After shutting down the to-go service, Huey’s Poplar is getting ready to expand next door in East Memphis at 597 Erin Dr.
Restaurant owners submitted permits last month to expand into the former home of Coming Attractions, according to the Daily Memphian. The expansion will allow the company to add a full-service kitchen for to-go orders. Permit plans show a separate entrance to the to-go kitchen will be constructed with a connecting entrance to the original building. Huey’s previously served its to-go customers from a small space within the restaurant but was forced to shut down operations due to the high demand. The to-go kitchen, which will be open about four or five days a week, is expected to open in Fall 2023.
Huey’s will see no operational changes to its original location, with the service being the same for all orders. The restaurant will remain open during these renovations, and the same menu will be offered. While customers won’t see any major changes to the original restaurant or its operations, customers will now have a much easier time ordering food with the restaurant for pick-up. When the extension opens, Huey’s will continue its to-go service, available through online ordering or over the phone.
“We thought the best way to do it was to open up a to-go-only kitchen and have all of our to-go orders come out of that side,” Ashley Robilio, Huey’s president, tells the Daily Memphian. “Our end goal is to have a beautiful new kitchen that we are using for to-go only. We expect a huge difference in speed, efficiency, and quality. We suspect that our restaurant service will greatly improve also since customers will be getting their food quicker, and seated faster. It’s going to be huge. We are also hoping to add two little offices in the back for more office space.”