Across the river: Argenta is poised for an economic boom with new hotels, a conference center and art projects.
Danny Brown and Eric Carter are taking their businesses in different directions.
Brown is moving his Willy D’s Rock & Roll Piano Bar from its longtime home in Little Rock’s River Market District to a new spot in downtown North Little Rock. The move follows a few challenging years Brown attributes largely to reduced foot traffic and parking. The bar is one of three nightlife spots on Clinton Avenue that have indicated they might be leaving.
Carter, on the other hand, is on his way into the River Market District with Hazel’s Public House, a burger joint in the space formerly inhabited by Big Whiskey’s American Restaurant & Bar. Carter, who co-owns the restaurant with business partner Jay Cowley, is encouraged by the heavy vehicular traffic at the River Market location. Carter is bullish on downtown Little Rock and said he isn’t worried about parking issues either.
The divergent paths for Willy D’s and Hazel’s come at a time when some downtown Little Rock boosters say the River Market District is in a period of transition, about 30 years after its transformation from a warehouse district into a hotspot for nightlife, restaurants and public investment.
After the pandemic changed many consumers’ habits and perceptions about public safety in downtown Little Rock worsened, nightlife establishments are facing a more challenging climate than restaurants, business owners and downtown promoters told Arkansas Business.
Additional public investment has already begun with the recently completed $31 million renovation of the Central Arkansas Library System’s Main Library. City leaders and downtown stakeholders are also discussing renovating Ottenheimer Hall, a food hall and event venue on Clinton Avenue, as well as the development of a 17-acre downtown green space into a park.
“In the next few years, I think that the River Market will be fully reinvigorated,” said Kyle Leyenberger, executive director of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership.
Willy D’s Heads to NLR
Brown, who has owned Willy D’s for about 15 years, recalls a time when the business was so successful he had to remove a wall to increase capacity. Business was good on the weekends, and, during the week, he targeted business travelers. The bar’s business grew year-over-year for seven straight years, he says. “From 2013 to the pandemic, all we did was grow every single year,” he said.
Brown said the COVID-19 pandemic reduced foot traffic in the River Market area. Some patrons eventually returned, but Brown said business travelers did not return at the same rate as before the pandemic.
Facilities managed by the Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau — like the Statehouse Convention Center, Robinson Center and Ottenheimer Market Hall, for example — hosted 547,981 attendees in 2024, which Gina Gemberling, the agency’s president and CEO, said is similar to pre-pandemic figures.
As the area tried to slowly recover from the pandemic, the Arkansas Department of Transportation in 2020 also began its reconstruction of the Interstate 30 crossing over the Arkansas River about a quarter-mile east of Willy D’s. The project eliminated many free surface parking spaces beneath the overpasses, which was difficult for the bar, Brown said.
“And that might have been as hard to overcome for the River Market as the pandemic,” Brown said.
Brown said traffic stagnated on nights and weekends and never rebounded.
Today, the bar generates 50% of its pre-pandemic revenue, he said.
Brown said he’s known for a couple of years that he would need to make a change at Willy D’s. He’s moving the bar to a newly built two-story site in the Argenta area of downtown North Little Rock where he sees an opportunity to lure concertgoers attending events at nearby Simmons Bank Arena (see this week’s other cover story). He said there aren’t many bars open late in that area.
The new Willy D’s site, which is part of a development that includes an Aloft Hotel and an event venue, will feature outdoor patios and balconies.
Brown said he plans to open at the new location in late summer or fall next year.
Hazel’s Finds a Home
As Brown prepares to leave the River Market District, Hazel’s Public House is on the way in, about a block west of Willy D’s.
Carter and Cowley, who have owned the upscale Allsopp & Chapple restaurant on Main Street since 2018, are taking over the restaurant space that Big Whiskey’s inhabited for 16 years until it closed last year.
Carter’s research found that 3,500 vehicles pass the restaurant going east and west along Markham and Clinton every day and another 3,200 pass by north and south along Cumberland and LaHarpe. Carter called it one of the most highly traveled intersections in the city and noted that many people will see his business’ signage.
“It’s just like a billboard right there whether people are coming in right at that time or not,” he said.
Carter said there are more than 35 food or drink establishments in a half-mile radius near the new location and he named several — like Cache Restaurant, Sonny Williams’ Steak Room and At the Corner — that have been there for 10 years or longer.
Carter isn’t blind to the fact that some businesses are leaving. In addition to Willy D’s, Revolution Music Room isn’t renewing its lease in a space diagonally across from Hazel’s. Flying Saucer, about a block east of Hazel’s, also suggested in a social media post this year that it might close as well.
But Carter noted those are bars and nightlife establishments and said restaurants might be different.
“The bars, to me, are the ones that have an uphill battle on getting people in the door,” he said.
Carter said the block of Main Street where Allsopp & Chapple is located has seven food and drink establishments. He said no block in Little Rock has more places than that.
Carter also thinks he can overcome any parking challenges by educating customers about the best places to park. He said parking is available, it’s just not free, and he noted that there’s a parking deck next door to Hazel’s.
Hazel’s is set to open in the first quarter of 2026.
New Development
Several plans are in the works to renovate some of the public spaces in the River Market area.
Ottenheimer Hall, the city-owned indoor food court and event space between Clinton Avenue and the Arkansas River, is set for a renovation that would include a public-private partnership with a private company operating the facility, according to Gemberling.
She compared the arrangement to the DoubleTree and Marriott hotels on Markham Street, which are owned by the city of Little Rock but are operated by private companies.
While the details have not been finalized, Gemberling said the project is expected to cost between $20 million and $25 million. The renovated facility would be open seven days a week, addressing common complaints and requests Gemberling’s office has received about the facility’s limited hours. The facility’s hours would also extend into the evening and it would include a bar, she said.
Gemberling said Ottenheimer Market Hall, which opened in 1996, is ready for a fresh start. “It has served the community very well for many, many years,” she said. “It’s time for a refresh. It’s time for a new brand.”
The Convention & Visitors Bureau is also renovating a plaza along Markham Street in front of the DoubleTree near Broadway. Gemberling said the area will include lighting and seating and the area could host events before events at the adjacent Robinson Center.
Leyenberger, who took over as leader of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership this year, is excited about the opportunity to turn 17 acres of downtown greenspace into a Central Park for Little Rock. The plan, which has not been finalized by elected officials, could include a range of uses, including a playground, classrooms, sports fields and a beer garden, he said.
Leyenberger said the city, the Convention & Visitors Bureau and the business community are investing in the River Market District.
“The money is coming, the investment is coming and everyone is on board to ensure that the River Market remains a strong part of our city,” he said.
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