photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Terrebonne Po-Boys operates in one of the smallest restaurant space in Lawrence, but soon will be moving to a bigger spot on Massachusetts Street.

Hush puppies are coming to Massachusetts Street, and as a guy who wears cowboy boots everyday, you know I’m not getting excited about a pair of shoes. I’m talking about hush puppies, as in balls of fried dough from the tiny Vermont Street restaurant Terrebonne Po’ Boys.

I’ve gotten word that Terrebonne has struck a deal to move off of Vermont Street and into a much larger space near Ninth and Massachusetts. The restaurant — which currently only has takeout and a limited amount of outdoor seating — is set to relocate to the former Pedestrian Cheese shop space at 845 Massachusetts St.

Owner Greg Renck told me he hopes to open in the new location at some point in June but still has details to work out before he can finalize a date.

As the name suggests, Terrebonne is well known for “po’ boy sandwiches,” which feature a French roll, a special sauce and meat choices that include fried shrimp, catfish, sausage and even alligator. But the restaurant is about more than just the sandwiches.

I know that basketball is the favorite ball in Lawrence, but surely balls of fried cornmeal dough have to rank high on the list as well.

Hush puppies are a staple of the Terrebonne menu, and why wouldn’t they be? The restaurant has made a name for itself as a Cajun hot spot in Lawrence. That means gumbo, jambalaya and red beans and rice are all specialities of the house at Terrebonne. Just for good measure, muffaletta — the New Orleans sandwich of ham, salami, capicola and olive tapenade — along with fried okra and creole deviled eggs also are regulars on the menu.

What also is pretty regular at Terrebonne is cramped conditions. It is housed in one of the smaller restaurant locations in town. The new space at 845 Massachusetts — those of you in town for a while may remember it used to be the Penny Annies sandwich and sweet shop — is quite a bit bigger that Terrebonne existing spot.

“I have kind of bragged for years now that we are the smallest restaurant in town,” Renck said. “I won’t get to do that anymore. We are going from zero (indoor) seating to probably about 50 seats in the new place.”

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Terrebonne Po Boys is moving onto Massachusetts Street in the space at 845 Massachusetts Street that used to house Pedestrian Cheese.

Having a place to sit likely will be the biggest change at the new location, but expect a few others. Renck said the menu likely will expand, but not in radical ways. Instead, the restaurant will take some of the specials that it only offers once per week and make them regular additions to the menu. No decisions have been made yet, but Renck said the Cajun Cuban sandwich and the restaurant’s Shrimp Diane dish are good contenders to become regulars.

And in a move many a Cajun would appreciate, the restaurant likely will add a liquor license to serve a small cocktail menu. Liquor likely won’t be part of the offerings when the restaurant first opens, but is a near-term expansion project, Renck said.

Having space to think about expansion and growth is a new mindset for Renck, who has owned the restaurant for the last 12 years. But it was a mindset he realized he needed to adopt.

“We had gotten to the point where I felt we had outgrown the space a long time ago,” Renck said. “I have quite a few employees who have been with me for awhile, and I want to give everybody an opportunity to grow with the space.”

At the same time Renck, also credits remaining small as one of the keys to the business’ success over the years.

“For the first year, it was just me and one other person for the longest time,” Renck said. “Being small and not ambitious served us well. We never had to take on much debt or overhead.”

Renck indeed is expecting the move to Massachusetts Street to be different, even though the new location is basically one block east of the current spot.

“About a week after we signed the lease was the National Championship,” Renck said. “We stood out on our new patio and watched the chaos. It hit me that we are moving to kind of the intersection that is the heart of it all. I keep saying we are only moving a block away, but it feels like a bigger move than that.”

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

An order of hush puppies from Terrebonne Po-Boys in downtown Lawrence.