After plans to move to Sanderline Avenue fell through, La Baguette French Bread & Pastry Shop is looking for locations for its second site while renovating the original at 3088 Poplar Ave.
After cousins Judd and David Tashie bought the restaurant in 2021, they hoped to open a second La Baguette inside Ciao Bella after its proposed relocation from Erin Drive to 5101 Sanderlin Avenue last year, according to Memphis Business Journal. Those plans have been scrapped, and the co-owners are looking for a new location for the expansion, hoping to stay in East Memphis. While the search continues, the cousins are working on renovations at its original site in the Chickasaw Oaks Plaza.
“We basically redesigned the layout,” Judd Tashie tells the Memphis Business Journal regarding the latest plans. “The market, where you come in and buy pastries, and the restaurant part of it — they’re going to tie in together. We’re still in the design process of that to make it flow. We were originally just going to make it all dining room, an extension of the dining room. Then, as we got a little further along, the bakery manager felt like we need some more space back there. So, it’s going to be a hybrid — part of it will go toward the kitchen, part of it dining.”
While the Tashies had already renovated the space with new paint, floors, and equipment at the time of the acquisition, the owners are in the process of converting the business into a full-service restaurant. The restaurant currently operates as a fast-casual eatery with counter service and order numbers. The Tashies plan to make this possible by taking over an adjoining space that used to be a boutique, according to the Business Journal. They hope to complete the renovations by October 2023.
While all this is happening, La Baguette has suspended commercial orders so the owners can focus on their other restaurants, including Pete & Sam’s and Bryant’s Breakfast, the latter of which is also expanding. While the Tashies are considering relaunching the commercial business again in the future, the pause in service will affect about a dozen local restaurants.
