The Oxford English Dictionary defines a dairy bar as "A snack bar that sells ice cream and other refreshments." Here in Arkansas, it describes a whole selection of restaurants we love. What makes a dairy bar different from other food establishments? It's a location that serves ice cream - and sustenance other than ice cream, like burgers, or hot dogs. It serves these delights from a window at a permanent facility.
Most of Arkansas's dairy bars have long roots into the past, some having been in existence 50 years or more. There are a few younger joints here and there. All of these are classic eateries.
Come travel with Arkansas food historian Kat Robinson, host of the Emmy-nominated Make Room for Pie, as she travels to every corner of Arkansas, to seek out delectable dishes and the stories behind the folks that make them, on this fantastic itinerary of Arkansas dairy bars.
Venture into every corner of the state with this handy guide that takes you to each and every mom-and-pop shop, local favorites that stand at the heart of their communities, beloved destinations where generations return again and again to enjoy nostalgic fare that's absolutely unbeatable. Use the handy edge guide to explore all eight regions of The Natural State. Read the history behind these places, and enjoy more than 350 photos and illustrations that will have you hankering for a culinary roadtrip.
This book serves as a companion book to Arkansas Dairy Bars: Neat Eats and Cool Treats, Robinson's 2021 documentary on must-visit dairy bars around the state. The film appears in cooperation with Arkansas PBS, and can be viewed on the network and through its online presence.
Robinson's expertise has been cited with numerous national outlets, such as Food Network and USA Today. The Arkansas Food Hall of Fame Selection Committee Member and Arkansas fellow to the National Food and Beverage Museum is known as the author of Arkansas Food: The A to Z of Eating in The Natural State, 101 Things to Eat in Arkansas Before You Die, and a personal cookbook memoir, A Bite of Arkansas: A Cookbook of Natural State Delights, along with seven other books on food in Arkansas.
Robinson, Kat: - Kat Robinson is Arkansas's food historian and most enthusiastic road warrior. The Little Rock-based author is the host of the Emmy-nominated documentary Make Room For Pie; A Delicious Slice of The Natural State and the Arkansas PBS show Home Cooking with Kat and Friends, as well as the host and producer of the 2021 documentary Arkansas Dairy Bars: Neat Eats and Cool Treats. She is a member of the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame committee, a co-chair of the Arkansas Pie Festival, and the Arkansas fellow to the National Food and Beverage Museum.She has written eleven books on food, most notably Arkansas Food: The A to Z of Eating in The Natural State, an alphabetic guide to the dishes, delights and food traditions that define her home state. Two of her more recent travel guides, 101 Things to Eat in Arkansas Before You Die and 102 More Things to Eat in Arkansas Before You Die define the state's most iconic and trusted eateries. Robinson's Another Slice of Arkansas Pie: A Guide to the Best Restaurants, Bakeries, Truck Stops and Food Trucks for Delectable Bites in The Natural State outlines more than 400 places to find the dessert, an extraordinary accomplishment that took thousands of miles, hundreds of hours and so many bites to properly document and catalogue.She shares her personal life experiences in A Bite of Arkansas: A Cookbook of Natural State Delights, the 2020 memoir and cookbook which offers 140 recipes made by and photographed herself. She also edited and contributed to the collection 43 Tables: An Internet Community Cooks During Quarantine.In addition to this work, the nostalgic Arkansas Dairy Bars: Neat Eats and Cool Treats, the companion book for the Arkansas PBS television special of the same name, Robinson's other 2021 work, Arkansas Cookery: Retro Recipes from The Natural State. In the book, she examines mid-century cookbooks from all over Arkansas. Robinson's collection of more than 400 20th century cookbooks and research into common threads of shared recipes, cooking methods and flavors of the era has been brought together for this lovingly photographed collection of the foods previous generations brought to the table. The recipes, redacted and cooked with period methods at The Writer's Colony at Dairy Hollow in Eureka Springs, were all shot on location. The lushly illustrated book will be released in fall 2021.Kat Robinson's work has appeared in regional and national publications including Food Network, Forbes Travel Guide, Serious Eats, and AAA Magazines, among others. Her expertise in food research and Arkansas restaurants has been cited by Saveur, Eater, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Outline, and the Southern Foodways Alliance's Gravy podcast, for her skills and talents related to food research and documentation.Her efforts have been celebrated in articles by Arkansas Good Roads, Arkansas Business, 501 Life Magazine, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. She has served as the keynote speaker for the South Arkansas Literary Festival and the Arkansas Library Association Conference and has spoken at the Six Bridges Literary Festival, Eureka Springs Books in Bloom and the Fayetteville True Lit Festival.While she writes on food and travel subjects throughout the United States, she is best known for her ever-expanding knowledge of Arkansas food history and restaurant culture, all of which she explores on her 1200+ article website, TieDyeTravels.com. Kat lives with daughter Hunter and partner Grav Weldon in Little Rock.
