Cheese burger and fries sitting on a plate on a blue gingham table cloth.

Arkansas Food Hall of Fame

2025 People's Choice Nominations are now open. Cast your vote today!

Our Mission

Food plays an integral role in our Arkansas history and heritage. The Arkansas Food Hall of Fame facilitates storytelling around the food traditions, tastes, and talent that give our state its unique food culture and customs.

The Arkansas Food Hall of Fame gives Arkansans the opportunity to nominate their favorite restaurants in several categories that highlight the different ways food makes an impact in our community.

Each year the following categories are opened for nominations:

Arkansas Food Hall of Fame – recognizing long-standing restaurants that help create our food culture
Proprietor of the Year – honoring a chef, cook and/or restaurant owner with significant impact on our local food tastes and preferences
Food-Themed Event – honoring a community food-themed event or festival that preserves a community’s unique food history
Gone But Not Forgotten – remembering past establishments that set the table for our food tastes and preferences today
People’s Choice – restaurants or food trucks, new or old, that keep our palettes whetted for more Arkansas flavors

A bundle of bluish purple cynthia grapes sitting on a blue plate

2025's Food of the Year

Arkansas chefs and restaurateurs know they can rely on one homegrown mainstay for pairing the perfect wine with a fine dining experience - the Cynthiana Grape.

Nicknamed the “Cabernet of the Ozarks” and officially named Arkansas’ state grape in 2009, the deep-purple variety is grown in cities across the River Valley. The unique, rich soil here gives the grapes their distinct, pleasantly tart flavor.

Arkansas’ small-but-mighty wine industry favors the winter-hardy and disease-resistant variety, and cities like Altus, Arkansas, have been growing Cynthiana Grapes for over 120 years. The Cynthiana Grape is the oldest cultivated North American variety today. Several wineries across Arkansas are boldly driving the state viticulture industry forward, while honoring the variety’s legacy.

So join us in raising your glass to toast the Cynthiana Grape. And if you haven’t tried them before… you’ve got some (delicious) homework to do.

Meet the Food Hall of Fame Committee

This program, created and managed by Arkansas Heritage, is a statewide effort to honor the state's food history and culture. Each of the five categories have different qualifications so there’s a "recipe" for recognition for everyone. The program is based on public nominations which then go to the committee who determine the finalists and winners.