Serious Barbecue

About Whole Hog Cafe in North Little Rock, AR

LeBron James does basketball. Paul McCartney does music.

We do barbecue.

And just like them, we do it because we love it, but also just like them we take it seriously. After competing nationally for more than 30 years, we opened our doors to the public in 2007. From the beginning you've told us over and over, "This is a completely different experience." Well, that's no accident. You'll see the owners, boots on the ground, EVERY DAY to make sure it never stops feeling that way.

Whole Hog Cafe North Little Rock brings a unique approach to the BBQ table. Unique because we still make BBQ the way Sarge (the founding father of Whole Hog) created. No short cuts. We still use the original sauces and recipes. We offer a sensational dry-rubbed rib daily, and beef ribs every Tuesday. Our meat is meticulously hand-rubbed, cured and slow-smoked.

It's also no mistake that you continue to see the same faces here day after day, year after year. We all love what we do and we genuinely like one another. We cook and serve with style, character and passion. We're a unique culture here, a family. We believe in 5 "R's": Respect, Responsiveness, Responsibility, Resourcefulness and Resilience.

Our family attitude extends to you, our customers, as well as our vendor partners and the community partners we routinely support - schools, military organizations, charities, festivals and benefits of every strip. Giving back is why we're here. Giving back is who we are. Smoking real, unpolished, authentic barbecue every day is just what we do. And, you guessed it, we take that very seriously.

Whole Hog Cafe North Little Rock team

Today, we barbecue around 3 tons of meat each week, prepared and cooked just like we do in competition. Our "Slow Food" approach makes Whole Hog the hands down favorite in this part of the country, consistently winning every Reader's Poll and 'Best of' award in these parts. You see, for us, the way we do barbecue is a metaphor for life, an extension of our philosophy- low, long and slow, manic attention to detail, mindfulness at every step- total focus on excellence.

We start with the freshest, premium cuts of meat, hand rub and trim each piece, cure it till it's just right, then slow-smoke it over pecan wood, carefully managing the process as the alchemy unfolds. We treat each piece like we're going for another World Championship. Come in and ask for a pit tour and see for yourself how the World's Best Barbecue is made.

Recognitions