Bruce "not Campbell or Willis or Lee" K.'s Profile

I've flown into and out of XNA (Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport) a dozen or so times, and I've never seen this place open. For those who don't know, Benton County (where this airport is located) is a "moist" county. That means that there are restaurants where alcohol is sold (you have to sign the book at the front, which is a total joke) and you have to consume it on site. There are no gas stations with coolers full of beer. There is no state liquor store where you can stock up on vodka and tequila. So if you want to have a few beers in your fridge, you have to drive across the border into Washington County or up to Missouri. Crazy, but it's the law.

Being able to kill some time in the airport bar is awesome! Full bar with at least eight taps of draft beer, including Boulevard (yay!) and Shiner Bock. A little on the expensive side ($6 for above mentioned Boulevard), but not excessive considering it's in the airport. Stools along the wall, plus high-top tables in the center and a bar, I was most pleased to find power along the wall, so I could use up some of this expensive wi-fi (see separate review of XNA) and top up the iPhone.

Now if the place would just be open more often when I'm here, it would rock!

Update, with one less star. It's still a breeze as far as security goes, but there is NOTHING here. I arrived today without time to stop along the way for a sandwich, so I had no choice but to pay $10 for the smallest turkey wrap and a bottle of water. It's the airport's fault for allowing this fleecing to continue.

Also, no free wi-fi? What self-respecting airport is still charging for wireless Internet. $7 here. *thumbs down*

I try so hard to avoid one star reviews, but this one couldn't be dodged. Arriving for a departing XNA flight and not having time to grab something on the way, I was through airport security with no other options. Not that it matters, there isn't a restaurant for a good five miles from this airport.

Thinking I would make a healthy choice, I had the smoked turkey wrap and a bottle of Dasani. The tortilla shell is one I've seen often in the bread aisle at Wal-Mart - a pack of ten for $2.50. The smoked turkey was three slices from another pack I've seen in the deli aisle - 1 pound for $3. Topped with a handful of pre-made salad complete with slices of carrot, and served with a side (a scoop of store-bought potato salad). Total cost to purchase and assemble: 65 cents. With a 20 ounce bottle of Dasani, $9.81. Yikes!

Other choices were pretzels that looked like they'd been on display a while and hot dogs that also looked like they'd been on the rollers for a few hours and cellophane wrapped bagels and pastries. Plenty of condiments available - I added some mayo to the sandwich before "enjoying."

Friendly enough counter workers. I don't blame them for the high cost. Just because you have a captive audience doesn't mean you should fleece them. Shameful.

Gas station. Easy enter, easy exit. Quick self-serve pumps and a store full of caffeine and sugar. Clean and pleasant. Also, slightly cheaper compared to some other stations in the area.

Good stuff. Like Qdoba, Moe's and Chipotle, the Flying Burrito is an assembly line of burrito (or nacho or taco) making. Pick your tortilla flavor (jalapeno cheddar for me), meat and toppings and they wrap it up right in front of you. The chicken nachos also looked excellent. Be warned: there is a serious amount of food going on here.

Plenty of tables. The booths have their own flat screen TV's, and if you can find the buttons, tune in anything you like.

Only one point off for the noise. If you have any trouble focusing or hearing, ordering your toppings can be a bit of a challenge, especially if the counter person doesn't speak up. D'oh!

Bonus: Free wi-fi worked great!

For those who don't know, Benton County (where Bentonville, Rogers and Bella Vista are located, in the northwest corner of Arkansas) is a "moist" county. That means that there are restaurants where alcohol is sold (you have to sign the book at the front, which is a total joke) but you have to consume it on site. There are no gas stations with coolers full of beer. There is no state liquor store where you can stock up on vodka and tequila. So if you want to have a few beers in your fridge, you have to drive across the border into Washington County or up to Missouri. Crazy, but it's the law.

For the Superbowl tomorrow, we wanted to have a few brews available, so we headed down to the nearest booze store, which is literally right across the border into Springdale. County Line Liquor is a decent sized store and they sell everything. Two long walls of coolers with beer and several aisles neatly displaying the latest in liver-cirrhosis inducing technology, all easily organized by poison. Rum over here, schnapps over there, wines by region in the next aisle. Clearly labeled with prices, which is very helpful.

