This Hole-In-The-Wall Sandwich Shop In Little Rock Is Guy Fieri-Approved

If you're looking for a tasty sandwich in Arkansas' capital, mayor of Flavortown Guy Fieri has a red-hot recommendation: The Root Cafe, in downtown Little Rock.

The Root was featured on season 29 of Fieri's Food Network show "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" back in 2018. If you want to eat like Fieri, the best bet might be The Root's pimento cheeseburger, which goes for $16.50. The Root has a farm-to-table focus, so owner Jack Sundell tells Fieri in the episode that the restaurant gets a "whole cow at a time", grinding the meat twice so it's perfectly tender. During Fieri's visit, Sundell mixes up sirloin with some trim fat for extra flavor. It's grilled until nicely caramelized, and topped with a patty-sized hunk of pimento cheese. The Root makes its pimento with a mix of cheddar, pepper jack, and cream cheeses; house-made garlic mayo, roasted bell peppers, sriracha, smoked marconi pepper, Indonesian chili paste sambal, and parsley. It goes on a fluffy bun with house sweet pickles, and is served alongside a green salad with garlic vinaigrette, something Guy notes is necessary to balance out the juicy yet heavy burger.

If you're looking for something marginally lighter, Guy also tries The Root's bratwurst with sauerkraut: The pork shoulder sausage is nicely spiced with white pepper, ginger, and nutmeg, and served on a bun alongside tangy sauerkraut, which is also made in house, requiring weeks of fermentation.

Beyond the Guy Fieri-approved burgers and sausages, The Root is also an excellent place for creative sandwiches, with Chowhound even listing it as Arkansas' best hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop. The Spicy Banh Mi sandwich gets a thumbs up for its mix of flavors: Crispy fried tofu with sour house carrot and daikon pickles, herby cilantro, heat from jalapeños, rounded out with creamy garlic mayo on a fresh baguette. As you may have guessed, it's vegetarian (and vegan if you opt for vegan mayo). Meat-eaters need not worry, as they can also go for a classic ham and cheese or the curry chicken salad sandwich, a veritable symphony of flavors with its mix of curry seasoning, grilled carrots, and sweet pickles. They're all a pretty solid deal, too, around the $12 mark, including a side salad.

Beyond the food, the vibes at The Root are also a draw: It has a funky yet homey ambiance with eclectic decor, and the customers that featured during Fieri's visit said they loved the laid-back, community-centric feeling that they get there. It seems to have been a hit with Little Rockers, too: The Root has been so popular that it was forced to expand, which the owners did in a particularly DIY manner: By slapping some shipping containers on the side of the building. In 2025, a second outpost opened up in Breckenridge Village west of downtown Little Rock, too.