Patio Pizza & Beer Garden on Little Rock Appetite.com

The best college campuses take people and ideas from all over and combine them to produce an uniquely vibrant and welcoming atmosphere. The best college restaurants do the same. Patio Pizza, located just off the UALR campus, has carved out a cozy nook where cafeteria-fatigued students can feel at home, where their professors can keep discourse aloft over a cold beer, and where non-scholars come from all around for great, casual food in a sparkling clean dining room.

Owner Jerry Meyer, who opened Patio in January 2009, and chef Anthony Butler, have made sure there's something on the menu for all, from classic pizza toppings on delectable thin crust, to more sophisticated flavors like fresh mozzarella and basil with slice tomatoes, or andouille sausage and carmelized onions. Six-inch mini pizzas delight kids (and moms), and there are balls of uncooked dough to keep little hands busy while they wait. Cellophane-wrapped crayons can't hold a candle.

The craftsman-style dining room is well-lit and trimmed in warm-toned antique woods salvaged from an historic downtown building. There are two flat-screened TVs for following the home team, and live acoustic music is featured weekly. Might a few poetry readings, film nights and guest lectures migrate over from campus? Meyers is open to the idea. Some could even be a la fresco --the restaurant is flanked on the outside by a generous, south-facing patio that seats sixty. Open as weather permits, it is sheltered by a magnificent oak tree.

The budget-friendly menu is even friendlier to UALR and UAMS students, faculty and staff, who receive a ten per cent discount. Perhaps worth going back to school for!