From Sunday, July 21 through Friday, July 26, Sweetums and I drove 2,150 miles from Huntsville, Alabama, to Fort Worth, Texas, and back again. I am posting the stops in order of the trip. Most sites will be included in my upcoming Guide to Southern Oddities.
Stop No. 19: All Aboard Restaurant and Grill
6813 Cantrell Rd, Little Rock, Ark. & 20320 I-30 North, No. 170, Benton, Ark.
The 19th and second-to-last post from our trip to Texas in July will be short but cute. On our last day of the trip, we stopped in Little Rock, Ark., specifically to eat at a restaurant I’d heard of called All Aboard Restaurant and Grill.
This fun restaurant, which has another location in Benton, has a unique way of getting your order to your table: It is delivered by a train that runs around the ceiling then drops a box filled with food on a platform above the appropriate table. The platform is then lowered to the table by an elevator-type conveyance. The eatery’s website says it uses locally grown organic foods whenever possible.
While we were disappointed that the restaurant’s exterior was pretty bland – it’s located in a strip mall – the railroad-themed interior didn’t disappoint. Sweetums and his son Groover loved watching the trains come and go above us as they brought food to customers who had ordered before us. It was great fun watching the train drop our food tray into the “elevator” which then lowered it to the table. That part was over all too soon but, still, the food was yummy and it really was worth the side trip. It seems to be a popular place for families with small children.
The YouTube video below shows you how it works:
KellyKazek.com 