Since visiting the latest reincarnation of Little Rock’s storied Town Pump , which first opened in 1969, I’ve been trying to figure out what feels off about it.

Purchased earlier this year, temporarily closed, lightly renovated and reopened in August by the Barnaby Group, a restaurant group led by Mary Olive and John Stephens that also owns Heights Italian restaurant George’s, the new Pump shows a lot of promise and admirably appears to have left more of the old Pump intact than I might have initially thought upon hearing the news of its acquisition.

The bar’s Instagram bio — “We messed it up just enough” — acknowledges both public skepticism around the new owners and their efforts to hew closely to the bar’s divey aesthetic.

The wood paneling and bar configuration remain unchange

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