Allen’s Bbq and Catering

Had to make a driver change on a Dallas to East Tennessee road trip and decided to grab a quick bite to go, despite limited options (McDonalds and Chicken Express among them). Was super surprised and happy to see this BBQ spot at the fork in the road just past Chicken Express. The prospect of some local BBQ before we got back on the road was appealing but this place didn’t show up on the Unilocal map, even while I sat in the parking lot. I eventually found it listed as a caterer but decided to give it a shot anyway. There were 3 – 4 other cars in the gravel lot at 12:45p on a Tuesday so that gave me hope for a restaurant.
You order at a window on the front covered porch from a menu with lots of options. I didn’t find my preferred turkey but the chopped chicken sandwich caught my eye. Order the jumbo sandwich unless you just aren’t hungry. It was good sized and full of moist smoky chopped chicken on a soft bun. Really fantastic. It already came with the house sauce on it, which was tangy and slightly peppery. The chicken had a great flavor and the pepper on it came through without biting. The guys working the front and the meat counter were friendly and readily offered me a large condiment tub with the original sauce to go. Just wish I had time and appetite for more today. Next time!
This review is 4 stars because I only tried the chicken, but based on this experience and other reviews I will be surprised if I don’t give it a 5^th star next time I pass through Arkadelphia.

Allen’s doesn’t believe in combining BBQ into 2 or 3 meat plates… but one meat was so good by itself, that Allen’s doesn’t need to. I was disappointed that I could not sample a bit of it all. I asked the lady at the counter what was popular and she said the baby back ribs. Holy cow! I had enough for 2 meals plus it was wonderful! The ribs were tender, smoky, and had an excellent BBQ rub on it. Allen’s have 3 sauces: a tangy original, a sweet sauce, and my favorite — a hot tomatoey BBQ sauce. All sauces were very good. Something that Allen did really well is they made sure you were fed. My 2 sides, potato salad and beans, came in bowls… not cups like many places. To put it mildly, they are very generous. The potato salad was a baked potato salad, really good if you love that kind of potato salad. However, the beans were unbelievable! They are called Allen’s beans and taste like they just came from over a campfire. Besides the disappointment of not having 2 or 3 meat plates. Allen’s is one of the best BBQ places I’ve had in Arkansas.

I have the honor of being the first to review this great restaurant. I was taking an insane roadtrip/​move from Atlanta to Santa Barbara and stopped here to eat. My initial goal was to try some fast food place called Express Chicken or Speedy Chicken, but when I saw Allen BBQ with rocking chairs and picnic tables, I had to check it out. I know that Arkansas doesn’t usually roll off the tongue as a source of BBQ, but the food was stellar. I didn’t try tons of items, just one — ¼ lb. of chopped beef. But it was so tasty. I sat at a picnic table and tried all three sauces with the beef. The staff are all super polite, and I did venture inside to use the bathroom and realized that there is a lot of seating inside. SO if you live nearby or are making a trek in the general area, you do it to yourself to stop by and get some great BBQ just off the highway.

Fantastic service. Friendly people. Out of this world BBQ. Wayyyy better than the competition in Caddo Valley where I got dead flies in my good.