OPINION - EDITORIAL

Ode to a burger

And to memories gone by

Here in Arkansas it's probably a safe bet that almost everyone has a favorite burger joint (except vegetarians; they'll outlive us all). Some towns even have extensive rivalries.

Take Russellville, for example. For years and years, people knew Russellville was on the map for its nuclear plant and Feltner's Whatta-Burger. Then CJ's opened by the interstate. You'd better believe a fierce rivalry formed. And if you're talking beef in Russellville, you gotta be careful.

But our remembrance today sits about 10 minutes north of Russellville. The town of Dover has a couple of food staples, including pirate-themed Buccaneer Restaurant and barbecue restaurant Dewayne's, that just in the last few years started taking debit cards. (Previously you had to go next door to the bank and hit up an ATM if you didn't have cash or checks.)

Once upon a time, Dover had a restaurant on the north edge of town called Bayou Bridge Cafe. It's no longer in operation, but for a while it was a community staple, and boy, do some of us miss it. For the longest time, one of our favorite burgers in the state was none other than the Swamp Burger, which we promise was a lot more appetizing than the name suggests. The Swamp Burger was to Bayou Bridge what the Whopper is to Burger King. Only better.

As some of our older readers probably recall, some high schools used to have open campuses at lunch. Rules and names were a little different depending on the campus, but it generally meant if you had good enough grades, you could leave campus for lunch, provided you weren't late for your next class. While Bayou Bridge Cafe was open, some Dover High School students would race over, pick up their orders, then rush back to campus. Who says teenagers have to digest their food?

(We understand that some of our younger readers are thinking: "How old are you guys?" Answer: Old enough to remember when kids could bring guns on campus, as long as they left them in the truck. And old enough to remember stories of those a few years older who brought their shotguns to the principal's office before classes began, then hunted rabbits on the way home.)

As fond as our thoughts are of Bayou Bridge Cafe, the restaurant had its share of sad memories. While the restaurant had different owners through the years, lifelong Dover residents will likely recall the name B.J. Burton. She ran the restaurant with her husband for years, and shortly after they sold it, she died in a car crash. That same crash also claimed the life of KATV's Paul Eells, the voice of the Razorbacks.

New owners took over the restaurant, but eventually it closed. Since then, different businesses have tried to make that little white building near the Illinois Bayou Bridge work, but they've also closed or moved. We chatted with a nice lady who works in Dover City Hall about the building's history. She recalled Pirate's Cove had that building before Bayou Bridge Cafe. But no matter how many restaurants had the building before or after, Bayou Bridge Cafe ain't going anywhere in our memory and that of hundreds of other Dover residents.

Almost everyone has a favorite burger joint. Also favorite burger joint memories.

Editorial on 02/15/2019

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