Eat Hot Springs: SQZBX owners share their love for pizza and Ouachita avenue

SQZBX BREWERY AND PIZZA, 236 OUACHITA AVE., offers pizzas, beer and spirits among other food offerings, in a dining room inspired by the accorded and an open patio.

The restaurant recently introduced a full bar in addition to the internal selection of beers.

The Sentinel record spoke to the owners of Zachary Smith and Cheryl Roorda of their culinary reflections, their recommendations and what makes pizza an American cuisine par excellence.

Q: What is the best meal you’ve ever had?

Smith: I remember the day Cheryl and I are married in Florida, we went to a seafood restaurant afterwards and they had like this bucket of the lower feeder which had just like at the bottom of the ocean. … of course, it was also the day I got married, so it was just a perfect meal for me.

Roorda: Ironically, I had one of the worst meals in my life because I was a vegetarian at the time and they had no idea what it meant … and they made a bowl of pasta with grated cheddar cheese melted on top. I was like “it’s a very funny wedding meal”.

Q: What is your comforting food?

Roorda: Macaroni pie, just like a Macaroni cheese dish baked in the oven. This is the recipe for the great-grandmother of Zach and that’s whatever you want.

Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Hot Springs?

Smith: I’ll say sqzbx. … the pizza, you know, it comes out so nice. The crust is edible, it has the cheese, it has the pepperoni slightly oily. It also means that I don’t have to cook and yet I always feel like he is getting out of my kitchen, do you know what I mean?

Q: What is the pizza in fact American food?

Roorda: There are so many different ways to do it. There are so many different ways to address the crust or sauce. There are so many notes in the quality of cheese and ingredients you put on it and it’s just eternally comforting.

Smith: In truth, it’s really a very round meal, you know, you have your bread, you have cheese, you can have meat and vegetables. It is actually a rather nutritious thing to sit in front.

Q: What is your favorite part of working on Ouachita Avenue?

Roorda: Well, I like Ouachita because it’s a bit off the beaten track and I therefore have the impression that the inhabitants are comfortable coming here because they can park and I think we get a lot of tourists because they like what we do. … While the retail trade here has started to overcome and there is more things at the level of the street to do, we just see more people walking or park here first, then for walking a little and enjoying it and it has become a nice little neighborhood that is its own.