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About Us
Who We Are
Welcome To
Hermans Ribhouse
This whitewashed building is located tightly to the road, with a multi-A-framed roof and a screen door. It stands in the middle of a gravel parking lot that is usually packed every Wednesday through Saturday dinnertime and always all day on a Razorback game weekend. Before it became Herman’s, the restaurant was called the Royal Oaks Tavern and was owned by Rolla H. Finch. He bought an acre of land and the little white farmhouse from P.M. Pace, who had owned it since 1929. On New Year's Day in 1964, Herman and Irene Tuck took over the restaurant and reopened it as Herman's, where people could drink alcohol and eat meat smoldered over hot hickory coals just outside the city limits. The first menu had nine items, which included five sandwiches, a large T-bone, barbecue chicken, a plate, and a rack of ribs. Besides running a restaurant, Herman Tuck was also a drummer. He played drums with rockabilly legend Ronnie Hawkins when Hawkins had his first band, The Hawks, in the early days of rock and roll. Hawkins, Tuck, and guitar player Harold Pinkerton often sat outside Jug Wheeler's Drive-In, jamming in the 1950s.
Tuck left the band along with other members in the late 1950s, and Hawkins would go on to reform his band as The Band. Years later, Tuck sometimes played in the restaurant after-hours with other musicians. Herman Tuck eventually retired and leased the restaurant to Bruce and P.J. Barnes, who later opened Mister B's Steakhouse. Then, he sold the place to Benny Spears and Shelby Rogers in 2000. However, Mr. Tuck continued to hang around the restaurant long after he sold it, and his developed recipes are still in use, including the salsa served to every customer who comes in today alongside a bowl of saltine crackers. Bruce Barnes added the steak and its seasoning to the menu, as well as the shrimp and the baby back ribs. Bruce would train Nick, the founder of Herman’s, starting in 1996. Herman’s was a popular place where people would go to be seen, and over the years, every wall was covered with photos of various Herman’s customers. But on Christmas Day in 2004, the restaurant caught fire. In the aftermath, the new owner brought new equipment and built an outdoor deck. Spears had big plans for the place, but sadly, he was shot and killed outside his home by Fayetteville police officers one night in 2005. He had entered his home security system code incorrectly and then entered it correctly.
The security folks called the police, and when they showed up, Spears walked out of the house with a shotgun. The details of what happened have been discussed at length elsewhere, but the sad fact is that he died. Shelby Rogers, one of the partners in the operation, stepped forward and ran it for the next several years. In 2013, she sold the restaurant to Nick and Carrie Wright. Nick had worked his way up from the dishwasher for over 17 years. He and Mr. Tuck both mentioned how the assistance of Don Tyson over the years kept the place going strong. Yes, that Mr. Tyson, the president of Tyson Foods, who passed away in 2011. Tyson went to Kemper Military School in the same class as Herman Tuck. Tuck was granted Tyson's stock throughout his lifetime and retired in 1990. Herman Tuck passed away in February 2015, leaving behind the legacy of a restaurant. Nick and Carrie Wright are still running it.
2024 Arkansas Food Hall of Fame Winner
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