Mrs. T's Cafe in Guy, Arkansas: Restaurant Review

One of the great joys of traveling off the Interstate is finding small mom and pop diners and cafes. Aficionados call the food that you find in such places "road food." Mrs. T's Cafe in Guy, Arkansas has all the hallmarks of a great "road food" stop. Even though the menu is heavy in the burgers and light on salads, Mrs. T's Cafe is the anti-McDonald's.

Mrs. T's Cafe is situated in a large building that is half a century old, smack in the middle of Guy, population 202. The dining room is frequently full with diners from nearby Greenbrier and others who have made the trip up from Conway. The specialty of the house is the Onion Burger. Like the other burgers on the menu, the Onion Burger is made from beef that is ground fresh every morning. It is cooked on the grill with fresh onions until the flavor saturates the beef. On a recent visit, I ordered the Onion Burger with a side of curly fries while my dining companion ordered the chicken tender platter with curly fries.

The Onion Burger was thick and beefy and served on a toasted bun. Unlike burgers that can usually be found at road food stops, the Onion Burger was not greasy at all. The beef is very lean and it was an exceptional hamburger, but it is the curly fries that stand out. Like the burgers, the curly fries are spiral cut fresh daily from Idaho potatoes and are deep fried after you place your order.

My dining companion enjoyed her chicken tenders, but they were standard fare. She pointed out that it's hard to mess up chicken strips. Like me, her favorite part of the meal was the curly fries. If you prefer your fires extra crunchy, you can ask your server and Mrs. T will cook them slightly longer. That's right, there is an actual Mrs. T, and she is the primary cook at the diner that bears her name. She knows most regulars by name and will custom cook your order.

Breakfast is also available starting at 6:00 am. There is a breakfast buffet on weekends when business is so heavy that it is difficult to get a table. The breakfast specialty is Mrs. T's homemade cinnamon rolls. They are baked fresh every morning. Mrs. T's Cafe in Guy is open Monday through Saturday from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm. Mrs. T's is closed on Sunday, so if you are headed to Branson or Eureka Springs and plan to take a slight detour to visit Mrs. T's Cafe, make sure you time your visit accordingly.