Wright’s Barbecue, Fayetteville, Arkansas

Our Senior Arkansas Correspondent, Julie Rokala, sent this report from a football visit to Fayetteville. Wright’s is actually is in Johnson, Arkansas, just north of Fayetteville. There’s another Wright’s nearby in Bentonville. It’s very pretty country, and the area is growing rapidly. I haven’t been there in nearly 50 years, when I volunteered for a month for a young congressional candidate. He lost, thus avoiding being caught up in the congressional post office scandal, and went on to serve as Arkansas Attorney General and Governor, and President. I’d join him when he came to Fort Smith, often for a sandwich and a beer or two, and I got up to the Fayetteville headquarters a few times. He was always very personable.

But I digress. Julie Rokala is a neighbor in both DC and Calvert County. You met her having a nice glass of wine here, and may remember her contribution of a salad with bacon grease salad dressing. It was really good. Enough of that. Let’s get to her report.

My besties from college, Jeb and Missy Joyce, hosted me for a Razorback weekend. Great win over South Carolina for the Hogs!

Missy insisted that we must go to Wright’s after the game.

We waited in the line to order for about 30 minutes. It was well worth the wait! Jeb works at a law firm down the road and eats there often enough to have had everything on the menu. We all shared an order of queso with brisket accompanied by tortilla chips, and an order of burnt ends. Both were fantastic. Perfectly cooked!

Jeb ordered the sliced brisket with green beans and macaroni and cheese as his sides.

Jeb boasted that Wright’s serves the best brisket in Northwest Arkansas. Jeb wasn’t wrong.

The brisket was some of the best I have ever had! I got a chopped brisket sandwich with a side of green beans. The green beans were sweet — I suspect from the addition of sugar. They were quite nice. I had a local beer by Bike Rack, which was also good.

Missy ordered sliced brisket and a couple of ribs for later, with baked beans and potato salad as her sides.

I had a bite of her brisket to experience the sliced version — delicious. There was a perfect blend of moistness and smoky flavor. [Ed.: Those ribs look very good.]

The owner stopped by our table to chat. What a nice guy! We weren’t special. He has lots of regular customers. He stopped by every table to say hello and make sure that the food was just right.

Wright’s sounds good, doesn’t it? I would like to disassociate myself the the sugar in the green beans. That’s just wrong, but otherwise it sounds wonderful. Fayetteville is a great place to visit, with beautiful mountains and lakes, plus all there is to do in a major college town — art, performances, all sorts of sports, and restaurants from chi-chi to Down Home. I don’t know about Arkansas, but the Music Department at Tuscaloosa generated over 700 public performances a year! And Fayetteville is cheek by jowl with Bentonville, home to the extraordinary Crystal Bridges Museum, and home to three Fortune 500 companies, and the thousands of satellites that want to do business with Walmart, Tyson, or J.B. Hunt. The area’s high tech industry has attracted a population diverse enough to support an 18-team cricket league. I may have to adjust our state capital walks to include a detour up there.

But with all that’s going on there, don’t neglect the basics. Get a meal at Wright’s.

***

And while you’re at it, click “follow” on our front page to receive blog posts in your email box.  Or bookmark us and check in from time to time.  If you’re planning a trip, you can “Search” the name of the destination city, state, or country for good restaurants (in Europe, often close to sites, like the Louvre or the Van Gogh Museum, that you’ll want to visit in any event). And stick around for news, all manner of recipes, hotels, and the occasional book or movie review and fine arts and architecture commentary.  Comments, questions, and suggestions of places to eat or stories to cover are very welcome.  And check out our Instagram page, johntannerbbq.

Advertisement