Restaurant plans expansion
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on August 28, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
By December, Ed's Southern Food and Spirits, one of Goldsboro's most popular restaurants, will look different.
Beginning in December, Ed's Southern Food and Spirits will look a little different to patrons of the restaurant.
The eatery, which opened its doors at 105 N. Center St. last October, is expanding laterally into the old Goldsboro Pharmacy building on the corner of North Center Street and West Walnut Street to allow for more customer seating and to offer a more diverse environment.
Work on renovating the building is expected to start soon and be completed by Dec. 1.
Owner Ed Cogdell said expanding the restaurant is an idea he has been toying with for several months while Streetscape has been giving downtown a facelift.
He has partnered with Jim and Jeff Daniels of Daniels and Daniels Construction Co. in order to make the project possible.
"They saw this street project happening and they wanted to test the waters with an investment property, so they purchased that (old pharmacy) building," Cogdell said. "We've been working together with them for several months on an idea to expand. It's really cool that they think enough of me to offer that, because they didn't have to do that."
Cogdell said his restaurant will remain open as renovations next door happen. They plan to open up the access between the two buildings by punching two holes in the existing brick wall -- one at the very start of the existing bar in the restaurant, and one at the end of the bar.
"The brick wall will be the last renovation to happen," Cogdell said. "So they'll do the complete remodel, and then we'll punch the holes."
The main entrance to the restaurant will move to the corner of North Center Street to the doors of the old pharmacy building, as that side will be renovated to be a dining area.
"(Daniels and Daniels) are following historic preservation guidelines, so it's going to be rebuilt to be as close to what it was when it was an original building as they can," Cogdell said. "They're going to restore the mosaic tile floor, the plaster walls, the facade, the front, and ultimately we'll probably match the front on this side to what they do on that side. We're going to have a passage at the front of the bar as you come in the existing door, and we'll have a passage at the back of the bar that will go into the new side of the restaurant."
The pharmacy side of the restaurant will have a historic feel because of the renovations, and the separation of the dining and bar area will allow Cogdell to host many different forms of parties and entertainment.
"Not everybody likes being in a bar atmosphere, and we have such a broad range of customers that stretch from mine and your age to our grandparents age," Cogdell said. "Sometimes, someone a bit older might not like louder music, might not like alcohol or what not, but that's how it'll be -- a main dining room and then you can proceed through the new doorways to the bar side if you want. Or, if you'd just like to have a drink after work, and don't feel like even going over to the restaurant side, you'll be able to just come through the doors we've already got and come to the bar. That will give me extra room for additional seating and private events."
Cogdell said private groups often make reservations and exceed the capacity of his existing room dedicated to dining. The expansion will allow larger groups to book private seating, he said.
A menu change will follow in accordance with the season change, so that when the renovations are complete and the restaurant has a new flair to it, the food will be new, too.
"We're excited. We're looking forward to it," Cogdell said. "They're about to start working on it. We had a meeting and went over some paperwork and some things we have to get signed, and we're getting our 'T's crossed and our 'I's dotted and it looks good so far."