What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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44 What's up! OctOber 6-12, 2019 featured dining guide story Advertorial Feature BY RANDY RICE | NWA DEmoCRAt-GAzEttE Café USA: fresh food from the heartland O ne of the newest and tastiest additions to the ever-growing number of quality restaurants in Northwest Arkansas is Café USA. Opened for only a short time, Café USA is already racking up 5-star reviews and many return patrons. In the words of one satisfied customer: "This restaurant has been open just a few weeks and I have already been there five times. I have had breakfast and lunch. Both have been very good. Portion sizes are also good. And the staff is very friendly. Since they are pretty new I have never seen a wait for a table, but I am sure that will change as soon as people find out about them… especially at breakfast time." And, indeed, the word is starting to get out! Café USA is quickly becoming a popular eatery with new and returning customers. Why has Café USA become so popular so fast? It all starts with their basic philosophy. "We believe in the old, traditional American way of preparing our food and menus," says the man who is the inspiration behind, and owner of, Café USA who simply goes by the name Sam. "It starts with a traditional breakfast. Old fashioned pancakes and waffles. Old fashioned biscuits and gravy. All of the eggs any way you want them." The portions are big and the ingredients are fresh. "Everything is cooked to order. Nothing is precooked. And we use only the freshest ingredients," Sam added. A look at their menu illustrates how creative they get working within their down-home, traditional framework. A dish called Country Debris offers two open- face biscuits topped with home fries or hash browns, covered with gravy, chopped bacon, and sausage and then topped with 2 eggs any style with three silver dollar cakes on the side. Another, the Hash Brown Bowl features corned beef or ground turkey, sautéed with hash browns or home fries, topped with jalapeños, cheese, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, and 2 eggs any style. Served with silver dollar cakes. Moving on to lunch and dinner…their burgers are half a pound of fresh Angus beef. Their steaks are choice sirloin cuts and, again, all fresh and prepared to order. Traditional meat loaf, pork tenderloin and original recipe soups with a different recipe featured every day continue to flesh out the menu. Check out the Davy Crockett Patty Melt which serves up a half-pound patty with sautéed onions and two slices of Swiss cheese on grilled rye or the Texas Red Burger, offering up two quarter-pound patties served open face on Texas toast covered with chili, cheddar cheese and onions. They are as delicious as they are inventive. While the restaurant is new to Northwest Arkansas, Café USA has been satisfying healthy appetites for 20 years in its flagship location in Supulpa, OK. "I had been wanting to expand out of the area for a while when a friend and fellow chef suggested I look into opening a location in Bentonville," Sam explained. "I had been hearing about the expansive growth in Northwest Arkansas and the world class restaurants sprouting up so I thought it was a good opportunity." Sam has been in the food service business for forty years. Originally trained as an air, frame and power plant mechanic, he soon found his real passion lay in preparing and serving food. He began his culinary career opening a franchise of a popular sub sandwich chain on Oklahoma, Bill and Ruth's Submarine Shop. "So I was trained to work on planes, but I wound up working on subs," Sam quipped. But while his franchise was great success, Sam wasn't content to prepare someone else's recipes and live out someone else's dream. Sam had his own ideas and his own vision for a unique kind of restaurant. "I love preparing great food and serving people. I consider it a real honor. I also love this country, I really do," Sam said. "Since America had given me and others so much opportunity I wanted to celebrate my patriotism in my eating establishment." Hence the name Café USA – decorated with nostalgic Americana. "I also think that basic American food is so good and wholesome, if you take the time to prepare it properly and, of course, use only the finest and freshest ingredients." Peruse the menu and you'll find the dishes named in the theme of Café USA: All-American Sampler, the Red, White and Blue, the Star Spangled Omelet – and those are all breakfast entrees! Café USA has a down home atmosphere that will make you feel patriotic, too. But it's the food that will keep you coming back again and again. New Bentonville eatery takes an all-American approach Questions about this or other dining features? Contact Karen Rice at 479-571-6474 or krice@NWADG.com Café USA LOCATION: 2308 SE 28th St., Bentonville PhONe: (479) 250-9990 hOURS: Open 7 days a week 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Mon-Fri 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Sat/Sun ONLINe: CafeUSA.org