Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Smokehouse in spotlight
Meat lovers can find refuge from sun in restaurant-style setup
Emphasis placed on barbecue during rally.
FAYETTEVILLE — The average person might burn 100 calories walking up and down Dickson Street. A pulled pork sandwich from the official Bikes, Blues & BBQ rally smokehouse has about five times that amount, but who’s counting?
For the first time, festival organizers sanctioned an official smoker for ribs, chicken, sausage, turkey legs and, of course, pork. A shaded area with a restaurant-style setup gives meat lovers some refuge from the sun. One of the official motorcycle rally merchandise booths sits across from the smokehouse.
Former Arkansas Razorback and St. Louis Cardinals baseball player Tom Pagnozzi, who, with Clint Brannon, also a former Razorback, runs this
year’s smokehouse, calls the stretch at the Walton Arts Center parking lot “Hollywood.”
Decorative lights stretch between the tops of the two stands. Pagnozzi and Brannon have already started talking about making the area bigger and better next year.
“We’ll get a red carpet down the middle or something,” Pagnozzi said Friday.
Tommy Sisemore, rally executive director, listened when some people said last year the barbecue part of the rally could use some more attention. He knew exactly who to turn to.
“If Tom and Clint are doing it, it’s first class,” Sisemore said. An official smokehouse and food court also is stationed at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.
Having the additional culinary option equates to more money for charity, Brannon said. The festival gets a percentage of the sales, which organizers put toward the annual charitable contributions, he said. Last year marked a milestone with about $230,000 given to more than 40 nonprofit groups and school programs.
“Our whole entire goal is to make our food where locals would want to come and eat so the money stays here and to give back to charity,” Brannon said.
Randy Adams, self-described “head chicken guy” at the smokehouse, doesn’t anticipate getting a break during peak hours from 5 to 9 tonight.
“We started cooking Monday to stock up and it’s just been rolling ever since,” he said.
Cyndi Nance, dean emeritus at the University of Arkansas’ School of Law, took advantage of the shady spot Friday and had a plate with Audrey Briggs and Tracy Deffebaugh, also from the law school.
“Before, the only place you could sit and eat was the beer garden,” Nance said. “Having a spot that’s not in the beer garden I think is a plus.”
The smokehouse offered a variety of options, the trio said, from ribs to macaroni and cheese to fries and perhaps the most underrated of sides, coleslaw. Briggs went with the pulled pork.
“Some people like it hot and spicy, some people like it a little smoky. They have a great selection,” Briggs said. “I like it smoky with a little kick.”
Nance said in years past she has opted for the Greek to Me stand, owned and operated by Dimitri Sakellariadis. The Miami-based operation, which has come to the rally for almost a decade, offers up gyros, Greek salads, shish kebab, baklava and other staples from the cradle of Western civilization.
Sakellariadis has watched the festival grow. He’s brought his Mediterranean deliciousness to events and gatherings across the country and one, albeit fairly obvious, thing has stood out to Sakellariadis about the rally.
“The bikes. The noise and the bikes. The crazy bikers,” he said. “I love ‘em.”
“Some people like it hot and spicy, some people like it a little smoky. They have a great selection,. I like it smoky with a little kick.”
— Audrey Briggs, attendee, Bikes, Blues & BBQ Rally