local flavor
Story By Shaila Creekmore, Photos By Dero Sanford

There is nothing better on a summer day than a rack of ribs or barbecue sandwich, but as July heats up, there may be one thing to top it off – someone to cook it for you. One new Jonesboro restaurant can help you beat the heat of the summer grill with its world championship barbecue.

Aptly named, Whole Hog Café was opened by proprietors Ron Blasingame, Mike “Sarge” Davis and Mike Blasingame, after winning the coveted Whole Hog division of the 2002 Memphis In May World Barbecue Championship under the name Southern Gentlemen. In March, the Little Rock based company expanded with a licensed restaurant in Jonesboro owned by Scott Wallace.

Wallace said he chose Jonesboro because it was the only major metropolitan area in Arkansas that did not have a Whole Hog Café.

“It’s a great metro area with a lot of smaller cities and towns that feed into it. It’s a great Arkansas city to be in,” said Wallace, who is also the president and CEO of Bruno’s Little Italy, a well known Little Rock restaurant.

After viewing possible locations around Jonesboro, Wallace chose a vacant spot in the back corner of Highland Center at the corner of Stadium and Highland Drive.

“We were looking for a location by the mall,” said Wallace. “Whole Hog is first and foremost a barbecue joint — we are a casual restaurant. We wanted to be in a place with a little character, something a little older.”

With stained concrete floors, rich stained paneling and the standard checked tablecloths, the Jonesboro Whole Hog location has one very noticeable décor item throughout the restaurant - three large championship trophies and numerous smaller trophies displayed on the walls.

“Not all of the Whole Hogs went to the expense of having replicas made of the trophies, but for us it was important to the style of the restaurant,” said general manager Rodney Rogers. “Not many people ever get the opportunity to see a World Championship trophy, so it’s kind of fun for people to see them.”

The front counter also adds to the barbecue circuit feel with a large collage of the team’s photos from competitions throughout the years. The restaurant has two seating areas, one of which can be used for private parties or meetings and has a big screen for watching sporting events. The front room overlooks the large stainless doors of the restaurant’s indoor barbecue pits.

Cooking in those smokers each day are racks of ribs, Boston butts, whole chickens, pork loin and beef briskets using the secrets of the world champion team.

Rogers said one of the most important components to the meat’s flavor comes down to simply buying the best cuts of meat. Whole Hog receives its meat from several of the top beef and pork companies throughout the country. Each type of meat is then prepared with specific rubs or sauces. Ribs are seasoned 24 hours before grilling and cooked fresh each day along with pork loin and chicken. Boston butts are put on the grill each day at 4 p.m. to smoke for 14 hours overnight.

“The key to the meat tasting like it does is we don’t rush the cook. It’s slow and low,” said Rogers.

The Boston butts are then pulled to make sandwiches or pork plates. Chicken can be ordered pulled or as a half chicken plate.

“Something different about us is that we don’t chop our meat. We don’t put sauce on our meat, it comes on the side,” said Rogers.

And not just sauce, seven sauces for you to sample, mix and match or slather on. Six of the numbered sauces siton the table: No. 1, sweet, mild, molasses; No. 2, traditional tomato, vinegar, slightly tangy; No. 3, same as No. 2, but much spicier; No. 4, traditional southern vinegar and spice; No. 5, sweet, heavy, molasses; No. 6, rich mustard and vinegar, old Southern favorite.
“Everybody has their favorite. Each individual has something they like about one,” said Rogers. “Some make combinations of the sauces to kind of create their own. It’s fun to watch people come in and try the sauces.”

The seventh sauce is available at the counter and has a simple descriptive label: “Volcano.”

“We do get a lot of request for (Sauce No. 7), it’s more of a novelty. People just like to try it,” said Rogers.

As side dishes, Whole Hog offers a tossed salad, baked beans and coleslaw made fresh each day. A side favorite is the potato salad, a slant on the baked potato version that Rogers said is top secret. Bagged chips are also available. But one side they do not offer is French fries.

“The number one question is do we have French fries. If they’ve ever been to a barbecue cook off, sides are irrelevant. It’s all about the meat,” said Rogers.
In addition to the sandwiches and barbecue plates are three Whole Hog specialties. A baked potato with meat, cheese and chives, barbecue nachos loaded with your choice of meat, and meat and potato lover with pork, chicken and beef.

For dessert, Whole Hog Café offers brownies and recently started carrying fried pies made by a local bakery.

After only three months of operation in Jonesboro, Wallace said they have been very pleased with the reception here.

“Business in Jonesboro has been fantastic,” said Wallace. “We have been extremely pleased with how the Jonesboro market has received us and people have been great to us.”

Whole Hog Café, 2810 E. Highland Drive, is open Monday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, call 931-1200.