The dish…on just one dish!
Recently, there’s been some talk on where to find some good biscuits and gravy around Little Rock. Well, the good news…I did find some legitimate, real-deal biscuits and gravy. The bad news…they’re three hours north in Branson at McFarlain’s Family Restaurant.
Our Spring Break ’13 trip brought us to redneck Vegas in search of amusement parks and wax museums. We found all those things and, of course, biscuits and gravy. Truth be told, I eat b&g just about as much as I go to Branson, which is once every 20 years. It’s hard to imagine a more fattening, gluttonous dish than dense biscuits covered with a mound of hearty gravy.
But at least McFarlain’s is the real deal– no pre-package fake stuff here. Two buttery biscuits are covered with thick, peppery gravy infused with bacon bits and chunks of sausage. You’ll find the biscuits are far superior to the gravy, but together, they do form a nice team.
I was able to tackle one biscuit. Afterwards, regrets and slight depression set in over my almost shameful culinary act. Grown men with high cholesterol have no business eating b&g. But this certainly wasn’t my first, nor last idiotic decision in the name of food journalism.
Here’s hoping that no one finishes an entire order by themselves. Please, for the sake of your own well-being, consider splitting an order with 2…or 10 other individuals.
Finally, if you happen to find some good b&g in Little Rock, please let me know in the comment box. There are some other brave souls out there who would be very appreciative.
As for Branson…here’s to a fabulous Spring Break ’33.
2 Comments
Kevin, love… you’d think it’d be a big thing here. And there are a lot of folks who claim great biscuits and gravy all over the state. But the sad shameful fact is that people are in such a rush to turn out quick food that they cave in and get themselves that powdered blend-with-hot-water stuff and call it good. Dagnabit, good gravy comes from a roux!
Penny’s Diner up in Weiner makes its gravy from a butter roux, which I not only respect but love since I can’t eat real pork fat gravy any more. I know it’s way the hell outta the way, but if you are on 49 headed to Jonesboro it’s worth a stop-in.
Concerning good sausage gravy made from a stiff roux… best I have come into contact with was consumed by the ex at the Broadway Cafe down in Prescott. I will refer you to this photo: http://www.arktimes.com/binary/c469/1315325251-broadway_railroad_cafe_prescot_biscuits_and_gravy.jpg . It smelled right… which is the biggest tell for me on when a gravy comes from a packet or a true roux.
If Calico County ever gets back open in Fort Smith… they are worth checking in for the chocolate gravy, done the right way with a butter-flour roux and cocoa powder.
Closest found in Little Rock and its surrounds? Frontier Diner. I know folks that swear by its sausage cream gravy. Smells all right, though way too creamy in my opinion. But what do I know? I can’t eat it anyway.
I personally blog likewise and I am posting a little something related to this particular posting,
“Biscuits and Gravy in Branson
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