New neighbor from Texas wants to know where to eat in Conway

Got a new neighbor on my end of Donaghey, moved up from the Dallas area a couple weeks ago, and the first thing he asked me was where to eat. I rattled off Mike's Place and Stoby's like I've done for 20 years, then figured I might be behind the times.

Also made the mistake of telling him not to expect real Tex-Mex up here. He looked at me like I'd insulted his mother. So somebody back me up or tell me I'm wrong.

What do we send the man to? Sit-down places, coffee, the taco trucks, whatever you'd tell somebody new. He's asked about things to do besides the lake and the trails too, and I told him most folks just drive to Little Rock after 9 pm. Gave him the honest version, but I'd like to hear if anyone's got a better one.

Round Mountain for coffee, Faby's for the free soup Thursdays and Saturdays. And yeah, you're not wrong on the Tex-Mex. Just tell him it's Conway Tex-Mex and leave it at that. Friday night football at Wampus Cat is the real thing to do here in the fall.

Welcome to your neighbor. Add Pasta Grill and the taco trucks off Harkrider to his list. If he has kids, fall rec sign-ups are coming up and that's the quickest way to meet people here.

ROB YOU'RE NOT WRONG ABOUT THE TEX-MEX BUT I'D LET HIM DISCOVER IT HIMSELF, HE'LL SURVIVE. THE TACO TRUCKS OFF HARKRIDER ARE HONESTLY THE CLOSEST HE'LL GET, AND DON'T SKIP THE CHINESE TRUCK OVER THERE EITHER. IF HE WANTS A SIT-DOWN CHINESE PLACE SEND HIM TO JADE CHINA.

AND TELL HIM TO HIT THE FARMERS MARKET ON A SATURDAY MORNING, GOOD WAY TO MEET PEOPLE AND GRAB COFFEE AFTER. NIGHTLIFE THOUGH... YEAH HE'S DRIVING TO LITTLE ROCK, NO SUGARCOATING THAT ONE.

Second the Saturday farmers market, but tell him to go early. A Dallas guy thinks he knows heat, then he meets an Arkansas July morning with the humidity sitting on you like a wet quilt, and by 10:30 he's standing in a parking lot wondering why his shirt is soaked. Coffee after is the right call, and Round Mountain has air conditioning, which he'll be grateful for.

On the Little Rock run, I'd add one thing nobody tells new people. Check the radar before you head down 40 after supper. This time of year we get those pop-up storms that go from nothing to a wall of water in twenty minutes, and then you're doing 35 behind a tractor trailer with your hazards on, in the middle of orange barrels that have been there since before this forum existed. Texans get a big dramatic storm. We get the sneaky kind that ruins your evening and floods the underpass.

Tex-Mex, I'll stay out of it. Tell him it's cheese dip country and he'll either come around or he won't. The taco trucks are the best advice in this thread. Let him find his own favorite and then argue with the rest of us about it.