Raleigh brewery working to serve up more than beer

RALEIGH, NC (WTVD) -- Gov. Roy Cooper will officially declare April as North Carolina Beer Month. There are now more than 250 breweries across the state and this will mark the sixth year of the month-long celebration.

As most breweries are celebrating, one business in Raleigh is pushing the city for a change.

Little City Brewing is petitioning officials to OK a zoning change and allow for a food truck to be stationed outside of the business.

Owner Jon Seelbinder hopes it will help the bar continue to grow.

"That would help us tremendously," he said.

The brewery is adjacent to the Metropolitan Apartment Complex, which went up in flames more than a year ago and caused millions of dollars' worth of damage.

Seelbinder said the fire initially caused sales to go down, but business has since picked up.

"Given last year's events we've really had to work harder than we ever worked before than anything we've ever done to turn the corner, which we have. That's the good news," he said.

The City Council seems receptive to the food-truck proposal.

Mayor Nancy McFarland said at Tuesday night's council meeting, "We did hear from some other businesses that were experiencing trouble from the blocks being closed for so long."

Officials say the planning department is going to work with "little city" to bring something to this street corner.

"It's really good to see the city get behind us and that's what we're looking for," said Seelbinder. "We bring a lot to the city in the way of jobs and value to the concepts that we bring, and I'd like to see that we're working together on that."