Vino's Born from $30,000!

Brews ~ Brewer ~ Process ~ BeerWords ~ History ~ Press ~ Intro

Vino's Born From $30,000 and an appetite
Pizzeria Survives Trial and Error, Gains Reputation in Little Rock Market

By James Little

Even Henry Lee agrees - about a year ago, the beer was pretty bad.

But like almost everything else about Vino's Pizza*Pub*Brewery in Little Rock, it evolved over time into something unique, helping to make the restaurant a true standout in the highly competitive Little Rock dining market. Lee, along with friends Bill Parodi and Alan Vennes, were investment bankers several years ago when they decided to sink 30,000 of their own money into a restaurant. "We just wanted to have a place where we could go to eat some good pizza and drink some good

beer," Lee says. In September 1990, that desire became a New York- style pizzeria. The menu featured pizza by the slice, calzone and a few imported beers on tap. The restaurant originally was patterned after an existing restaurant in Atlanta. From there it took on a personality of its own.

Parodi and Vennes, still controlling partners in the restaurant, left the Little Rock banking scene for larger markets, and Lee stayed behind to manage Vino's. Today, the downtown eatery at the corner of Seventh and Chester streets is a mainstay in central Arkansas restaurant lore. "I think people are looking for a good value for their money," Lee says. "Tastes are changing - people are willing to experiment a little more." The pizzeria, which seats 70, attracts the usual lunchtime crowd by offering a slice of pizza, side salad and a drink for less than $5. At night, however, Vino's bar takes center stage.

Part of Vino's allure is its musical culture. Before Lee and his friends moved into the building, alternative rock-and-roll bands were performing there. To have an instant clientele, Lee decided to keep booking the bands - and the musical aspect of Vino's was born. "We chose the building because of the feel of it," he says. Actually an afterthought, the live music propelled the start-up into profitability and has played a major part in its long- term success - the Vino's stage is one of only a few showcases in central Arkansas for local rock talent. In the spirit of other Little Rock standouts like the Afterthought Lounge and Bard's Restaurant, Vino's is becoming a hangout for some of the city's politically affluent (2nd Congressional District hopefuls Vic Snyder and Bud Cummings both admit to frequenting the pizzeria).

The menu has stayed pretty much the same for six years, give or take a sandwich or two. Lee says that, in keeping with the concept of the restaurant, he began considering making Vino's a brew pub a few years ago. By legal definition, a brew pub is a restaurant that manufactures beer in house for consumption on the premises. "We looked around at brew pubs and decided we liked the micro-brewery aspect [of other restaurants]," he says.

Brew Blues
Lee's first attempt at making beer was, well, an attempt. "Quality control was lacking," Lee says of the restaurant's original try at brewing beer. Each glass was unpredictable at best, and patrons quietly admonished each other not to try the house beer. Some tubs hidden away in the building's upstairs housed the 30- gallon contraption that cranked out the shaky brew. It wasn't a bad idea for the eatery to get into beer making, Lee says, but it reached a point where he was faced with investing in new equipment or dropping the venture altogether. He chose the former, and customers have grabbed onto the diversification.

Now, a copper and steel brewery operates in a new wing of the building, and Lee has hired a full-time brewmaster to craft the beverages. Since the new equipment was installed several months ago, beer sales have quadrupled. "There's a big demand for craft beer," says Mike Scheimann, Vino's head brewer. At Lee's request, Scheimann came to Little Rock from a brewing school in Colorado. The restaurant has developed three standing brews available year round: Six-Bridges Cream Ale, Firehouse Pale Ale and Lazy Boy Stout. The brewery also creates a brew- of- the- month, often with flavors like honey-pecan, Bavarian wheat, pumpkin and oatmeal. Each beer name carries characteristics of central Arkansas. The Firehouse Pale Ale label, named in honor of the fire station cater-corner from Vino's, features a fire-fighting Dalmatian with one spot in the shape of Arkansas. The Six-Bridges Cream Ale is named after the six bridges that cross the Arkansas River in downtown Little Rock. "In Arkansas, it's a relatively new phenomenon," Scheimann says. "People want to try something new and local. "The brewpub and the small brewers can tailor their products more to the local tastes, give their patrons a greater variety of fresher-tasting products."

The product is sold for consumption on Vino's premises or for carryout. To-go beer is sold in sealed half-gallon jugs called "growlers" for $9.75. Drinkers can return the glass container for a refill for $6.75. Lee says the package is ideal for get-togethers and parties. Vino's is the first brew pub in central Arkansas, but a

Fort Smith establishment, Old Fort Brewery, claims the distinction of being Arkansas' first (legal) microbrewery. The business started like Vino's as a brew pub and now has abandoned food sales and begun exclusively producing beer. Lee and two northwest Arkansas brewers are active lobbyists for the easing of restrictions on brewing beer in Arkansas. Only recently were the states restaurants allowed by law to sell their own beers (overcoming laws dating back to prohibition). During the 1995 state legislative session, the brewers lobbied and won approval to sell their homemade beers for carryout sales. This year, the group is trying to get legislators to allow local brewpubs to sell their products through traditional alcohol sales outlets such as restaurants and liquor stores.

Reprinted from Arkansas Business Small Business Journal, July, 1996.

Brews ~ Brewer ~ Process ~ BeerWords ~ History ~ Press ~ Intro