LITTLE ROCK, Ark.(KTHV) - Just in the past week, several new restaurants have been announced, breathing new life into the foodie scene of Little Rock's Main Street.
Little Rock's Creative Corridor is aimed at bringing art, culture, food and living space together. In a four-block radius between Third and Seventh on Main Street the quality of life is improving to a once rundown part of town.
Southern Gourmasian chef and owner Justin Patterson says the revitalization is a good thing.
"The way that people who aren't downtown on a daily basis, the way they view downtown will change with us and other people coming down here doing different stuff."
Patterson plans to bring his popular food truck flare to a brick and mortar.
"It broadens the food that we can serve, the amount of people we can serve, the hours that we can serve."
Patterson's restaurant will be located two blocks from Main Street's Creative Corridor where two more restaurants are planned.
Jacob Chi who is heading up the Aloft Hotel development on Main Street says he's joining in on the excitement.
"We'll have a restaurant on the bottom floor, on the lobby floor and it will be a national brand. We expect it to be a very significant restaurant presence."
Chi says the franchise that's chosen will not disappoint.
"We're earmarking that piece to be a place where everybody goes that's where I want to go to dinner."
You can continue to eat your way down Main Street at Samantha's. The upscale restaurant will be run by the owners of Cheers Restaurant. It will be located on the bottom floor of the Mann on Main building.
Something Patterson hopes to see more of.
"We're excited that there are other restaurants going in and we hope to see more on this block."
Southern Gourmasian hopes to open their doors by mid-fall and Samantha's is set to be finished by the end of November. No word on the Aloft restaurant.
