It's hard for any restaurant to please everyone, but your chances are greater when you offer a little bit of everything. Morrilton Drive Inn Restaurant, located at 1601 N. Oak St., offers a LOT of everything, almost an overwhelming number of options for family dining in or take-out, and it does things in a classic family restaurant style.
Don't get me wrong -- this isn't fine dining by any means. You'll find fried green beans and sundaes next to ribeye steak dinners and half racks of barbecue ribs, a whole smattering of sandwiches and a display of dinners that guarantees any diner will leave satisfied.
And amidst the long list of burger types, you'll find the second largest burger on any River Valley menu: the Super Triple Double. It's three one-pound hand-patted patties, with a couple of layers of American cheese, served over lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle on a simple bun. The massive stack is too big for two hands and comes impaled on a knife for service. Like Morrilton Drive Inn's other burgers, the simply spiced patties are fresh, and they are huge. This burger may take 10-15 minutes to make, depending on how busy the restaurant happens to be.
A variation on the burger idea is the chili steak sandwich. It's a chicken fried steak patty covered in a meaty chili, and it's surprisingly tasty, a good comfort food combination with a satisfying bite.
Not to be overlooked are platters like the Burrito Deluxe. The big oval dish comes to the table covered in layers of cheese, salsa, lettuce, tomato, chili, sour cream, and peppers -- all dolloped on top of a bean and beef burrito so thick you have to spelunk for it. A similar construction is behind the nachos, which substitutes tortilla chips for the burrito. Both are substantial.
Morrilton Drive Inn Restaurant also offers hot, fresh cornmeal-clad catfish dinners, pulled pork barbecue, Conway County's most generously piled BLT, footlong hot dogs, and a breakfast that features a sumptuously sausage-packed gravy and stacks of pancakes. There's a whole accompanying sidebar of side dishes, ranging from onion rings and thick curly sidewinder fries to hot wings and stuffed peppers.
To not even get to the perfect dairy bar selections of soft serve ice cream, sundaes, banana splits, fried pies a la mode and milkshakes seems an oversight, but almost any meal at Morrilton Drive Inn Restaurant will leave you full. That's why you go back later.
Information: 501-354-8343.
A variation on the burger idea is the chili steak sandwich. It’s a chicken fried steak patty covered in a meaty chili, and it’s surprisingly tasty, a good comfort food combination with a satisfying bite. (Courtesy Photo/Kat Robinson)
At the Morrilton Drive Inn, amidst the long list of burgers, you’ll find the second largest burger on any River Valley menu: the Super Triple Double. It’s three one-pound hand-patted patties, with a couple of layers of American cheese, served over lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle on a simple bun. The massive stack is too big for two hands and comes impaled on a knife for service. (Courtesy Photo/Kat Robinson)
