Downtown Springdale is humming with new life these days. Once a quiet stretch of empty storefronts, it's now become a mosaic of local businesses and gathering places where neighbors and strangers alike pull up a chair. It's a district reclaiming its soul—one brick, one story, one small business at a time.
Nestled in the heart of this cultural rebirth is Odd Soul, a bar and eatery that's more than just a place to grab a drink or a bite—it's a third home. The kind of spot where faces become familiar, stories are shared with laughter or pizza and beer, and the pace of life slows so you can connect with those around you. From the outside, it might look like another hip pub in a growing downtown, but ask around and you'll find Odd Soul is something special: a place that exists just as much for its people as it does for its plates.
And the story of how it came to be? As Jeffro, the owner, puts it with a grin, "I tripped and fell, and here we are."
The story of Odd Soul really begins with a casual invitation. Jeffro never saw himself running a restaurant, but life has a funny way of guiding us where we're meant to be. While living with his cousin in Springdale years ago, he became neighbors with the founder of Core Brewing. One thing led to another, and he started helping out, learning the rhythms of brewery life. The industry, with its blend of hard work and hospitality, began to pull him in.
Ironically, for the owner of a bar known for its beer on tap, Jeffro isn't much of a beer drinker. Whiskey is more his style. But that outsider perspective sparks creative thinking—like the time the brewery had too much pumpkin beer left over after the holidays. Instead of dumping it and calling it a loss, they distilled it into moonshine, which was "surprisingly great," as Jeffro put it.
Before Odd Soul ever opened its doors, Jeffro found himself on another continent, soaking up a culture that would later shape the life he's building in the United States. While living in the United Kingdom, he fell in love with the rhythm of pub culture—the way people stopped in daily, not just for a drink but for a connection, and a sense of community. The neighborhood pub wasn't a destination, it was a constant. A "third place" that wasn't home or work, but a vital in-between where people could simply be.
When he returned to the States, life needed a reset. For Jeffro, that meant finding a place that felt like home—a community built on connection, warmth, and care. "If I'm going to figure out where to make my life again, it's Springdale," he says. His vision was to create a modern-day version of Mayberry from The Andy Griffith Show—a tight-knit town where people look out for one another not just because they're neighbors, but because they genuinely care. This dream was shaped not only by classic pub culture but also by the spirit of the sitcom Cheers, "where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came."
Odd Soul brings that vision to life, not just through its food and drink, but through the relationships it fosters and the stories it helps write. In a rapidly growing city, it offers a place to pause, connect, and feel at home—where comfort, community, conversation, and a sense of belonging always matter. Springdale is lucky to have Odd Soul.
If I'm going to figure out where to make my life again, it's Springdale.