WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

As 2-year anniversary nears, East Lawrence's Bon Bon! eyes expansion

The popular East Lawrence bistro Bon Bon! can be a bit Brr, Brr during the winter. That’s a prime reason the restaurant has filed expansion plans that include a new kitchen and a new enclosed seating area. The restaurant at 804 Pennsylvania St. currently uses as its kitchen a food truck that is parked next to the old stone building that houses the actual restaurant. The plans also seek permission to enclose ...

Old Applebee's building being demolished; car wash set to take its place

I don’t know if it is true that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, but I can attest that an Applebee’s falls wherever the big backhoe tells it to. Motorists in west Lawrence this morning are noticing that the former Applebee’s at Sixth and Monterey Way is being torn down. No, the demolition doesn’t have anything to do with the mess I left the last time the restaurant had all-you-can-eat ...

Work shut down on west Lawrence senior housing project after company goes out of business

This is the time dozens of residents were supposed to be moving into a unique multimillion-dollar west Lawrence housing project for people 62 and over. Instead, work has been stopped after the project’s construction company suddenly went out of business. Construction work has been halted since July 3 at the Village Cooperative project at Sixth Street and Queens Road, a representative of the project’s ...

Signs that breakfast chain may be coming to downtown; pop-up athletic store set to open

I haven’t quite cracked this case, but there certainly are signs that a major new breakfast restaurant has plans to start cracking a lot of eggs in downtown Lawrence. The commercial real estate firm Colliers International has confirmed that it has finalized a lease for the old Ingredient restaurant location at 945 and 947 Massachusetts Street. The lease is with a company called JE Lawrence, LLC. But Colliers ...

Growing bank files plans to take over former convenience store location

A bank inside a convenience store always worried me. A line of credit and Slim Jims in the same spot could ruin me. But now I have word of a bank that is completely taking over a convenience store location. Plans have been filed by RCB Bank to take over the vacant gas station/convenience store at 3300 W. Sixth St. If you remember, that used to be the old Miller Mart convenience store that perhaps was more ...

Longtime laundromat to become a restaurant; 55-year-old 23rd Street shop to close

I’ve been wearing my Magnum P.I. shirt and doing a little investigating. What I’ve learned so far is if I ever decide to wash the beautiful garment, I’ll have one less place to do so. Plans have been filed for a restaurant to take over one of Lawrence’s oldest laundromat locations. And, in a particularly worrisome development for my shirts, there are some signs the new restaurant may have barbecue. ...