When thinking of things synonymous with living in the South, several things come to mind. Humidity, Southern drawls, Elvis and barbecued food. My favorite is the barbecue.
I have eaten at several barbecue joints, usually in Hot Springs. So I was excited to hear Arkadelphia has a new barbecue place, Drifters.
As I walked into Drifters on a Thursday evening, I was greeted with several hellos and smiles. I noticed there were only a few tables and they were all empty. But it was early, so it was not all that surprising.
The menu on the wall behind the counter was hard to read because there were objects in the way, but the girl behind the counter quickly pointed to a paper with the menu printed on it for easier reading.
I ordered a stuffed potato, which comes with beans and chopped beef or pork in a baked potato. My son, David, ordered a chopped chicken sandwich, which included a side item and he wanted some plain potato chips. They were out of the chips, which surprised me since it was early. He ordered French fries instead and he seemed happy with the substitution.
The girl then asked what we wanted to drink. I looked at their fountain drink machine and was disappointed to see that several had paper over them saying out of order. So our choices were limited to a couple of soft drinks and tea. I ordered a Coke for myself and David ordered a Diet Coke.
The girl gave us our drinks and told us we could sit down and she would bring our food when it was ready. I had a chance to look around and noticed that the décor was fairly simple. I did notice a picture of a Civil War battle scene, which I did not much care to look at while eating. The drive-thru window seemed to stay busy, although only one other person actually came in to the restaurant.
Our food was brought to us pretty quickly. It was in Styrofoam containers which I liked so I would not need to ask for a separate container if I could not eat all of it. I opened mine and was impressed at the size of my potato. It looked delicious. David’s sandwich also looked tasty, with just a small amount of sauce on the chicken.
The food was really good, with a minimal amount of sauce on the meat. I know a lot of people who do not like a lot of sauce, so I knew it would make them happy. I like a lot of sauce on mine, so I was happy to see a bottle of sauce on the table with us.
The meal was great and the friendliness matched. I would like to see some improvements such as with the drink issue. But overall it was a nice experience. I definitely consider it a good option for some good barbecue in Arkadelphia.
Drifters is located at 107 S. 26th St. They can be reached by phone at 870-245-2533, and delivery is available.
