I Only Smoke When I Drink

Which I can do indoors in Arkansas. Growing up in California there were very few years in which I remember answering the "smoking or non-smoking section" question, and in Boston the law changed about six months after I arrived, so most of my life I have not even thought about people smoking indoors. Notable exceptions include Mexico and Europe when I was younger, but apparently even they're now on board with the "smoke outside" laws, not to mention that those places bear so little resemblance to Little Rock that it's not even worth discussing. Suffice it to say, I had planned on discussing more extensively the beers from my most recent bar trip but I found myself making the same note over and over: "Can't tell because of the smoke."

I hit up the Fox and Hound which is a chain bar that imagines itself to be an English Pub. Let's be clear, it's not. It's a sports bar that happens to have some UK beers and is willing to put on a soccer game. That said, it's a damn fine sports bar since it has 9 pool tables, about 20 big screens, 21 taps (mostly standard bar fare), probably a hundred tables to sit at and a helpful bartender willing to throw on whichever game/match you're interested in. Or at least that's the case at 1:45 in the afternoon. Who knows about later.


Their menu is your typical American menu, and the Fish and Chips weren't half bad, though the burger was possibly from the McDonald's nearby. They did have a couple of tasty brews, though, most notably the hometown favorite:

Diamond Bear Pale Ale (Diamond Bear Brewery, Arkansas): deep golden color, possibly a light floral and hop nose (Can't tell because of the smoke). Moderate bitterness for a pale ale, not much hop taste. Probably a 7 out of 10 (but can't tell because of the smoke).

What shocked me was that they have cigars for sale! Cigars for sale at the bar? And decent ones? Macanudo, Gurkha, Cohiba ... not shabby, Little Rock sports bar, not shabby at all. Way to help the "Portland of the Midwest" case.