When restaurants and bars cluster together to form a community, it means better business for everyone. People are more likely to head to a block with a few options; and, when one bar gets a little too crowded, the others get the overflow. Being patio season, it’s perfect timing for neighboring businesses Little Rock Bar and GoreMade Pizza to open their new outdoor additions, creating a new destination on the Fourth Street corridor.
With starting times nearly two years apart, GoreMade Pizza owner Nick Gore and Little Rock Bar owner Quinn Fallon still managed opening dates within weeks of each other. Fallon’s rooftop project — taking off in the summer of 2014 and opening up three weeks ago — turned complicated and expensive fast, contributing to its extended timeline. While the roof of Little Rock is flat and boasts an unobstructed view of the city, the bar wasn’t engineered to bare the load of another bar stacked on top.
“It got really hairy, but it’s pretty much done, and I don’t regret it, but I had no idea what I was biting off,” Fallon said.
Gore’s project went considerably smoother, launching in late April and looking forward to a completion at the end of this week. His also isn’t on a roof, instead occupying the large fenced-in space behind the GoreMade building. Using available volunteer work, and collaborating with professional landscape choreographer Kim Wilczak, he’ll open what’s more like a stage than a patio.
“It’s all a game of discovery as opposed to planning,” Gore said, taking a ride on the little yellow tree swing on the nearly-finished patio. The swing is apparently staying. “[Kim’s] putting together a dance piece with some of the people that work here who are also dancers. Her performance is kind of ‘Let’s see what happens,’ you know what I mean?”
Gore stressed his “come what may” philosophy, but, as far as expected entertainment, mentioned live jazz music and fire spinning to accompany the dance performances. It’ll all kick off on July 2 and July 9 at their Pizza Patio Grand Opening Celebrations.
Once both patios are established, both are looking forward to some collaboration, even if they’re not sure in what exact form that will appear.
“Quinn’s the best neighbor. He’s a fabulous person to have right next door,” Gore said. “We’re still trying to figure out the best way to interact, and it’s all a discovery.”
Fallon sees the Fourth Street corridor experience they’re creating as an alternative to Short North bar hopping. People can retreat to places like GoreMade and Little Rock as the places on High cater to what he sees as a younger, collegiate crowd.
“Being next door to each other, each of us having a pretty sizable patio, definitely cements us as a place to go for an experience that a lot of those places on High Street won’t be able to offer,” Fallon said.
GoreMade Pizza, Little Rock Bar, and their patios can be found at 936 N. Fourth St. and 944 N. Fourth St., respectively.
