There are lots of places we could go for a burger and a shake. Fast places. Places that don't even require one to get out of a vehicle to get fed.
   So why would we pull up to small roadside shacks, fight for a parking space, wait in a line to order, stand around in the hot sun (or sit around in the idling car burning precious gasoline) waiting for short-order food and ice cream to appear through a window?
   Read through our reviews of some local dairy bars and find out.

A & J DAIRY BAR
   
17416 Batesville Pike, Sherwood (501) 835-3495
   Mood: You'll know you're in a fun place when you see the sign posted in the front window that says, "Unless you're an exotic dancer, do not swing on pole." The pole in question is actually one of the things holding up the roof overhanging the ordering window, so you have to agree with that sentiment. Overall, the place has a nice, vintage mood. The exterior is a sky blue color, with an ordering window and small outdoor dining area. You can place your order inside, where the dining room has a bit of a retro diner feel. You can choose a booth or table, and there's even a TV so you can catch up with Judge Judy if you get there at the right time.
   Meals: A & J offers a nice selection of burgers and sandwiches, a scrumptious Frito Chili Pie ($2.49), and crispy onion rings ($1.79). On Fridays and Saturdays, the restaurant offers catfish ($6.29), and catfish and shrimp ($7.49) dinners that come with slaw, hush puppies, fries and a slab of white onion. If you're craving a burger, A & J will offer you a deal that includes four burgers for $5.79, and you can add cheese for 20 cents per burger.
   Moo: A & J makes a deliciously creamy softserve ice cream in chocolate, vanilla or a swirl of both flavors. A small is $1.09 and a large is $1.29, and it's worth the extra 20 cents to upgrade. Or you can splurge and have your cone or cup made into a chocolate dip or "Brown Derby" for $1.39. The shakes range in price from $1.89 for a small to $2.69 for a large, and come in vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, pineapple, banana or a combination of these flavors if you choose. A & J also does floats, banana splits and sundaes as well as a heavenly Hot Fudge Brownie ($2.79) that features a homemade brownie topped with ice cream, hot fudge, whipped topping, nuts and a cherry.
   -- Rosemary Boggs
   

ASHER DAIRY BAR
   
7105 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock, (501) 562-1085
   Mood: When we went, the place was busy and there were only two people to do what seemed to be a jillion tasks -- thus the staff was not in a very genial mood, and it took a while to get our order. Orders can be placed outside or in the air-conditioned inside. Food can be eaten inside at several tables, or outside at two picnic tables.
   Meals: If you can't find something to tickle your taste buds, then you aren't very hungry. The menu is extensive: Burgers (from what you'd expect, to Hickory, Chili, Taco and Pizza versions), barbecue, some Mexican items, hot/chili dogs. We tried the curious -- "Chicken on a Stick," a breaded piece of breast meat threaded on a skewer, dipped in a bland batter and fried a crunchy golden brown (99 cents for one, or one to four with fries from $1.99 to $4.99) -- and the nostalgic -- a Frito chili pie ($1.85), which was a yummy, cheesy, greasy blast from the past.
   Moo: Ice cream is soft-serve vanilla, chocolate or a twist. It can be had as cones, sundaes, banana splits, turned into one of a lengthy flavor list of shakes, or the crowning joy -- a glorious Brown Derby, a generous cone of ice cream dipped into a vat (or can in this case) of heated chocolate that forms a crunchy shell ($1.85). The vanilla shake ($1.90 and $2.25) was rather thin and could have used a shot of vanilla flavoring, but the Derby made us grin from ear to ear.
   -- Denise Dorton BRENDA'S

