Ark-Mex / Award-Winning / Iconic / Arkansas Legends
Dizzy’s Gypsy Bistro
Le Petit Roche Cheese Dip won the first World Cheese Dip Championship, which tells you Arkansas is not kidding around.
The Queso Connection
I knew Arkansas took cheese dip seriously. Then I started finding trophies. Dizzy’s isn’t calling its Le Petit Roche Cheese Dip “award-winning” because somebody in marketing got excited. When Little Rock held the very first World Cheese Dip Championship in 2010, Dizzy’s took first place in the professional division. The competition has since become its own wonderfully Arkansas institution, with restaurants and home cooks bringing their secret recipes, judges choosing Big Dipper champions and thousands of people showing up to taste and vote. Years later, I came through while reporting my own deep dive into Arkansas cheese-dip culture and met Don Dugan, keeper of Dizzy’s famously guarded recipe. I asked what was in it. I did not leave with state secrets. I did, however, leave understanding something important about Arkansas: These people are not kidding about cheese dip. Neither am I, Arkansas.
WHAT TO ORDER
The queso briefing
Le Petit Roche Cheese Dip
Le Petit Roche Cheese Dip is one of Dizzy’s signatures, served with sour cream, salsa and pico, with beef or chicken available if you want to load it up. The actual cheese recipe? Good luck. That remains a secret. Current diners are still ordering it enthusiastically, and it remains one of the restaurant’s most popular dishes.
“I asked about the recipe. The cheese dip kept its secrets.”
WHERE TO LAND
Locations to visit
Choose a location below for its address and directions.