business

EMILY'S LEBANESE DELI RENOVATION

641 University Av. NE., Minneapolis

Type: Retail

Size: 1,502 square feet

Year built: 1908

Architect: Norm Wells Architect

Details: The owner of one of northeast Minneapolis' best known family-run institutions, Emily's Lebanese Deli, is preparing a renovation and expansion effort that he says will help unclog the restaurant's beloved but crowded environment.

Emily's deli counter and 40 restaurant table spaces have for many decades shared the same cramped quarters on the first floor of the 101-year-old building on the northeast corner of University Av. NE. and 7th Avenue. And while the establishment's loyal and far-flung clientele has never seemed to mind too much, owner Ron Awaijane said the set-up is hard on kitchen employees and servers who must work in very tight spaces.

"For customers, there really won't be too many changes," he said. "The deli and the restaurant will be separated. There will still be about the same number of seats, but we're going to put some bathrooms downstairs, which has always been a problem. And we're going to make the kitchen a little easier to work in, and make it more comfortable."

Plans developed by New Brighton architect Norm Wells take advantage of what little space is available on Emily's compact, 6,336-square-foot corner lot. The expansion includes two bits of new construction: a 713-square foot, single-story addition onto the south side and a 798-square-foot, two-story addition that would replace a wooden extension built onto the building's rear many years ago.

The restaurant seating would be moved into the south addition along with the new bathrooms, while the rear addition would be used to expand Emily's busy kitchen, freeing the existing restaurant space to mainly serve walk-in deli customers.

A new façade using a synthetic building cladding known as exterior insulation finishing system, or EIFS, will also improve the venerable restaurant's looks, Awaijane predicts.

"We've always been very proud of our food, but the building has been kind of an eyesore," he said. "We hope this is going to make us more aesthetically pleasing."

The down side will be that Emily's will be closed for perhaps up to three months while the construction is under way, probably beginning early next spring -- a trying ordeal even for a successful family owned business.

DON JACOBSON

Don Jacobson, a freelance writer based in St. Paul, can be contacted at hotproperty.startribune@gmail.com.