Little Rock restaurants look to turn parking lot into outdoor dining space
(Photo: KATV)
LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. announced a new restaurant initiative on Friday aimed at supporting restaurants grappling with COVID-19 restrictions. Restaurants will now be able to submit an application for a temporary permit that would allow them to expand their dining options.
Local restaurant owners in Little Rock's SoMa neighborhood are hoping to turn their parking lot into a shared, outdoor dining space. Jack Sundell, owner of Mockingbird Bar and Tacos, said he and several other businesses hope to give customers another option for dine-in—they call it the "SoMa Outdoor Dining Room."
“Right now restaurants are permitted to have 33 percent of their dine-in operations open," Sundell said. "For a lot of restaurants, that's just not a number that gets us where we need to be.”
A group of restaurant owners in the area have been working on this plan for more than a week, Sundell said. Because of COVID-19, some participating restaurants are only providing carryout. With the new outdoor dining room, participating restaurants could share 60 to 80 seats, under 20 pop-up tents that would make up a space for patrons to eat during the pandemic.
“We also don't know how long we're going to be in phase one of reopening versus phase two and later phases,” Sundell said.
Loblolly Creamery Co-owner Sally Mengel said she's excited for the opportunity to bring their solar-powered ice cream truck and to keep customers cool on hot summer days.
“Getting your root beer floats or your double scooped cones, your brownie, hot fudge sundaes," Mengel said. " I think it's going to be a great addition to the outside dining in SoMa."
Sundell said he will know by Tuesday if their permit is approved. They are hoping to open the outdoor dining room sometimes next week, he said.
