CABOT — Deer Creek Fire and Stone opened in December and it has already developed a good customer base.

The casual restaurant, specializing in pizza and sandwiches, is in a stand-alone building on Main Street, just past the Wal-Mart Supercenter on the left if you are arriving from U.S. 67/167. We headed there for lunch on a Saturday afternoon (I’ll admit I drove right past the restaurant and had to circle back). But it wasn’t long before we were safely situated in the roomy parking lot.

As we were walking up to the front door we noticed an outdoor seating area — a covered, enclosed space with large, screened windows.

The restaurant is divided into two dining areas separated by a wall, with one being in the bar area. Both contain a selection of booths and tables, and the attractive dark wood furniture complements the decor. There are several televisions mounted on the walls along with a few neon beer signs.

The kitchen is behind the bar area, and diners so inclined can watch the food preparations through a large window. It was interesting to watch the chef at work and see the stone oven they use for pizzas.

The restaurant’s menu is not huge, but it does contain an array of items that make it hard to decide what to order. It seemed like a good idea to start out with Queso Dip ($4.99), which arrived at the table in a small iron skillet that was hot enough to brand someone and was accompanied by a large basket of thin and crispy tortilla chips. The orange concoction of melted cheese, beef and spices that reminded me of the flavor of chili was delicious, thick and rich.

Moving on to our meal, we decided to share a variety of items. Since the pizzas are cooked in a stone oven, ordering a pizza was a must. There are a variety of Classic Creations like BBQ Chicken, Nacho, Sicilian and Chicken Bacon Ranch, or you can create your own with more conventional toppings. We went with the Chicken Bacon Ranch, available in an 8-inch ($8.49) or 12-inch ($12.99) pie. It is made with homemade ranch dressing, grilled chicken, bacon and mozzarella cheese.

The menu has a small disclaimer at the bottom that explains about the pizzas being cooked in the oven at 700 degrees, so some charring and blistering on the crust is normal. The menu recommends that customers order no more than four toppings to obtain the most optimum pizza bake.

We also ordered a Guacamole Burger ($7.59), a halfpound beef patty topped with tomato and guacamole that’s served with fries or fresh vegetables. Then we added an order of Fish and Chips ($8.99) that includes beer-battered cod served with tartar sauce and fries. And I had a hankering for the Fried Mushrooms ($4.99), so we rounded out our meal with those.

Our food made it to the table relatively quickly, before we were finished with the dip and chips.

The burger was good, but the guacamole oozed out the side of the sandwich, leaving less to taste with the beef. The fries looked to be homemade with the skins still on. While they were flavorful, they could have stood another minute or two of frying to make them crisp.

We were pleasantly surprised at the large number of fried mushrooms — more than enough for three to share, and several ended up in the take-home box. The mushrooms of varying size were breaded and fried to a nice golden brown and served with a side of ranch dressing.

The Fish and Chips came with four medium-size cod filets that were very crisp and not overly greasy. The filets were cooked just right but slightly bland.

Finally we made it to the Chicken Bacon Ranch pizza, a lovely pie with a nicely crisped and browned crust. The toppings were plentiful and the combination of the chicken, bacon and ranch dressing was delicious. Most of it went home in a carryout box, and it reheated deliciously in the toaster oven later.

The restaurant offers a couple of desserts of the day for $3.79, and on that day they had carrot and chocolate cakes. We split a piece of the carrot cake, and while it wasn’t homemade, according to our server, it was yummy, although they keep it refrigerated so it was cold.

Deer Creek Fire and Stone does offer alcohol private-club style where you fill out a card to become a “member.”

Our overall dining experience was great. Our server, Cheri, was friendly and attentive, and the meal was top notch. We made a second visit on a Friday evening, and the service and food were just as good as the first visit. Our server, Shea, was professional and cheerful, our glasses stayed full, and the food was piping hot and delicious.

Deer Creek Fire

and Stone

Address: 2541 W. Main St., Cabot

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday Cuisine: Pizza, sandwiches and pasta

Credit cards: AE, D, V, MC Alcoholic beverages: Yes Wheelchair accessible: Yes Carryout: Yes

(501) 843-3337

Weekend, Pages 40 on 05/17/2012