I did not expect to find stellar sushi and well above-average pizza in northwest Arkansas, but that region contains multitudes. It was my second trip to the reason and I have to say it\u2019s one of my favorite places in the U.S. to visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pizzeria Ruby<\/a> is an artisan pizza shop with a sign from Fenway Park hanging up over the bar, for some reason. (My server didn\u2019t know why. He also thought it was from New York.) Their pizza style is somewhere between Neapolitan and coal-fired Brooklyn or New Haven styles, crispier than Neapolitan on the outside and the undercarriage, and they use Bianco tomatoes for their red pizzas. I got their version of a margherita, which has more sauce and a few other Italian cheeses in addition to the fresh mozzarella, and would land in my top 30 for sure. I didn\u2019t actually love the sauce, which I think might have been a little too salty, or maybe there was just too much of it relative to the cheese. Their pizzas are huge, 18\u201d, so go with a friend. I also loved their anti-ICE and pro-people signage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Junto<\/a> is a sushi restaurant inside the Motto hotel, a boutique hotel in the Hilton chain that seems like an extremely cool place to stay. I know you can get high-quality fish shipped anywhere at this point, but I was still floored to get fish this good in the middle of the country, nowhere near a major airport. The salmon usuzukuri was as tender as I\u2019ve ever had it, and the ponzu sauce paired well with its inherent fatty texture. The miso soup, despite being just miso soup, was also a big hit, mostly because of the dashi \u2013 someone\u2019s making that from scratch. The pressed rainbow roll was my server\u2019s suggestion, and it was good for what it was \u2013 again, really fresh fish \u2013 but probably not ideal for me because those rolls blur all of the different flavors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Songbird Sandwiches<\/a> is a food truck located by the 8th<\/sup> Street Market, serving 5-6 gourmet sandwich options along with fancy sodas and kombuchas, because this is actually California, not northwest Arkansas. I got the turkey sandwich which, to their credit, had so much slaw and lettuce and turkey that it probably could have fed me and my wife (had she been there) comfortably. I love their focaccia as well, although focaccia does struggle to hold the fillings when you use it for sandwiches. I\u2019m not complaining one bit about the cost, but I was surprised that it was just over $25 for a sandwich, soda, and 20% tip. Thanks, Donnie!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hail Fellow Well Met<\/a> is a restaurant from the owner of Onyx Coffee, which is my favorite coffee roaster in the country and has been for a few years now. HFWM is located next door to Pizzeria Ruby and has a gorgeous space with a ton of natural light and multiple distinct seating areas. It\u2019s counter-service, with a full coffee bar including a pour-over option from Onyx, and I went for brunch on the recommendation of the same person who suggested Junto. I thought I was being boring by getting the \u201cHFWM Simple,\u201d which is just eggs, bacon, potatoes, avocado, and one piece of toast. It is neither boring nor simple: The potatoes are in a rosti\/knish sort of combination patty, the eggs are softly scrambled (and served in a cute clay cup), the bacon is thick rashers of pork belly, there\u2019s also a dressed herb salad, the avocado has seeds and spices on it, and also there\u2019s a piece of toast. The only hiccup, if that, was when I asked for hot black tea. You would think I ordered the world\u2019s most obscure cocktail or something, but they did eventually figure it out. I was going to eat there and then go to an Onyx shop to work until my flight, but loved the space so much that I got the same coffee I would have gotten at the caf\u00e9 and stayed there the whole morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n