Bentonville's food scene has been emerging with top-notch restaurants in the last few years. They have award-winning dishes combined with southern hospitality and the town is quickly becoming a hot spot for foodies. Bentonville is best known for being the home base of Walmart and with the growing rise of tourism and business travel, visitors are starting to take notice of these impressive restaurants. Here are our top 7 favorite restaurants in this charming city:

1 Pressroom

Pressroom is located right in Bentonville Square and it was one of the first restaurants I stopped by on my first visit to Bentonville. I was very impressed with their cool ambience and hip vibe. It opened in 2011 and is still popular with the locals; especially for brunch. We recently tried their brunch menu and understood why the restaurant was full within minutes of opening their doors. Their beautiful plated dishes like the avocado toast and chicken & waffles were excellent. We loved all their colorful, tasty dishes.  

2 Tusk & Trotter

Hands down, Tusk & Trotter had the best dessert in town. The "Trot on Over Here" made with sticky toffee pudding cake is baked with brandy soaked dates and topped with butterscotch and maple bacon ice cream. We still have cravings for this dish and wish we could have it shipped to our home. It's no surprise this dessert was voted best bacon dish by Southern Living Magazine. 

We had a variety of mouth-watering dishes and really appreciated the creativity in their Bloody Marys. They craft create "Bloody Mary Flights" with interesting flavors like the Bacon Mary, Tequila Lime and Wasabi. They also have an amazing charcuterie and cheese board that is out of this world. This is one restaurant you do not want to pass up. 

3 Ozark Mountain Bagel Co.

We are in love with the owners of Ozark Mountain Bagel as they are the most friendly and welcoming restaurant owners we have ever met. They serve handcrafted, freshly made water boiled bagels and start the process at 3 AM everyday! This was our first time trying fresh bagels and we were blown away by how tasty they were. What a difference from the ordinary bagels we have been eating. Now we're spoiled and only want fresh bagels.

4 The Preacher's Son

The Preacher's Son opened in late 2016 and is the talk of the town at the moment in Bentonville. The executive chef, Matt Cooper, is actually a preacher's son and modified the oldest church in Bentonville (built in 1904) into a gorgeous bright and lofty establishment. The restaurant has a variety of unique dishes and if you're gluten-free, you're in luck because the entire menu is gluten-free! There is also an underground speakeasy bar and a rooftop bar if you're in the mood for more cocktails.

5 Eleven

Eleven is located inside the Crystal Bridges Museum and it's a gorgeous space with arched ceilings and soaring windows overlooking the museum's ponds and forests. During the day, Eleven is a quick-service restaurant and at dinner, the menu totally changes and is a more fine dining sit-down service restaurant. Try the Vietnamese Noodle Salad for lunch or the Braised Short Rib for dinner.

6 The Hive

The Hive is located within the 21c Museum Hotel and it is a cute space decorated with large honeycombs, plants and bees all around you. Under the direction of award-winning chef, Matthew McClure, The Hive offers some unique and tasteful dishes. Loved the 25 Minute Egg appetizer and House-made Sangria.

7 Spark Cafe Soda Fountain

The Spark Cafe is the cutest old-fashioned cafe that serves ice cream, sweet treats, and ice cream floats. The cafe is bright and colorful and even has a jukebox to give you the full experience of the past. This is the only place that we know of that serves ice cream for only $1! You can also get a "cutie cone" which is a teeny tiny scoop of ice cream on a mini cone for 50 cents. It's the best way to enjoy a variety of their flavors if you can't decide on one.

We really enjoyed Bentonville's flourishing food scene and can't wait to see what will pop up the next time we are back in this town. 

Camera equipment used: Canon 5D Mark III, Sony a7S II, Canon EF 50mm f/1.4, Sony Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm f/4