Small town, big flavor at Highway 270 Grill in Poyen

For the record, “Small Town USA” is not only the beloved anthem of rural Arkansas that has been penned
and performed by Justin Moore, it is also the theme of the Highway 270 Grill in Poyen.

When Daniel Ellison opened the restaurant in November of 2020, his goal was to provide fresh, high-quality food with a downhome flavor.

Ellison succeeded, and as a result, the restaurant has a growing fan base. When the Highway 270 Grill began operation, it had 36 seats. Today, after a couple of expansions, it has 85 seats.

Ellison has several other businesses, but I could tell that the Highway 270 Grill was special to him, his family and employees. He said that he basically grew up in the restaurant business, and many of the recipes are from the restaurant he worked at while growing up in Missouri.

For appetizers, I was served hand-breaded fried pickle chips (fried spears are also offered) that were not the frozen variety. As I dipped the disks of goodness in the house-made ranch dressing, another basket appeared on my table, Brisket Bites — little nuggets of golden-brown fried treats featuring chopped smoked brisket and homemade macaroni and cheese. This is a must-try, as it is a winner.

The BBQ Stuffed Potato was a large baked potato stuffed with smoked pork (beef and chicken are also available) and topped with baked beans, barbecue sauce and shredded cheese. This creation delivered unique flavor combinations with each bite. The meats are smoked on-site. The plate came with a side of coleslaw and a slice of Texas toast.

You can’t have a downhome restaurant without outstanding fried chicken, and the Highway 270 Grill has some good chicken. I enjoyed the Chicken Fried Chicken. This was a very large chicken breast that was hand-breaded and topped with white, cream gravy. It was fork-tender and Sunday-dinner-worthy.

I was told that the Double Dipped Pork Chop was also very good. Maybe you can try one, and let me know when you visit. Make sure you try the hand-breaded onion rings, too.

The Fried Catfish dinner was a whopper. The USDA catfish was breaded in a custom blend of ingredients and fried to golden perfection. I had a side of grilled shrimp skewers also.

Highway 270 Grill offers a variety of fried pies. I sampled the establishment’s Brownie Sundae. This decadent dessert included a warm fudge brownie, two scoops of ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce and cherries. It hit the spot. Another unique sweet tooth item was the Cheesecake Roll Ups. Picture a cheesecake egg roll. If you are a big cheesecake lover, then you will want to save room to try them.

Of course, my favorite part of the restaurant was a relaxing, small-town atmosphere with attentive employees. County singer Justin Moore lives in Poyen and is a frequent guest when he isn’t on the road. The Highway 270 Grill is also a favorite of Moore’s bus driver, who told Ellison that the restaurant has the best food between Poyen and Tupelo, Mississippi, where the driver resides.