Red Hot Roasters to relocate drive-thru

For the past few months, every Red Hot Roasters customer has had the same question.

With the coffee company opening a second location in Butchertown, will its owners still keep their drive-thru on Lexington Road?

The answer, Sondra Powell said Wednesday, is both yes and no.

Powell and co-owner Jason Powell, her brother, don't want to leave the Irish Hill neighborhood they've spent the past decade in. But beginning Jan. 30, the business will no longer serve coffee out the shop-less space that's so far housed their brand.

Instead, the owners have decided to move across the intersection to 1399 Lexington Road, into a renovated Old Standard Auto Garage that will feature a pick-up counter, outdoor seating and bike racks.

The company's space at 1403 Lexington Road will be filled with a liquor store - Liquor Night Shop, according to a notification from the Metro Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.

"The new location is overall a better location for us," Powell said. "It's set up better for the way we work. Part of the reason we were looking to move out was because the 1403 building didn't meet our needs anymore."

Red Hot Roasters has now signed a long-term lease with its new landlord, who has agreed to make improvements to the building, Powell said.

The Powells will continue to roast out of the new Lexington Road site and hope to increase their wholesale production, with help from the business's soon-to-open facility in the Butcher Block development.

In October, Powell confirmed that she and her brother were planning a second spot at 1009 E. Main St. in the 1,500-square-foot first floor of a historic two-story home.

The new location will not initially have a drive-thru, Powell said at the time, but one could be added in the future.

For more information on the business, visit redhotroasters.com.

Reach reporter Bailey Loosemore at 502-582-4646 or bloosemore@courier-journal.com.