With March drawing to a close, let’s take a look back on the Little Rock food scene.

A drive out to Benton yielded some of the best tacos in Central Arkansas, courtesy of the wonderfully friendly and talented folks at Baja Grill. Their pig sooie taco is worth the 25-minute drive from Little Rock. I even had the Cuban burrito for leftovers the next day and that was fan-freaking-tastic as well.

Local Lime’s frozen margarita left me wondering whether my “on the rocks” days were officially over.

Maddie’s Place proved to be a mixed bag. The fried grit balls delighted, as did the rabbit and the chicken thighs. But my dumplings (from the rabbit and dumplings) were off—dense and slightly dry. Frankly, just too many of them resided on my plate. The place’s price point needs to come down a bit as well.

To no surprise, Hillcrest Artisan Meats delighted again…and then again. The beef cheeks sandwich continued to amaze, but the real show stopper was this crazy good lentil salad.

We made a trip across the river to North Little Rock and consumed ribs at White Pig Inn. While the ribs and service were fantastic, the barbeque sauce was disappointing.

Speaking of ribs…my friend Kelly Gee (aka The BBQ Gee-nius) made some of the best ever at a house party hosted by he and his lovely wife Erika. Dude needs to enter his ribs into a competition. They’d win.

I attended another Chef Ferneau cooking class (coordinated by Thanh Rasico). Read more about it here from D-Walker.

The SoMa Food Truck Thursdays started back up for the year. What a turnout…I think something like 700 people and several new trucks. I devoured a mini peach bundt cake from the lovely ladies over at Sugar Shack Sweets, as well as a veggie sandwich from Green Cuisine.

My illustrious radio career kicked off—I did a segment on the Alice Stewart Show, talking about The Mighty Rib, along with why eating barbeque makes me burp a lot. Good stuff. I’ll be joining Michael Roberts and Daniel Walker on her show this Friday, March 29th from 7-7:30am. Would love if you could tune in. We promise to entertain!

I was also invited to be a guest judge for the upcoming Jumbo Gumbo Cookoff. I’m so thankful and excited about the opportunity.

My friend Zara, who many of you might know from Twitterverse, is making specialty cakes. I purchased the strawberry lemonade cake and can certainly vouch for its excellence and affordability. Please hit her up on Twitter.

In ‘Never Done that Before’ news—I interviewed Ian from the soon-to-be-opening Stone’s Throw Brewing in downtown LR, while he sat atop some scaffolding. My lower back is still aching, but the future addition of another nano-brewery in the Rock will ease my pain.

A rowdy group of ten met at Ciao Baci for a fantastic meal last Saturday night. My highlights were the cheese grits, rillette, chicken sliders, along with listening to Michael Roberts’ heart stop after he devoured a monster burger (with egg on top).