Demetri's
Demetri’s in downtown Homewood has updated the front of their building.
The local favorite, located at 1901 28th Ave. S., has been serving up plates of barbecue for over 50 years.
Demetri’s has been at their current location since 1973, which is part of the reason why owner Sam Nakos said they were in need of some updates.
“We wanted to go out about 10 feet, 11 feet, and add about 25 seats, and we have been wanting to do that and we’ve had a hard time,” Nakos said. “It took a while to get the right information, and we found out that there’s been some very new codes that Homewood has adopted, requiring green space, and the end result of what we wanted and complying with the code would cause us to lose about 10 or 11 parking spaces.”
Complying with city code and completing their original design plan would have cost roughly an additional $50,000, Nakos said, so they decided to go back to the drawing board.
“We could not mess and tamper with our parking lot anymore, because it’s already hard to get into or to get out of,” he said. “We have a good piece of property with a lot more parking places than most retailers in Homewood, so we didn’t want to handicap ourselves.”
They settled on a plan that extended the front entrance to create a small lobby that will serve as a waiting area during busy hours. A handicap-accessible ramp was also put in at the front entrance to ensure easier access.
Demetri’s closed their doors on July 5 to accommodate the construction and reopened on July 16.
The project cost around $100,000, but Nakos says it’s a reinvestment back into the business. He’s confident customers will enjoy the new space.
