As a staple of Little Rock, K Hall & Sons has catered to the community for nearly 50 years. Recently, the grocery store turned food distribution business was inducted into the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame, and the rest of Arkansas is finally recognizing what students and staff have seen for years.

General manager David Hall Sr. witnessed the store transform throughout its five decades, as it transitioned from a small grocery store to the thriving business it is today.

“Well, back in about 1975, my father and my mother started it, Knoxie and Estelle Hall. They started the business selling produce. From there, it just took off and got to where we are now,” Hall Sr. said.

The Food Hall of Fame honors local restaurants and chefs who contribute to Arkansas culture. K Hall & Sons has been nominated for three years in a row and they were announced as an inductee at the Sept. 29 ceremony.

“It was an honor for us; this time, they finally went ahead and inducted us,” Hall Sr. said.

Located in the Central High Historic Neighborhood, on the corner of Wright and Battery Streets, K Hall & Sons has had a connection to the school and its students since its opening. Taylor Parker (‘09) is a former student and now a substitute teacher for the LRSD. As a student, she cherished her weekly K Hall & Sons trips with her team after HI Steppers performances.

“So K Hall was kind of ‘the place’ for students, like when we were younger, and I hate to say this on record, but students, of course, skipped to go to K Hall and get lunch,” Parker said. “Because it’s so close, it was convenient on days we had games for us to just walk over.”

Even now, the iconic white to-go box is immediately recognizable to Parker and other alumni. For her, the building and the food remain timeless.

“It still looks the same; it’s basically a historic site at this point, and the food is still just as good as it was back then,” Parker said. “I posted on Snapchat the other day, and was like, ‘Guess where I went?’ And all I showed was a box and a wing–everybody knew where I went.”

K Hall & Sons hosts students and staff, and Hall Sr. expresses his gratitude by supporting a variety of programs.

“We have a lot of students come every year, we have for a long time. I don’t know if they skip school or not, but we have a lot of kids coming in the morning, before school, in the evenings, and after school,” Hall said. “Actually, we ran an ad in the newspaper. We got an ad on the football and basketball scoreboard. We’ve been big supporters for years, and we try to keep that up.”

Generations of Little Rock residents have grown up with K Hall & Sons as their go-to spot. No matter how much the city changes, this familiarity is what makes the store feel like home. A love for K Hall & Sons’ food has been in junior Jaidyn Killian’s family for years.

“I usually go every weekend. My grandparents started taking me, like, two, three years ago, and we go to the Seafood Saturdays too,” Killian said.

Killian appreciates the close-knit atmosphere that K Hall & Sons creates because it allows her family to feel at home.

“When I go, it’s just very communal, like the community there is very, I don’t even know how to explain it, very homey. It feels very welcoming. It’s just my type of environment,” Killian said.

The memories that past generations carry from their days as students into adulthood exemplify the lasting influence that K Hall & Sons has on the community. For Hall Sr., this legacy is one he hopes to honor, and it inspires him to keep the store evolving.

“We’ve got some things planned, you just kind of have to stay tuned. Who knows? We just have to wait and see,” said Hall Sr.