Top Ten NWA

1. Best Burger: Hugos of Fayetteville

Hugos is probably the coolest restaurant in NWA. It's unpretentious, honest, good, and cheap. Whenever I have friends in town I always recommend this place, it's fayetteville in a microcosm. You've got the college kids, professionals, families, people from all most walks of life. Their fries are pretty decent, but could use work (occasionally soggy). They have a really good grilled trout with a dill tartar sauce, but the burger is the draw here. It's done right, cooked on a grill over a flame (the way meat is supposed to be cooked), perfect bun, and with all the right accompaniments. And at $6.50, it beats crappy Red Robin by far. Beer selection is decent, and the atmosphere is cool too.

2. Best Thai: Taste of Thai

Taste of Thai on the square is truly a fayetteville treasure. Perfect Pad Thai, actually, everything is really good. If you go on a weekend there will be a wait, but it's well worth it! Go for lunch, you get a salad with your entree. If you sit in the front seating area, the decor is really cool, but if you're unlucky enough to get sat in the weird back stockroom/dining room sorry for you. It's pretty weird, like you're sitting at the kids table at thanksgiving or something.

3. Best Ambiance: Bordinos

Bordinos is hands down the hippest restaurant in town. Appropriate lighting, badass drink menu, and pretty decent food. Although a long way from being Babbo or Caffe Museo, the food is all pretty good. There's not much on the menu that I wouldn't recommend. This is a perfect spot to come have a few small plates/tapas (they have a small plate menu]), and drinks, then hit dickson. The Caprase salad, duck, blackened strip all rock. The gnocchi and and wild boar fettuccine is also really good. Also one of the best creme brulee's in town. Bring money, especially if you plan on having drinks. The patio is also awesome, nice addition. If you go on a weekend, definately make reservations!

4. Best Tex-Mex: La Hacienda

Charro Beans, quail, tacos carbon, al ambre,, their own website (how many local mexican places do you know of that have a website?) and a live flamenco guitarist....need I say more. This place isn't the underage binge drinking mexican restaurants that we all know and "love", but it does have damn good food. Got to love the three salsas too.

5. Best Authentic Mexican: El Campesino Market

This little gem is actually in a mexican grocery store in Lowell, it's not advertised, and you better be ready to flex your spanish muscles when you order, because they speak very little english. But the ladies that run the joint are cool little grandma types. They have all the standards: enchilada, tacos , tortas, burritos (asada, lengua, barbacoa, pastor, chicharon), pazole, menudo, caldo res, caldo de mar, etc. Their tamales are probably the best in all of Arkansas, they grind their own masa for pete's sake. Super cheap too.

6. Best Chinese: Formosa

Sorry redneck buffet lovers, you won't find a buffet here...thank christ. But the food is awesome, you can actually taste it. They deliver too, everything is really good. Their dumplings are home made, and steamed to order....get them, they will complete you. Not super cheap, but it's worth it.

7. Best Healthfood: Ozark Natural Foods

Awesome burritos, AWESOME selection of cheeses ( i have a cheese obsession), perfect guilt free take home meals, hummus is great. Pricey, but worth it. It's local, it's organic, and it's a coop. Fayetteville's version of whole foods. And you don't feel like a total lard after eating here...woah there tubby, you're not on the moon yet.

8. Best Fried Chicken: AQ Chicken/Grape Festival Church Dinner/Monte Ne Inn

It's pretty weird, but I love their over the coals chicken. The first time I ate it I was like "why did they deep fry it, then cook it on a grill, then put lemon pepper on it", but now I get cravings for this Frankenstein of a chicken preparation. Tontitown Grape Fest Church Dinner chicken is very good too, I anticipate it like Thanksgiving dinner. Monte Ne Inn is just a cool southern restaurant, if you haven't been, you should definitely go. It gets super busy so make reservations.

9. Best Tontitown "Italian": Venetian Inn

Their spaghetti is awe inspiring! It's all made from scratch, I'll gaurantee you've not had any pasta like this, the sauce is friggin mouthwatering too. The "salad" is sort of odd, it's just iceberg lettuce with a vinegar and oil dressing, nothing else. Their steaks are decent (especially for the price), and the fried chicken is really good too. Their huge yeast rolls are home made and probably the best in NWA.

10. Best Dinner and a Show: Shogun's

Ok, so the food isn't that great, and it's overpriced, but the building is cool and futuristic, decor modern, and the hibachi show is pretty sweet....it brings out the kid in me when I see knives being thrown around, and flames.