Firehouse BBQ restaurant expanding its bar area

A restaurant in Richmond's Historic Depot District soon will have room for more diners in its bar area as it expands operations into a neighboring building.

Firehouse BBQ and Blues, 400 N. Eighth St., is adding about 800 square feet of dining space — as well as several hundred square feet of kitchen space — to its floor plan, through renovations to an adjoined building's lower level. The renovations, which are expected to conclude in early June, will more than double the existing amount of space in the bar section of the restaurant.

"This is something that's been in consideration for a little while now, and it just felt like it was the right time to go ahead and move forward with plans to make it happen," said owner Tom Broyles. "Our customers have always been supportive of us, and we always have people looking for seats in that part of the restaurant, so I'm hopeful it will be beneficial to make this move."

Broyles, who helped open the restaurant five years ago, said the new area will maintain the same feel as that found throughout the rest of the restaurant. This includes homages to lesser-known recording artists with ties to Richmond who had an influence on big names in the music world, and tributes to law enforcement and fire personnel from around the area and the world.

"This is really going to have the same look and feel as the rest of the (restaurant) does," he said. "We want to carry over the character of this restaurant into the new addition."

Broyles said this effort includes moving the "Brotherhood" board — which contains uniform patches from more than 100 fire and police departments around the country — to the new section of the restaurant. There also will be new signage and images honoring local contributors to recorded music, he said.

The front facade of the building into which the restaurant is expanding also will receive a makeover and ultimately will have a similar appearance as the building to its south. A pass-through between the two buildings will be built to connect the rear of the structures for employee purposes. The buildings originally were built at an angle to allow for windows for upstairs apartments in what Broyles described as "kind of a strange design."

The Firehouse patio, which sits at the north end of the property and has been used as outdoor dining for the past few years, also will have an indoor-outdoor entrance built into the new addition. Broyles said it will be helpful for customers who want to sit outside on nicer days, as well as for employees. He said many people don't realize the patio is part of the restaurant.

"Having all these spaces connected is going to really help us out, I think," he said. "We are really looking forward to welcoming more customers once this project is completed."

To reach Palladium-Item business reporter Mickey Shuey, call (765) 973-4472. You can follow him on Twitter: @MickeyShueyPI and at facebook.com/mickeyshuey.