Penguin Ed's BBQ

I’ll be the first to admit that I had my doubts when we first eased into the parking lot at Penguin Ed’s. Generally speaking, quality barbecue and strip mall locations tend to be mutually exclusive, and after the AQ Chicken debacle the night before, Fayetteville had me a bit gun shy. However, between Stephanies’ ringing endorsement of Penguin Ed’s, and the lack of virtually any other dining establishments open for business in Northwest Arkansas on a Sunday morning, we sauntered in with eager appetites.

Despite my initial reservations, we were pleasantly surprised to discover that Penguin Ed’s serves up some rather noteworthy swine. While their beef brisket is rather bland, and hardly worth mention, Penguin Ed’s absolutely knows their way around a hog. Half of my plate was graced with their pulled pork, which was tender, moist and well smoked throughout. But the true star came when I had the good fortune of stealing a few ribs off Mindy’s plate. These ribs were flat out some of the best I have ever tasted. They were cooked to perfection, noted by the beautiful pinkish hue inside, and had a richly colored, well developed crust that sealed in the uniform smoky tenderness. Penguin Ed’s ribs are one of those sublime food indulgences that combines flawlessly appetizing looks with an equal taste to match.

Finally, the home baked cookies at Penguin Ed’s were worth a note. It’s not often that you’ll hear me make mention of cookies at a hog sling, but these cookies are certainly worthy of that. We sampled the Double Chocolate Chip and Neiman Marcus cookies, and after making short work of those, promptly went back up for an M&M and Oatmeal raisin. These are good thick cookies with a nice hard crust, but scrumptiously moist and chewy on the inside. A good cookie is a subtle art, and Penguin Ed’s has it nailed, now if only they offered milk to go with them…..

In all, Penguin Ed’s more than compensated for our miss the night before, and would be highly endorsed if you find yourself in Fayetteville with a hankering for some pork done right.

http://www.penguineds.com/