Springdales Downtown Revival is Coming, But Not Here Yet

Grateful Bread Sandwich Shop didn’t last long. The mom-and-pop restaurant next to the Apollo Theater on Emma Avenue recently announced via Facebook that as of July 24 it was no longer open to the public.

In a cryptic FB post, the owner said, “dining room service is over until Springdale decides it wants a downtown.”

Fair enough. Opening up to only close a few months later has to hurt, and Whispers understands why the guy lashed out at the city he hoped would nourish him.

Still, he was wrong. Springdale wants a downtown, it just hasn’t happened yet. But take it from Whispers, some pretty serious guys were down on Emma a couple of weeks back, and they were looking at possible places to invest.

“We’re snooping,” one of them said. “I like what I saw down there and I wasn’t the only one.”

These guys are into quality of life. Music, food and drink. The good stuff and they know how to do it.

Meanwhile, Tyson Foods Inc. recently announced the renovation of the Tyson Foods JTL Building at 516 E. Emma Ave. Just a few blocks south on Holcomb Street, work is ongoing to convert the old Decision Point into the new Ozark Montessori Academy. And on July 21, a couple of hundred people met at the Arts Center of the Ozarks to discuss and plan the city’s future. 

Springdale wants its downtown, and it’ll eventually have it. But the owner of Grateful Bread found out the hard way that it’s just not there yet.