Mississippi and Latin American connections make for fine dining

Editor’s note: Peter Lewis, who has authored “The Friday Feast” since November, is reviewing 30 locally-owned and/or operated restaurants across five categories: American, Asian, BBQ, Mexican and Date (establishments to impress your date, spouse or both). Each Wednesday through late August, The City Wire will post Lewis’ review of two restaurants. That’s a review of 30 restaurants in 16 weeks for those keeping score at home.

Week 1: Taqueria la Guadalupana, and Las Americas Too
Week 2: The Cuban Grill and El Rodeo
Week 3: El Milagro and Restaurante Salvadoreno Norita
Week 4: Green Papaya and Pho Vietnam
Week 5: Fried Rice and Pho King
Week 6: Diamond Head 2 and Tran’s
Week 7: Yellow Umbrella and Goodson’s
Week 8: Red Rooster and Boom-A-Rang
Week 9: Lewis’ Family Restaurant and Hamburger Barn
Week 10: Big Al’s and Al’s Barbecue
Week 11: Neumeier’s Rib Room and Jerry Neel’s
Week 12: Pink Flamingo and Art’s BBQ
Week 13: 21 West and Bella Italia

review by Peter Lewis

Our quest to find the finest of dining options in the River Valley continues this week with a verbal visit to Rolando’s and Doe’s. Vastly different, each offers a unique example of fine cuisine.  In Rolando’s one is treated to a mash-up of Latin American cuisine. With Doe’s, you are regaled with exquisite steaks. To be quite broad, if you’d like to please a man, head to Doe’s.

DOE’S EAT PLACE
The full and proper name of the aforementioned steakhouse is actually Doe’s Eat Place, a famed restaurant that first appeared in Greenville, Miss., around 1941. Though first opened in a ramshackle building that is still standing and still successful to this day in Greenville, a franchising begun several years ago. Which is how a singular restaurant came to be in our peaceful valley.

Our own manifestation of Doe’s Eat Place is located in the old Weidman’s Brewery at 422 N. Third St., in the historic area north of Garrison Avenue. If nothing else, the revitalization of the old brewery building is almost enough to put a smile on this review.  The building is a gem to behold. When one is downstairs, the restaurant feels like it is in a cavern. One gets the sense that perhaps one is doing something illicit while gorging on a massive plate of food. It is the upstairs, replete with full bar, though that I find quite appealing. It is a marvelous set-up. Though the interior is quite striking, if you are like me, however, sitting on the rooftop dining area is a must on warm evenings. Despite the relative lack of a view, it is one of the better outdoor dining experiences to be had in the river valley.

Now that everyone knows how much I enjoy the atmosphere and history in conjunction with Doe’s, let’s move on to the crux of the issue: food. Generally speaking, I have only one truly negative thing to say about Doe’s. I feel I must go ahead and get it out of the way so I can begin my otherwise positive gushing. What’s going on with the salad? It took me a long time to get over my childhood petulance and begin eating salads, when I fork into the salad at Doe’s I wish I hadn’t. If I’m not mistaken, they set their lettuce in a tub of some sort of liquid, vinaigrette dressing. To me, meat should be marinated, not salad. The soggy, acrid salad is something I’ve learned to skip when visiting Doe’s.

What I shan’t ever skip are the biscuits. Perhaps, these fried delights are coronary inducing, perhaps not. Topped with a river of honey, my mind is on the joys of mouth, not the possible consequences for my heart in 40 years. Shortsighted? Perhaps. Worth it? Yes.

The menu at Doe’s Eat Place is rather concise. In conjunction with several cuts of steak, there are tamales and shrimp available. Delta tamales are a rather unique concoction, one well worth trying if one has only been exposed to the more traditional variants. Shrimp is shrimp, and as much as I love shrimp, I usually leave it alone and focus solely on the steaks.

One may choose from several cuts available. Of course there is the famous t-bone (for those unaware, the larger side of this cut contains meat from the strip loin, while the smaller comes from the tenderloin), the marbled rib eye, the large sirloin, or the little cutie, filet mignon. While each cut is quite particular, the tastes of each diner and the desires for which they are visiting Doe’s are both quite different. Sirloins are large and generally served a la carte for several people. If you are a rather ravenous republican, repast with a rib eye. This cut is going to be quite large, yet it is also the tenderest choice of anything on the menu sans the filet. Since I often find myself popping tons of biscuits before dinner, I generally stick to the filet mignon. It is perfection on a plate. Hands down, one of the best steaks I’ve had the pleasure of eating.

ROLANDO’S
Rolando’s Neuvo Latino Restaurante, located at 223 Garrison Ave. in downtown Fort Smith, is, perhaps, Doe’s diametric opposite in terms of cuisine. This is by no means a negative thing. In fact, it is often a joyous reprieve.

A favorite of several close friends in the river valley, I’ve visited Rolando’s numerous times. Every visit, no matter the time of day, was always pleasing. The service was always spot-on, the food was always prepared in a timely manner, and most tasteful as well. There is a continuity of service in Rolando’s that all restaurants should aspire towards. It seems that the staff there know their jobs and perform them with a capableness not always experienced in restaurants. Having this knowledge can be a true relief to a patron, one that engenders return visits.

The food at Rolando’s is equal parts poetic and prosaic. While the menu itself seemingly breathes life into a cloistered Fort Smith dining scene, it is also quite run of the mill.  There is no variation. It seems that every item on the menu is created with the same base of ingredients. I can understand the ease this brings to the production of the menu, but it gets a bit staid after a few visits. Perhaps it is unfair, but it is this reason that I try to stagger my visits to Rolando’s. It’s the only way to keep it fresh for me.

While I’ve spoken generally about the food, let’s get down to the details. There are several appetizers on the menu at Rolando’s. The guacamole, though somewhat expensive at $7.95, is quite delicious and served with large fried tortillas for dipping. The taquitos are both greasy and perhaps easily found at your local Wal-mart. Steer clear.  Steer toward, however, Jose’s Quesadillas. These are a delight at $6.95. Even though it is summer, as the weather cools down, I highly suggest sampling the Sopicaldo de Pollo, a traditional Ecuadorian chicken soup.

For the main course, I am often stuck at the top of the menu and never able to get past the Camarones Al Mojo. This dish features shrimp, sauteed with onions, celery, garlic, and tomatoes, and served over a rice and black beans ($16.95). I’m also a large fan of two of their adumbration plates: Don Quixote Burrito and Castro’s favorite, aka El Plato Cubano. In the latter you will dine on a simple dish of black beans, rice, veggies, and cheese ($11.95), while on the former you will dine on grilled flour tortilla stuffed to the hilt with rice, beans, veggies, cheese, and a choice of meat (are you starting to pick up on the prosaic nature I alluded to?).

Even if I gamely pick at the continuity of the meals while praising it in the service, it’s all in good fun. I enjoy the food, service, and drinks at Rolando’s. Each time I dine there, I leave the restaurant fulfilled. And fulfillment, physical or otherwise, isn’t always an easy thing to find.

An explainer note from Peter
Having such cultural diversity within easy reach is one of the many dining pleasures in the River Valley. As we continue to explore the different cooking styles throughout the area, I hope it will spur you into trying something new. Broadening horizons is as old as time itself.

You can reach Peter at [email protected]