THE MOST ANTICIPATED NEW CULINARY TRAVEL GUIDE OF 2021
Arkansas Dairy Bars:
Neat Eats and Cool Treats
Nostalgia and Delectable Bites Power This Pandemic-Era Perfect Travelogue
More than 90 different mom-and-pop dairy bars can be found across The Natural State - most of them with histories spanning decades.
In a pandemic time, these window-service establishments not only managed to survive, they thrived in a time when social distancing became the recommended way to dine out.
Kat Robinson, author and Arkansas food historian, found her inspiration for her tenth book, Arkansas Dairy Bars: Neat Eats and Cool Treats, with a visit to a local favorite in January of 2021.
"I had a craving for a good old-fashioned milkshake, and decided to check out if Mel's Dairy Bar in Malvern was still open. Even though the place doesn't have a sign you can see from the street, it was surrounded by cars. As I enjoyed my milkshake, I realized that the dairy bar was the perfect pandemic-proof dining option out there. I went home and started researching, and discovered that out of the 95 locally owned and operated dairy bars around Arkansas open in February 2020, 94 of them were still open a year later."
Robinson set out on a quest to visit each and every one, and to document the food. The standard: each dairy bar considered had to be locally owned (no chains), be a permanent establishment, offer ice cream and foods other than ice cream, and offer ordering and pick-up through a window. As she crossed the state visiting each restaurant, she photographed the food in its natural element - in this case, on the dashboard of her vehicle.
"I wanted to show what diners should expect," Robinson shares. "There's no styling, just the dishes from each place on a tray under my windshield and natural light."
Robinson was over halfway done documenting these dishes when she received the green light from Arkansas PBS to create a film based on the book. Arkansas Dairy Bars: Neat Eats and Cool Treats debuted on the network in August.
While the documentary specifically dives into the stories of 13 dairy bars around Arkansas, the book chronicles all of them - including that 95th restaurant.
"I was sad that the legendary Timbo Dairy Bar didn't survive the pandemic," Robinson relates, "but was absolutely thrilled to find that relatives of the owners had restarted it as Brad N Dad's Drive In, and still served a great burger and lots of ice cream delights."
They range in age from Betty's Old Fashion, the El Dorado two-window operation that originally opened in 1934, to the Dardanelle Ice Cream Shop and Deli, which started serving customers in 2019. From Blytheville's revered Kream Kastle to Herb's Creamland in Ashdown, Willy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers in Dermott to the American Drive In in Lincoln, every dairy bar is covered.
The cuisine varies widely at each location. While burgers and ice cream are the norm, you'll also find great places to eat catfish, chicken gizzards, Polish sausages, chicken fried steak, hot dogs, and even prime rib - all through window pickup, and all ready to take home or eat in your car.
The book contains 99 locations - which is a wee bit more than the list Robinson originally conjured.
"While I was doing my initial run in February and March, a few of our dairy bars weren't open. Some close down over the colder months - like the Susie Q Malt Shop in Rogers, the Dairy Dream in Mountainburg and others. I wanted to make sure this was an all-season guide to finding these locations. And, just because it's so intricately tied to the same sort of scene, I included the Kenda Drive In in Marshall - our only year-round movie drive-in left in Arkansas."
Arkansas Dairy Bars: Neat Eats and Cool Treats is available in hardcover and paperback. Books are available through Little Rock's beloved WordsWorth Books, Historic Arkansas Museum, Green Corner Store and at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies at the Roberts Library in Little Rock's River Market. Copies are also available at Terra Studios, Feltner's Whatta-Burger and All Things Arkansas. Signed books can be ordered directly through Tonti Press. The book can also be ordered through national retailers such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Bookshop, and DiscoverBooks. The hardcover retails for $39.99, while the paperback will sell for $29.99. The book is 242 pages, full color throughout. Arkansas Dairy Bars: Neat Eats and Cool Treats is Robinson's tenth book. Her eleventh book, Arkansas Cookery: Retro Recipes from The Natural State, will be released in paperback on December 7, 2021.
For more information or to arrange an interview with the author, or to receive a review copy or digital galley, please send your request to inquiries@tontipress.com.
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Arkansas Dairy Bars: Neat Eats and Cool Treats
Hardcover Retail $39.99 Paperback Retail $29.99
Tonti Press (October 19, 2021) Tonti Press (November 2, 2021)
242 pages, ~350 photos
Library of Congress: 2021946567
ISBN-10 : 1952547059 ISBN-10 : 1952547040
ISBN-13 : 978-1952547058 ISBN-13 : 978-1952547041
REVIEW COPIES AND INTERVIEWS available:
Print or PDF copies, contact pr@tontipress.com.
More information and to order: TontiPress.com
Kat Robinson is an Arkansas-based author, TV host, food historian and travel writer living in Little Rock, Arkansas. She is the filmmaker behind "Arkansas Dairy Bars: Neat Eats and Cool Treats," the documentary based on the book of the same name. She's also the host of “Make Room for Pie,” the Larry Foley Emmy-nominated documentary on pie makers in Arkansas, as well as the Arkansas PBS program “Home Cooking with Kat and Friends.” Her eleven books focus on aspects of culinary tourism and home cookery. She is the author of Arkansas Food: The A to Z of Eating in The Natural State, A Bite of Arkansas: A Cookbook of Natural State Delights, and 101 Things to Eat in Arkansas Before You Die, among others. She is a member of the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame Committee and the Arkansas fellow to the National Food and Beverage Museum.
Tonti Press is a micropress operating in Little Rock, Arkansas, publishing niche books in full color by Arkansas authors.
For more information, review copies or digital book galleys for review, send requests to inquiries@tontipress.com. The author is also available for interviews by phone or via Zoom.
Books by Kat Robinson:
Arkansas Pie: A Delicious Slice of the Natural State
History Press, 2012
Classic Eateries of the Ozarks and Arkansas River Valley
History Press, 2013
Classic Eateries of the Arkansas Delta
History Press, 2014
Another Slice of Arkansas Pie: A Guide to the Best Restaurants, Bakeries, Truck Stops and Food Trucks for Delectable Bites in The Natural State
Tonti Press, 2018
Arkansas Food: The A to Z of Eating in The Natural State
Tonti Press, 2018
101 Things to Eat in Arkansas Before You Die
Tonti Press, 2019
102 More Things to Eat in Arkansas Before You Die
Tonti Press, 2019
43 Tables: An Internet Community Cooks During Quarantine
Tonti Press, 2020
A Bite of Arkansas: A Cookbook of Natural State Delights
Tonti Press, 2020
Arkansas Dairy Bars: Neat Eats and Cool Treats
Tonti Press, 2021
and coming soon:
Arkansas Cookery: Retro Recipes from The Natural State
Tonti Press, 2021
Governor Asa Hutchinson's weekly address, August 13, 2021
Press:
ATU Alumna Documents State’s Dairy Bars in New Film
Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
August 19, 2021
Kat Robinson's Arkansas Dairy Bars: Neat Eats and Cool Treats
Good Day Arkansas / FOX 16, Little Rock
November 8. 2021
'Neat Eats, Cool Treats': River Valley food featured in new travel guide
Sale links:
Bookshop (locally owned and operated bookstores nationwide in the US)
Rakuten Kobo (EPUB version)
