I am the "grandaughter of Mr Ed Walker", the original owner of Ed Walker's and Great-G-G-G-grandaughter of Choctaw Chief Pushmataha. I no longer live in Ft Smith but make it a point to stop by my "Pappy's place" with my husband of 45 years for a famous "French Dip". My Pappy took great pride in his restaurant left it as a legacy of sorts to the family and community. It has been about 3 years since the last visit. Todays vist was February 2, 2010. I wish I could say that I was pleasantly surprised as so many of you have said in your reviews but I was sadly disappointed instead. I grew up at Ed Walkers restaurant, spending time with Pappy at work. I wish all of you could have experienced Pappy's Place as it was then and even in to the 1980's. It seems there have been several subsequent owners and with each new owner there have been subtle and not so subtle changes, each one degrading the previous. Tonight we ordered our usual French Dip sandwich and to be quite honest about it...well it was absolutely the worst I have ever had. My grand-father is surely rolling over in his grave. Instead of the huge French Bread slices it is now on a "foot-long hot dog bun" and instead of the juicy "prime" slices of roast beef, it is now overcooked torn off (shredded) pices of tasteless pot roast. WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT! About one third the size of the original. It appears they have refocused their efforts on other menu items because the burgers did look very tempting. I am certain they tasted better as well. So for all you folks out there that think Ed Walkers has the best French Dip sandwich on earth....I just wish you had been around when that statement was true.... because you don't know what you have missed. Hopefully....whoever (if and when) a new owner comes along it is my hope that they will do some serious research and at least "try" to emulate the original Ed Waker's French Dip sandwich. Some of the nostalgia remains but even much of that is lacking now.

I am visiting with my husband and we went there for our 30th anniversary. At first I thought..oh how romantic..LOL but as we sat and talked about the 30 years we have shared..I thought how wonderful..Oh and the food...fried dill pickles...wow awesome. I had grilled pork chops...very tasty. I will be returning as often as possible until we leave the area. This is 1 place you need to visit when passing through.