, like the shrimp & grits at Maddie’s and fish & chips at The Pantry. Some are a little under the radar, like the hummus at The Terrace and tomato basil soup at Raduno. Heck, there are some that I didn’t even know existed and now want to try out, like the bento box at Hanaroo and the dumplings at Fantastic China. So, I hope you enjoy this list, collected from readers’ responses…

1. Spicy Chicken & Dumplings at The Southern Gourmasian
2. Eggplant Casserole at Franke’s Cafeteria
3. Blackened Ribeye at The Faded Rose
4. Shrimp and Grits at Maddie’s Place
5. Chicken Liver Salad at South on Main
6. Fried Catfish and “fixins” at Bobby’s Country Cookin’
7. Tomato Basil Soup at Raduno
8. Prosciutto and Arugula Pizza at ZAZA
9. Fish & Chips at The Pantry
10. Saag Paneer at Star of India
11. Seasonal Frito Chili Burger at Big Orange
12. Salpicão at Café Bossa Nova
13. Smoked Turkey Salad at Burge’s
14. Biscuits and Gravy at The Root
15. Pad Thai at kBird
16. Calzone at Vino’s
17. Filet at Riverfront Steakhouse
18. Turkey Pastrami at Boulevard
19. Tamale Pie Dip at Heights Taco & Tamale Co.
20. Cheeseburger at Cotham’s
21. Szechuan Dumplings at Fantastic China
22. Jumbo BBQ Pork Sandwich at H.B.’s BBQ
23. Tuna Tataki Bento Box at Hanaroo
24. Mardi Gras Roll from Sky Modern Japanese
25. Hummus at The Terrace

My Take: Out of the dishes mentioned above, there are many that I would definitely miss if I moved away tomorrow. The Salpicão at Bossa Nova is right at the top of that list, simply because I’ve never had a dish like it. The same can be said about the Spicy Chicken & Dumplings at The Southern Gourmasian. It’s a very unique dish, and I doubt you’d ever find anything like it, no matter what city you lived in. I definitely wouldn’t miss the Chicken Liver Salad at South on Main because I despise all liver, but I’d definitely be sad about leaving behind the Eggplant Casserole from Franke’s. That dish, although quite gross looking, is delicious … and it screams Little Rock.

Eggplant Casserole at Franke’s