Best Bite Top 10 - Sauces

In this edition of Best Bite we're ranking all the best dressings, hot sauces, and condiments you can find in Russellville, Arkansas and the surrounding areas. We asked you on social media where they were, and with your guidance and our community college degree, we assembled the following Top 10. Let's get saucy...

10. Brick Oven (La Torchia)'s Ranch Dressing

Listen, we all knew we wouldn't make it very far into this countdown without saying "ranch dressing" at least once, so let's just get this one out of the way. At Brick Oven on the corner of 4th and Arkansas, you'll find not only one of the better thin slices in town, but buckets of that salty, creamy goodness that gives us Southerners our glossy sheen. There was also a Greek dressing from this place submitted that we'll leave an honorable mention for here.

9. Daddy's Smackin' Wings Sauces

Another thing we knew was coming creating this list was the arsenal of sauces over at Rob's place. Aside from whatever diabolical lava-infused hellspawn I ate in that wing challenge, whatever you crave, Rob has something at the ready for you at Daddy's: spicy, sweet, tangy, creamy, fever dream (see "Hennessey glaze" and "Peanut Butter and Jelly Wings")... get it, and it'll be good.

8. Umami Japanese Fusion's Yum Yum Sauce

What? Don't make that face and don't you even start... Yum Yum sauce is about as Japanese as Donald J. Trump but that doesn't stop everybody in town from pouring it all over everything they eat there. Everything is great in moderation, except for the *should be* controlled substance that is Ms. Amy's Yum Yum sauce. We like it, just again, in moderation.

7. Tito's Taco Truck Green Sauce

We did a full write-up on this place in an earlier Best Bite and we recommend checking that out for the full run down. They have a house cat sized burrito that will send you to another planet. Tito's green sauce makes the list because well, have you tried it? It's clearly not store-bought and give a tomatillo infused kick to everything you're brave enough to dunk in those little cups: tacos, burritos, fries, fingers, flip-flops, EVERYTHING.

6. Tony's Salsa at Fat Daddy's

When you're in Fat Daddy's hanging out or having dinner with your family, occasionally a gigantic, tattoo'd and pierced Native American individual with a backwards hat and probably carrying a towel will walk through, or maybe just peek into the dining room. That's Tony, and he is the papa bear of the kitchen operations there at Fat Daddy's. He may or may not want this posted on the internet, but he makes his own salsa: grows the peppers, hand-dices the prep, all that stuff and if you're lucky, he'll have some on hand if you ask nicely... but be warned: it is HOT. Honestly that's the only reason it didn't crack the top 5.

5. Nate's Gold Sauce

It's genuinely crazy when you can't find anything wrong with a dining experience. Pretty much everything they do is on point, thought out, and executed with an elite final product in mind at Ridgewood Brothers BBQ on the West side of town. When Shane says he'd dive off the courthouse into a bathtub of Nate's Gold Carolina-Style Sauce from Ridgewood Bros., he means it.

4. Johnny's Deli Ranch

I fought like crazy not to put two ranch dressings on this list. I Fought like Edward Norton vs. himself in Fight Club, but here we are. I would do anything at almost any moment for a chicken bacon ranch spud with a bucket of that ranch on it, just like a lot of the people that messaged and commented. There, I said it.

3. Venecia's House Vinaigrette

This tomato basil dressing is craved by anyone who's ever tried it. It's tart with a sweet finish and is delicious. It ranks this high for that incredible balance. Great dressings don't have to be consumed by the bucketful to appreciate and this one fits that description to a "T".

2. Taco Villa Hot Sauce

Did you think it would make #1? Well, they gave it the ole' Bob Barker and got as close as it could without getting there. This stuff is otherworldly in a sense that when people that are from here move away, when they come back to visit, the first place they have to go is Taco Villa. We have Taco Villa hot sauce running through our veins here in Russellville.

And so we've made it to the top of the mountain. The pinnacle. The spout on the squeeze bottle if you will. Coming in at #1 and let's all say it together:

1. Old South Dressing

I'm not sure how I would go about taking over the world even if I wanted to, but I am positive that the plans would involve The Old South's garlic dressing. Its delicious on almost anything on their menu and more: salads, their hand-battered chicken strips, their grilled chicken strips, their fries (OMG those fries with that dressing), a good friend of ours just eats those 2-pack of club crackers dipped in that liquid gold and its not bad. Zack and Dale have one of the tastiest condiments you're likely to find for miles and the team here at Offbeat can't wait to join them in their new location to slurp up some of this vampire killing goodness-goop.

-Shane