The Rocker Running Little Rock
I was wandering down Fourth St. in Italian Village in Columbus on St. Patrick’s Day afternoon. The air was chilly, but the dogwoods were already in bloom around the city and among the 270 overpasses.
I was trying to figure out how to salvage the evening; I had scheduled a SkilletReport feature at another restaurant that cancelled. I stepped into the approachable Little Rock Bar to regroup with a cocktail. This is food journalism; it’s unethical NOT to try the drinks.
Despite the blustery St. Paddy’s Day weather, it was too close to spring for a hot drink.
I ordered Little Rock’s signature Cold Fashioned, a delicious bourbon and vanilla flavored drink that has a little bit of a root beer flavor.
It was a good drink to have surrounded by the familiar dark wood paneling and black leather of the bar, rock posters and paraphernalia on the walls.
As luck would have it, the bar owner Quinn Fallon was celebrating in Little Rock Bar that evening. The bartender directed me to the patio where he stood with his crew. The guy is a local celebrity in his own right, which I didn’t realize until researching him later.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with Arkansas,” Fallon told me about the bar’s name. “I’ve never been there. It was the title of a song I wrote.”
In other words, Little Rock Bar has more rock-and-roll than Dixie in its heritage. Fallon has been a staple in the Columbus music scene for decades, serving as guitarist for the X-Rated Cowboys.
“I don’t know if you know who I think I am,” Fallon joked as he reeled off his extensive nightlife resume.
He also plays with Los Gravediggers and was co-owner of the famed Andyman’s Treehouse – a staple in the Columbus rock scene of the 00s. The X-Rated Cowboys released a full-length album in 2023 – their first since 2005.
As we chatted, the Little Rock Beverage Director Joe Peppercorn sat at the end of the bar and dropped a shot of Irish Cream into a Guinness.
“This one’s for Andy,” he shouted as he downed the car bomb in one go. Fallon joined him.
Who’s Andy?
“Andyman!” Fallon shouted in answer, pointing to a copy of 614 Magazine framed overhead. A huge man, his face lit with a friendly grin, dominated the cover.
“I’m part of the least exclusive club in Columbus,” Fallon said. “I was Andy Davis’s friend.”
That was the “Andy” of “Andyman’s Treehouse,” which the two owned from 1999-2008 as a joint partnership. Davis’s sudden death of natural causes vacationing in the wilderness in 2010 was a big blow to the Columbus nightlife and music scene.
Because it was St. Paddy’s Day, Peppercorn insisted I also try the Shamrock Shake he invented. The blended drink is a pleasing mint green from the creme de menthe (“less than you’d think,” Peppercorn said).
The Gifford’s vanilla liqueur and Frenet Branca cut the sweetness for a boozy treat. You’ll have to wait until next St. Patty’s Day to see that one advertised again, but I bet you could talk one of the bartenders into making you one most days of the year.
