LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- Often overlooked areas of Little Rock could be the next thriving hub of renewal and it starts with restaurants.
Areas of Little Rock like Stifft’s Station-Capitol View neighborhood and Hanger Hill could be the next big hot spots. For years downtown revitalization has focused on Main Street and the River Market. But quietly and steadily, other pockets of Little Rock have been inching their way toward becoming something new.
"It's not about pushing outward anymore as it is discovering what we've already got here and what it has to offer," said Steve Shuler who writes for Rock City Eats.
Shuler said several new and existing restaurants and breweries are expanding their boundaries.
"Take what they've got and sure it up," he said.
One of those projects is the brainchild of the people behind Blue Canoe. It would put a brewery on 15th street in an industrial area. And at the South Woodrow Street exit in the Stifft’s Station-Capitol View Neighborhood, change is happening.
"They really want to cater to millennials and these concepts are things that millennials seem very interested in, great bookend for that neighborhood," Jeff Franklin said.
Franklin wants to build a solar charging station and a new restaurant built from shipping containers.
"They're uber modern when people build with them, but we can also make them energy efficient and very attractive to the eye and we don't have to cut down trees to do it," Franklin said.
Franklin's planned farm-to-table restaurant would fill a void in the area.
"The neighborhood seemed most excited about having a brunch joint maybe in Capitol View," he said.
He hopes to offer an after school burger for students on their way home from Central High. The Little Rock Board of Directors will decide whether he can build at that location.
"Want people to come out and enjoy themselves with that kind of cuisine," he said.
Other new restaurants coming to Little Rock, Ira’s on Main street and a restaurant called Southern Table will go where Kent Walker Cheese is on Cross Street. And in Hot Springs Bubba's Brew House will be built right on Lake Hamilton.