SOMA neighborhood

About a half mile from the hostel, you will find SoMa (South side, Main street), a unique urban neighborhood with a personality all its own. It is home to the Bernice Garden Farmers Market on Sundays from April into November from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There you can buy sustainably-grown produce, prepared foods, plants and flowers.

Grab brunch or just a coffee at long-time neighborhood hangout, Community Bakery or dinner and live music at South on Main. Mockingbird offers farm to table locally-sourced food and drinks with a Latin flair.  Ester’s is relaxed pub with a mirrored menu that offers menu items in both meat and plant-based versions. They also have games to play and sports on t.v.

The Root Café is focused on locally-sourced food, and catty-corner from there is The Green Corner Store, where you will find eco-friendly products for everyday living. Next door is Loblolly ice cream, proudly made here in Little Rock.

Stronger stuff is created at Rock Town Distillery, the first legal distillery in Arkansas since Prohibition. All grains for the craft spirits are sourced within 125 miles of Little Rock.  Core Public House has a great selection of local beer on tap, and the Atlas Bar is “an American neighborhood watering hole with an international twist.”

And don’t miss the Esse Purse Museum, which follows the evolution of American women through the 20th century through the perspective of their purses and their contents. This is the only purse museum in the entire country, and one of only three in the world.