What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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featured dining guide story Advertorial Feature By Randy Rice | noRthwest aRkansas democRat-Gazette 42 What's up! november 3-9, 2019 Penguin Ed's: BBQ and Cookies, Too P enguin Ed's Bar-B-Que has come a long way from its humble roadside beginnings. Getting his start smoking barbecue from a trailer at the intersection of Crossover and Mission Blvd over 25 years ago; the emperor penguin himself, Ed Knight, and his more-than-just- barbecue business has grown to include three restaurants now across Fayetteville. Each location is unique, with a different atmosphere and different items on the menu. Their perfectly-smoked, tender, juicy barbecue and signature sauces have been winning awards and returning customers since the beginning, but you can get way more than barbecue from Penguin Ed's. They make praise-worthy burgers, hot wings, fresh salads — even breakfasts, on the weekend — and don't get me started on their cookies. Although their barbecue still brings in most of their business, many people swing by just for the cookies. They're really that good. You can even call ahead to get a custom cookie cake made fresh in any of their 11 flavor varieties and iced with scratch-made icing. The M&M cookies are popular with kids, and they make everything from double chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin to white chocolate apricot and snickerdoodles on the daily. Ed's daughter, Audrey, began making cookies with her grandmother's family recipe to sell in the restaurant, and it wasn't long before the barbecue crowd fell in love, and the recipe needed to be scaled up to meet the demand. Amber "Frosty" Halzle has been Penguin Ed's in-house baker for nearly half a decade, and she really knows her stuff. Knight just can't say enough about his master baker. "I am truly in awe of her," says Knight. "[Amber] has taken it to a whole 'nother level! Just her ability to hold a standard, and her tenacity," he continues, "she just goes above and beyond the call of duty." Grandma's homemade recipes speak to your inner cookie monster