Restaurants in Hot Springs

Proponents of dry rub can be found across the Midwest—Oklahoma’s barbecue joints are an especially good bet. If you ask any of these die-hards, they’ll say that what dry-rubbed meats lack in sauce, they make up for in the delicately balanced flavors of their spices. Rib Crib BBQ & Grill captures these flavors and brings them to its cozy Lakeland restaurant, where guests can feast on chicken, ribs, and briskets smoked onsite over hickory chips. In addition to pit choices, Rib Crib dishes out Southern¬-style sides such as corn on the cob, mac ‘n’ cheese, and slow-cooked cowboy beans that guests can lasso individually with a tiny rope of floss.:m]]

All the steaks served at Western Sizzlin are first flame-kissed—cooked with flames licking both sides of the steak at once. As general manager Elgin Hamner states on the restaurant's website, this method preserves the flavors and juices of each slab, including the top-sirloin, rib-eye, filet-mignon, and T-bone steaks that populate the menu. Besides steaks, chefs prepare chicken breasts six different ways, including broiled or drizzled with teriyaki sauce, and they skim shrimp and salmon across the grill’s surface to the rhythm of "Gonna Fly Now (Theme from Rocky)." Diners can also tear into a cheeseburger or a philly steak sandwich underneath the antlered chandeliers that dangle from the ceiling.

The casual eatery's bright-red floors allude to plates of sauce-slathered ribs. flanked by piles of cool, shredded coleslaw. The house’s brisket takes a starring role on tables, flaunting rich, smoky flavors gained from slow cooking over hickory for 12 hours. Diners can chow down on the combo meals and dinner plates in the restaurant, or buy in bulk for take-home meals that can satiate an entire family. While their meats and homestyle sides only last for one meal, their take-home bottles of their signature barbeque sauce keep the shop’s smokey flavors in the forefront of your memory.

A Big Apple–focused menu sends aromas ricocheting off the walls of NYPD Pizza, which are bedecked with New York City memorabilia and televisions screening classic films and sports. Begun in Orlando by a native New Yorker who was frustrated at the lack of New York–style pizza in his new city, NYPD Pizza bakes up New York flavor as close to authentic as possible without traveling to the Big Apple to kiss the mayor. Genre-bending plate fillers strut from the pizza menu in configurations named after notable New York locales such as the Bleecker St. baked ziti pie topped with ricotta, mozzarella, and housemade sauce. The Tri-Borough BLT tosses traditional sandwich toppings such as smoked bacon and mayo across a hand-tossed crust, and individual pieces of the Oneonta, a hot cheese slice cloaked with cool shredded mozzarella, help patrons streamline supping or learn fractions to prepare for rap battles with math teachers.

A slick mosaic of cerulean and cobalt tiles below the bar dominates the pizza joint’s bright interior, which is also festooned with petite dangling lamps, black tablecloths, and wood chairs evoking a modern lounge feel. Eyes drift to a TV screening sports behind the bar or the panoramic wall-covering mural of the Brooklyn Bridge at night. Across the room, another wall-size mural tempts doodle additions of King Kong with an aerial view of Manhattan’s skyscrapers. :m]]

The pizza-making pros at Luigi’s Pizza & Pasta eschew sugar, oil, and eye of newt when forging their healthy, grease-free dough, which they bake directly atop sizzling hot bricks. In addition to loading these freshly flung crusts with Canadian bacon, spinach, and roasted garlic, they crown pastas with hand-rolled meatballs and ladles of homemade meat and alfredo sauces. They also help diners conclude their meals with a sweet crescendo by infusing desserts with coffee liqueur and rich ganache.

Seafood-laden specialties stand out from the extensive list of classic Mexican dishes on Casa Mañana’s menu. Chefs prepare tilapia and shrimp eight different ways, including baked with chipotle sauce in the Martinez de la Torre and sautéed with garlic Mexican sauce in the mojo de ajo. Deep-fried chimichangas hide a stuffed payload of chicken, and enchiladas soak up one of four flavorful sauces. Breakfast-centric dishes include huevos rancheros and huevos con chorizo, a spicy scramble of mexican sausage and eggs donated by Easter bunnies in training.