Arkansas Red’s Deli opened at 77 Spring Street on August 20, the mastermind of Cory and Lyla Allison who have been involved in the Eureka Springs restaurant and retail scene downtown since they were kids.
Lyla is a native of Eureka Springs whose family owned the Painted Pony and the original Flossie’s Funnel Cake Shop downtown. Cory’s family owned the award-winning 1890 Deli on Center Street in the 1980s.
“Our goal is to carry on their tradition of great service and quality food for our community and visitors,” Lyla writes on the back of their menu. “We both learned the service side of small business early on by working in family restaurants. Cory and I grew up in this quaint little town and feel as if we were planted in paradise.”
Arkansas Red’s Deli is between two other popular downtown eateries, Nibbles and The Grill. Prior to opening the Deli, the couple operated Allison Art Company in the same location. It featured Lyla’s handmade jewelry and the work of 42 other American artists.
Cory has been cooking for 25 years and in the restaurant business for 35 years, 13 of them at Myrtie Mae’s where he was named employee of the year twice. He started out at age seven making deliveries and handing out flyers for his parents at the 1890 Deli.
The couple’s forte is good, affordable food including a lot of organics and Boar’s Head meats and cheeses. Everything is made fresh, and there are no microwaves in the kitchen.
Vegetarian offerings include a grilled seasonal veggie stack with a side of black beans topped with chimichurri verde sauce or a garden supreme salad and a nut veggie burger with all the trimmins. No menu items are more than $11.
A twist on pizza offered is Red’s naan flatbread personal pizzas. Naan is a leavened, Tandoori baked, hand finished flatbread found in the cuisines of Asia, a good choice for people looking for lower carbs. Some of the other popular offerings include the turkey bacon club, the Razorback cheese steak sub, BBQ pulled pork sub and the Italian turkey meatball wrapped in grilled naan flatbread.
One more unusual offering is the fig ‘n apple, which is a grilled cheese sandwich made with apple slices covered with fig jam, muenster cheese and bacon.
Lyla and Cory make their own sauces including creamy avocado dressing, Red’s sweet and tangy barbeque sauce, hot mama’s mustard sauce and hell’s fury, which features habañero and mango – you know what they say, go hot or go home.
Cory cooks and Lyla serves and is also the baker. She makes up fresh desserts each day like gluten-free cheesecake with pecan and almond crust, lemon squares, and chocolate soufflé.
In keeping with their Arkansas theme, they offer native Arkansas craft beers come from the Core Brewery and Distilling Company in Fayetteville and the Lost 40 Brewery in Little Rock.
They also offer an organic green goddess smoothie with apples, carrots, spinach, blueberry and pomegranate juice, citrus and fresh ginger.
The couple have been pleased with the response the first month or so after opening.
“We’re excited,” Lyla said. “We have gotten a lot of good feedback. We had one couple here on their honeymoon who liked us so much they came back to eat here each of the four days they were here.”
They plan to keep Arkansas Red’s Deli open through the winter. For more info, call (479) 253-7635.
Wonderful news. Sounds like a great concept!