Back Porch Bar-B-Q

2120 N. College Ave.

Fayetteville

We recently ate lunch at Fayetteville’s newest barbecue restaurant, and, if it hadn’t been for the cars zipping down College Avenue and the Ozarks in the background, we would have sworn that we were stuck inside of Chicago with the Memphis blues again.

Back Porch Bar-B-Q is Northwest Arkansas’ only Chicago-style barbecue eatery. And the owners plan to offer entertainment by Memphis blues performers in the near future.

On a recent trip to Back Porch, we sat outside on the deck, which, just to be confusing, is actually on the front porch. The metal patio furniture and dining atmosphere are comfortable even though the restaurant is on the area’s busiest thoroughfare.

We had a lunch special that, for $5.50, included a pulled-pork sandwich, side order of fried okra and large drink. The sandwich was excellent — tender, with a tasty sauce. It was accompanied by delicious golden morsels of okra, a Southern staple that was first brought to this continent two centuries ago from Africa.

One of the diners had the one-half order of ribs ($7.30) and declared them “so tender you don’t need teeth” to eat them. Another diner, though, was a little confused when he bit into his barbecue chicken sandwich ($2.80) and came up with a mouthful of bones. The sign on the wall behind the cash register did say “1/4 chicken sandwich,” but he thought that meant one-quarter boneless chicken, direct, we suspect, from the Tyson Foods boneless chicken farm.

We finished the meal with apple cobbler ($2.20), which was a perfect complement to the meal. Peach cobbler and sweet potato pie are also available.

Besides the okra, another Southern tradition at Back Porch is the sweet tea. But other drinks are also available, such as cherry limeade.

Back Porch offers platters ranging from $5 to $8.30 and sandwiches from $1.50 to $4. Platters to choose from include beef, pork, ribs, riblets, polish sausage, links and chicken. The same meats are offered in the sandwiches, with the addition of a hot dog and a hamburger on the menu.

Other side items include french fries, coleslaw, baked beans, potato salad, corn on a stick and seasonal vegetables. Prices are $1.29 to $1.49 for side items.

Back Porch isn’t the fanciest restaurant in town, but, hey, it’s barbecue, what do you expect?

Take a client there for a casual meal and be sure to scope out a table with lots of paper towels.