For the past year Honey Pies has been doing their thing within the cozy confines of their Bowman curve space. The roughly 600 sq ft dining room featured just a handful of seats and filled up fast, especially during any sort of event like a popup brunch. Finally after almost a year of renovation they are ready to open up the new dining space that will add around 1,600 sq ft of additional room.
You may remember that a week before opening they were forced to take over the lease on the adjacent space that they were subletting from. Sharon and Lance Woodson debated on several ways to utilize the unexpectedly acquired space, ultimately decided to use it as the future dining space for Honey Pies as a way to grow the concept.
“When we started we really envisioned our Honey Pies storefront being a place where people came and picked up a pie,” Sharon says. “It became clear early on that people wanted a place to come sit, have a coffee, and eat more than just pie. The new dining room allows us to grow into a space that people will love.”
Starting this week the new area will open for seating and over the next month they will slowly transition that space into the main Honey Pies storefront. The pie cases, and ordering counter will move over along with some new furniture for the space. Eventually the entrance for that dining room will become the main entrance.
The move also allows them to convert the previous dining area into a private event and party room that adds another 40 additional seats. The room will be available for cooking classes, parties, and private events, as well as overflow seating when not booked.
Along with the addition of 55 or so seats for the main dining room, Honey Pies is looking to work in a series of menu updates and adjustments to utilize the space better. Immediately they are making a switch to Onyx coffee for their espresso to enhance the coffee side of the business. It will provide a higher quality espresso than they used previously along with the name recognition and training that comes with using Onyx. They will maintain their partnership with Leivas for the non-espresso coffee, something that has worked well for them so far.
Woodson says they will look at possibly adding more brunch options once the transition is complete as well.
Overall for customers the move should be a welcome change with more space to sit without the need to feel rushed. Business-wise it is a no brainer for Honey Pies to make better utilization of the space. Plus it is always great to see a business break a trend on what was once considered a cursed space.
You may remember that a week before opening they were forced to take over the lease on the adjacent space that they were subletting from. Sharon and Lance Woodson debated on several ways to utilize the unexpectedly acquired space, ultimately decided to use it as the future dining space for Honey Pies as a way to grow the concept.
“When we started we really envisioned our Honey Pies storefront being a place where people came and picked up a pie,” Sharon says. “It became clear early on that people wanted a place to come sit, have a coffee, and eat more than just pie. The new dining room allows us to grow into a space that people will love.”
Starting this week the new area will open for seating and over the next month they will slowly transition that space into the main Honey Pies storefront. The pie cases, and ordering counter will move over along with some new furniture for the space. Eventually the entrance for that dining room will become the main entrance.
The move also allows them to convert the previous dining area into a private event and party room that adds another 40 additional seats. The room will be available for cooking classes, parties, and private events, as well as overflow seating when not booked.
Along with the addition of 55 or so seats for the main dining room, Honey Pies is looking to work in a series of menu updates and adjustments to utilize the space better. Immediately they are making a switch to Onyx coffee for their espresso to enhance the coffee side of the business. It will provide a higher quality espresso than they used previously along with the name recognition and training that comes with using Onyx. They will maintain their partnership with Leivas for the non-espresso coffee, something that has worked well for them so far.
Woodson says they will look at possibly adding more brunch options once the transition is complete as well.
Overall for customers the move should be a welcome change with more space to sit without the need to feel rushed. Business-wise it is a no brainer for Honey Pies to make better utilization of the space. Plus it is always great to see a business break a trend on what was once considered a cursed space.
