Pizza, beer and punk: An oral history of Vino's
It’s easy to imagine the story of Vino’s ending before it ever got going: “Three finance guys with no restaurant experience start a pizza place in a dilapidated punk rock playhouse in a neglected part of town” does not sound like a winning recipe for success. But three decades later, Vino’s Brew Pub not only persists, it’s widely considered a Little Rock institution — one of the few true mixing places in town, where you’ll find people of all classes and backgrounds communing over a slice and a pint and live music.
Vino’s New York-style pizza and calzones belong in any conversation about the best in town. Filling up a growler of Firehouse Pale Ale or Pinnacle IPA on a Sunday remains a Little Rock tradition (thanks to years of lobbying by Vino’s founder and owner Henry Lee). And you can’t tell the story of Little Rock’s modern music scene — and bands it launched into the national spotlight, including Trusty, Living Sacrifice and Evanescence — without telling the story of Vino’s.
That’s what we attempted to do in what follows, an oral history featuring dozens of the people and patrons who helped shape the landmark at Seventh and Chester.
https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2022/01/27/pizza-beer-and-punk-an-oral-history-of-vinos