T-Bucks well-spent on key vendors

Fans of Toad Suck Daze in Conway, should they choose, can stand around a truck with limbs pressed against it while hearing the classic rock jams of The Point 94.1 any day of the year.

They can also fetch toads and race them; or visit some excellent local eateries for the most part whenever.

But for the sake of neighborhood merriment, commerce and scholarship, people here make sure to set aside a weekend in May to do perform these customs all at once as a group.

What TSD fanatics can't do on most days of the year, however, is march downtown to buy some meatballs on a stick and crawfish pie.

So once again on TSD weekend, your correspondent took the opportunity to munch on these exotic dishes in the May sun, though having learned from some past mistakes he tempered the feast with moderation.

And cutting back on the gorging proved to be worth the loss of flavor diversity, because the offerings of Mama Mia Concessions of Millersburg, Mo., and L and S Concessions of Gravette should be savored and not merely choked down on one's way to the Tilt-A-Whirl.

Bob Nichols of Mama Mia, whose slogan is rightly "Thatsa Good Food," said Friday his crew sets up at Arkansas State Fair and Riverfest nearly each year, and in comparison he's just as impressed with Conway's attitude toward its festival.

"People here seem to understand that it's not that hard to get the word out," Nichols said. "The vibe is, 'Hey, it's Toad Suck!'"

Nichols' eatery implemented a welcomed drink deal in 2008 which was either absent from TSD 2007 or glossed over in the media coverage of the TSD dining market. The bargain should be commended nonetheless, and repeated at future festivals on the square.

The numbers behind this solid favor offered by Nichols and company, on the behalf of thirsty fanatics? Five Toad Bucks buys a large "festival cup" of tea or lemonade, as it's advertised, and refilling the 32-ouncer costs a single T-Buck for the remainder of the event. Other vendors may have offered the same deal, though your correspondent couldn't confirm whether this trend was so. At least one other eatery, however, was charging as much as three T-Bucks for refills in its own version of the deal in 2008.

Mama Mia's meatballs-smothered-in-marinara-on-a-stick was a fun snack to start off TSD, though to a degree it left the hungry customer wishing for a plate, fork, some spaghetti to go underneath the meatballs and no stick. A tip: As most TSD fanatics would attest, a customer can hardly go wrong with Mama Mia's breaded raviolis.

A few vendors down from Mama Mia's is L and S Concessions, operated by Larry and Sue Crawford, who have managed to conceal Cajun flavorings within the self-contained fried pie module of dish delivery. The Crawfords, then, must be geniuses.

The crawfish fried pie contained a modestly spicy mix of crawfish and rice that came hot and wrapped in its own wax paper pouch, stamped "crawfish" in order to distinguish it from its spicier mate, the "Cajun meat" fried pie. Once the Cajun meat fried pie's crust was cracked and its filling could be understood, a tangy mix of beef and pork danced a Cajun jig on the taste buds. Along with the fried pies, a shrimp po' boy was had, which was large, messy and excellent.

For dessert, your correspondent enjoyed the highly recommended deep-fried cheese cake at Mama Mia's. Fans shouldn't miss this sort of cinnamon-covered cheese cake burrito, which is big and could be shared with a buddy.

For Faulkner County and Toad Suck fanatics everywhere, Mama Mia's and the Crawfords have proven to be true buddies of the festival themselves, and your correspondent devoted much curiosity and intestinal space to these out-of-town gems.

He admittedly neglected some fine local chefs who were set up alongside those featured here. For this reason, Hog Pen and Lyndsey's barbecue establishments, Blackwood's Gyros and Grill and any other local eateries also present at TSD are thanked for wonderful year-round service that defines the area. Those mentioned should expect thorough visits soon from this currently satisfied fanatic.