There is no shortage of great barbecue in Arkansas. Fayetteville is home to some pretty awesome barbecue joints itself, but for my money, some of the best barbecue in Fayetteville can be found just off Garland Avenue right across the street from Harp’s food store at a place called Lucky Luke’s.

Lucky Luke’s owner Brian Smith got his start back in 1996 at a well known barbecue establishment in Springdale. He moved to Fayetteville in 2002 into a small space that is now occupied by Sunrise Donuts, and ironically, moved across the street into the building that used to be a Daylight Donut shop in June of this year.

The new restaurant on the other side of the street has a lot more space, and allows Lucky Luke’s the ability to have a deep fryer for Onion Rings, French Fries, and other fried deliciousness. There is also a big screen TV, some roomy booths, and our favorite, the addition of beer to the menu. The atmosphere is understated, with a down-home diner type of feel to it, and the food is as good as it has always been. (Really, really good.) Lucky Luke’s also smokes their meats right on site.

We visited Lucky Luke’s for lunch today, and we found out that our timing was perfect considering they just got power back Sunday night after four days without it. I had the pulled pork sandwich with fries, and the sandwich was perfectly moist with just the right amount of spice to the BBQ sauce. It is served on thick Texas-toast, lightly buttered and toasted just enough to be firm enough to hold the massive amount of smoked pork inside, but without being too crunchy.

The laid back decor, and the comfortable lighting make Lucky Luke’s a great place to take advantage of happy hour every day from 4-7 p.m. Happy hour features discounts on most beers offered, and $1.50 domestic pints. Awesome.

There is no better time to support these guys, who are the epitome of a local restaurant that is unique to Fayetteville. The owners are longtime residents of the area, and also some of the nicest people you could ever meet. Stop in and get a BBQ sandwich. You won’t be disappointed.

Contest: Wanna win a $25 gift certificate to Lucky Luke’s BBQ? (That’s $25, or exactly 16.66 $1.50 beers at happy hour)

How to enter: Tell us how many days you were without power during Icestorm ’09 in the comments of this post. If you made it through that mess without losing power at all, consider yourself lucky, and tell us that. If you’re still without power (like some of us), just say so.

A few rules (read ‘em carefully):

1. You may only enter this specific contest once. If you enter this contest more than once you’ll be automatically disqualified.
2. This contest is open to anyone anywhere except Fayetteville Flyer writers, Lucky Luke’s employees, and their immediate family members.
3. Contest is open until 11:59pm CST on Thursday, February 5th, 2009.
4. Make sure you leave a valid e-mail address when filling out the comment form since that’s how we’ll contact you if you’ve won.
5. You’ll have to provide us with your first and last name, and mailing address if you win. Then, we’ll mail you the gift certificate.

Good luck. For more info on Restaurant Week, visit the Dine in Fayetteville site, and check out more reviews, contests, etc here on the Flyer.

Pulled pork sandwich and french fries from Lucky Luke’s BBQ in Fayetteville, Arkansas