Prices are somewhat reasonable and they also have a drive-up window for those who are too incapacitated to park their vehicles and stumble in. While I wasn't carded (I'm clearly over 21), the clerk did card the kid in front of me in line. They are very much on top of that and I made sure to thank him for doing so.

Great pizza! Popping in for a late lunch with the little K, the place was really quiet at 3:00 on a Friday. I mean extremely quiet, it was us and a bunch of regulars at the bar. Fortunately, I had Yelped it beforehand, or we would never have stuck around.

It's a good thing we did, because the pizza was awesome. With the usual sizes (mini 8", small 10", medium 13" and large 15"), they have a few house combos and a pick-your-toppings. My "Uncle Tanoose" with pepperoni, hamburger, onion, green pepper and mushroom was excellent ($7.25). The crust was think and delicious and there was just the right amount of cheese on there. (I still put a few shakes of red pepper on.) Junior's "green peppers only" also looked good with a pretty solid dusting of green peppers.

They also have sandwiches, pastas and salads, but the place is clearly all about the pizza.

Full bar (a little out of place in "moist" Benton County), they had Blue Moon on tap with a few others. I had one and it was a little on the small side. Too bad, because it was good.

Would we return? Absolutely. Way better than Pizza Hut or Domino's!

There's just something about cheeseburgers. Grilled meat, melted cheese, tomato and lettuce and ketchup. It's drool-worthy. So when Mrs. K. and the little K. said that they wanted Red Robin as takeout, I popped over and got it. My, have times changed. No need to take on a dinosaur with a spear, I only had to walk in and tell the bartender what I wanted. And while I waited for the meal to be prepared, I racked up a decent score on the Galaga machine in the lobby.

Red Robin's burgers all come with their bottomless fries, though that's a challenge with takeout. The challenge is answered by providing a large portion of fries in the box with the burger. Nicely separated with wax paper and neatly wrapped, the burger stayed intact even with my erratic driving style and the fries stayed yummy.

I liked the blue cheese on top of the burger, but there just wasn't enough of it. The spicy steak sauce was good. I also had a bite of the guacamole bacon burger (one bite is all I was permitted). Yummy. Next time, I'll try the mushroom and swiss, which looks really good on the menu. BTW, the web site has their nutrition information. Trust me, you don't want to know.

A little expensive for three burgers - each one is $10 - it was still very good and fresh. Between that highish price and that they didn't label the boxes so we had to open each one to figure out the rightful consumer, I had to ding one star. But it's still four stars - Yay, I'm a fan! We will return.

Another decent Northwest Arkansas Chinese buffet, Panda has been here (across from Wal-Mart Store #1) for a long time. And in that time, they've managed to maintain a decent level of quality and service that you would expect from a Chinese buffet. Good choices of chicken and beef from the steam tables, there are also a few options (fried rice, lo mein noodles) for the vegetarians that lurk among us. They also had one of my favorites, bbq pork ribs, that were a decent size and very meaty without the gristle that so many places never trim. Great price for lunch - you can be in and out for less than $10 with drink and tip. A really good deal!

One of the ba-jllion Mexican restaurants in the Bentonville area, Maria's is good and inexpensive. Lunch specials in the $5 range are served fast and the dinners go for between $8 to $10. Really, what more could you ask for?

Crispy fresh chips are served when you are seated, along with dishes of mild and hot salsa. It's a little mushy for my taste (I prefer pieces of tomato) but it was flavorful and easy to scoop while we waited for our meal.

My two-enchilada's lunch was served with the usual rice and beans. The rice was just okay, but the beans were well above average for such a restaurant. I was really looking for a chile relleno, but they didn't have those on the lunch special. My table mates had the taco salad, which was served in those fried shell bowls. It looked pretty good.

Would I return? Yes. It's good food, served fast. If you want to spend more, it's easy enough to do so.