DAIRY BAR
14016 High Road East, Shannon Hills, (501) 455-4529 Mood: Not to get all Lee Greenwood on you -- because, blech -- but when the shade and breeze are right, Brenda's Dairy Bar can make you glad to live in a country where one has the time and luxury to think hard about whether he's a milkshake person, or a malt person. Flags flutter from a nearby sign, a fountain sprays in a pond on the next property over. Other times, Brenda's is a dairy bar only an aluminumsiding salesman could love -- basically a hut on an asphalt lot.
   Meals: Brenda's offers no food that Americans have discovered, or at least discovered that they like, in the past quarter-century. In the way of variety, there's a beef-and-bean burrito ($1.10), but why opt for microwaveability when there's a hot grill? Even the stenciled signs speak the language of short-order : CB Fries Drink 455 -- that's a cheeseburger combo for $4.55, bub. The hamburger is so fresh from the grinder that the grill sears the meat into wormy, juicy little coils. The lettuce, tomato and onion are as crisp and vibrant as if you'd selected them from the condiment platter at your own family barbecue. Even the thick, greasy wax paper wrapping the sandwich seems a slice of Americana.
   Moo: Other than the banana underneath the split, there's no bulk to the dairy menu -- no brownie blasts or cobbler crumbs like at chains with envelope-pushing test creameries. Shakes in the usual flavors, plus caramel, butterscotch, peanut butter and pineapple, run $1.60 up to $2. But with malt mix only adding five cents to the total, we opted for an Oreo malt, the same consistency as wet concrete -- oh, but in a good way. A really good way.
   -- Kyle Brazzel DJ'S

DAIRY BAR
   
21800 Arch Street, East End, (501) 888-4943
   Mood: It's just so nice when people are happy to see you -- even when they've never seen you before. You can expect a friendly greeting when you enter DJ's, as well as prompt service from folks eager to please. The small (five tables) dining room with its cheery wreath of yellow flowers on the wall feels downright homey, that it does. Order at the counter; about five minutes later, piping hot food arrives at your table. The dairy bar has a take-out window, too, but it's open only when the dining room isn't because there's not room for two people at the cash register, an employee told us.
   Meals: The diverse menu includes the expected -- a thick, juicy hamburger made to your specifications ($2.95) and fat onion rings fresh from the deep fryer ($1.75). There's also the surprising, such as the "chicken rings" ($2.95; with fries, $3.95) that turned out to be processed chicken molded into rings, then battered and fried. They didn't have a chicken texture, but tasted like their nuggety counterparts at another fast-food place. Also worth your while is the catfish dinner ($4.99, 2 pieces; $5.99, 3 pieces) that includes crispy fries (ours cried for salt), piquant slaw and slightly greasy hush puppies. Everything is cooked to order and comes to the table right out of the fryer, so it's prudent to wait a minute or two before taking a bite.
   Moo: The cone of thick, dreamy/creamy soft-serve ice cream ($1.25) is worth the 16-mile drive from downtown Little Rock. Cover it with chocolate and call it a Brown Derby ($1.50), also worth the trip. Shakes and sundaes come in the usual flavors of chocolate, strawberry, pineapple and caramel, but there's peanut butter for the nontraditionalists.
   (Note: The owners are on vacation, so DJ's is closed today and Saturday, but will reopen Sunday.)
   -- Rhonda Owen
   

FOURCHE DAM DAIRY BAR
   
6214 Fourche Dam Pike, Little Rock, (501) 490-2155
   Mood: Don't look for a business sign. Look (and look closely) for a bunch of cars in front of a single-story building surrounded by fields. The name is stripped just below the roof in 4-inch block letters. A hand-scrawled poster in the dining-room window (to the right of the walk-up order window) says the hours are 9:30 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. Monday-Friday.
   Meals: If you can decode the cryptic menu boards, you'll find about 50 options. Try the catfish plate ($4.79): six freshly fried pieces of corn-breaded filet, three sugar-free hush puppies, a slice of onion, two tiny tubs of tartar sauce, two slices of lemon and generous servings of two sides -- your choices include beans, creamy coleslaw, fries, fried okra and more. You can have all that on an exquisite foam plate in less than six minutes (at 12:45 p.m.). Take it back to your office at the warehouse or eat in the air-conditioned dining room, which is quiet, clean enough and appointed with wood-tone laminate tables, framed prints and flower boxes dripping silk ivy.
   Moo: Everything soft-serve ice cream is capable of becoming : shakes, malts, floats, cones, whatever. Cheap and quick.
   -- Celia Storey
   

THE HOP DRIVE-IN
   
7706 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, (501) 225-6212
   Mood: If you missed the '50s, no problem: They're right here! There's a "Welcome back to the '50s!" sign behind the counter, and tunes from that era in the background keep your toes tapping while you wait at this hopping place. Watch carefully for the entrance : Construction along Cantrell just west of Mississippi Street makes it difficult to negotiate the drive-in's two narrow driveways (and the drop is a doozy for compact cars).
   Meals: There's everything from sandwiches and salads to dinners. Burgers (4-ounce costs $3.10, and 8-ounce, $5) have thick patties topped with chunky, juicy veggies; foot-long chili dogs ($4.35) are slathered with chili, slaw, onions, cheese and jalapenos; and six side dishes include serious onion rings and yummy fried mushrooms complete with dill dip, no less (both are $2 or $2.60).
   Moo: You could make a meal out of the dreamy milkshakes ($2.15, $2.65 or $3.55), from the everyday (chocolate, strawberry, vanilla) to the exotic (cappuccino, orange cream, Reese's cup). Ice cream cones or cups ($1.25, $1.45 or $1.75) are generous servings of finger-licking vanilla, chocolate or swirl.
   -- Dixie Land
   MOJO'S

DAIRY BAR
   
3801 MacArthur Drive, North Little Rock; (501) 753-4445
   Mood: It was a sad day indeed when Andy, et al threw in the towel at Andy's place (not to be confused with the fast food chain, also named Andy's ) in the Levy section of North Little Rock. There it sat, dead in the water, for way too long.
   But wait! The place did not turn into a strip shopping center filled only by a nail salon and a payday loan joint. Along came another outfit with dreams of operating a restaurant, and lo! We now have Mojo's Dairy Bar. It's on MacArthur, which starts out as Pike Avenue. It's also Arkansas 365, which in pre-Interstate days was U.S. 65, so you can get some of those nostalgic "almost" Route 66-type vibes along this old stretch.
   Meals: And it looks like the same low prices are part of the show, along with some tasty items. I tried some of the basic food group stuff -- a Mushroom Swiss Burger, which comes on a jumbo bun, topped only by what it says: sauteed mushrooms and Swiss cheese, well worth $3.19. The accompanying order of French Fries was huge, for $1.79. Next time I'll ask them to hold the salt, as someone with a heavy hand was at work that day.
   Moo: A vanilla malt ($1.79 for 16 oz. or $2.19 for 20 oz.) was quite tasty; other flavors are chocolate, strawberry, pineapple, cherry, butterscotch, banana and peanut butter. You can also get floats, sundaes, banana splits, hot fudge sundaes and a choice of soft-serve ice cream or Breyer's handscooped ice cream, either of which is only 99 cents for a single scoop in a cone. Mmmmmm : Make mine Breyer's, please.
   Parking may look like a drag, but there's more in back, so don't despair. There's an outdoor patio area, and a drive-through, too.
   -- Jack W. Hill
   

WINKS DAIRY BAR
   
900 E. Washington Ave., North Little Rock, (501) 945-9025
   Mood: There is no seating area at Winks, a humble North Little Rock haunt that has been owned and operated by the same family since 1968. And that's OK, because despite the occasional kid whizzing by on a bike, it's not exactly located in the most idyllic of neighborhoods. You just want to pull into the lot, order, hang in the car (perhaps with the doors locked) with the engine off, restart the engine after you're soaked 14 summery seconds later, retrieve your food (our order took 10 minutes) from the good-natured employees and roll.
   Meals: Hungry enough to eat an elephant? A specialty is Winks' toothpick-secured, three-patty "elephant" burger ($3.60. $3.90 with cheese) that is beastly in size if not as large in flavor or texture. (The one we sampled seemed a bit underseasoned and overcooked.) If that isn't enough saturated fat for you, order a fried side of tots or onion rings ($1.35-$ 2.80) that will test the absorbency of the paper tray and bag it comes served in. For a petite place, Winks also offers a lengthy list of other gut busters, including all sorts of sandwiches, plus burritos, tamales and fish baskets.
   Moo: If there is a tastier creamy concoction than Winks' lush but still strawfriendly peanut butter shake ($1.40- $1.90), made with vanilla ice cream and actual peanut butter, we've never sipped it. Servers will also swirl up softserve cones, cups, sundaes and floats (80 cents up to $2.95).
   -- Jennifer Christman

This story was published Friday, July 07, 2006