21 Bar and Grill in Keene plans to expand into the newly vacant space next door, tentatively in June.

Matt and Beth Wood, co-owners of the restaurant, said they signed a lease for the former location of Country Life Vegetarian restaurant at 15 Roxbury St. on April 1. That restaurant closed March 21 after 37 years in business.

“I worked at 21 for about 13 or 14 years before we bought it … and we’ve always known that the end goal was to have 21, and we always knew that we wanted to eventually expand it,” Beth said. “So, when we actually … bought the business from the previous business owners, we had talked to the landlord and said that if 15 (Roxbury) ever became available that we wanted it.”

The plan involves opening up the wall between the two spaces in certain spots, Beth added.

“We’re working with the city and the fire department because we just want to make sure that we’re doing everything safe, the right way because it is a load-bearing wall,” she said. “So we just kind of have to go at the speed of permitting and making sure that we do everything the right way.”

She added that they hope to open the expansion at some point in June and have it running smoothly before Keene Wizarding Week in July, depending on the length of the permitting process.

Matt said that planning for uses of the space is still early, but they hope to expand it as a restaurant area.

“Our initial plan is to kind of keep our current 21 location as more of a bar/lounge type of feel,” he said. “And then keep the expansion space as more of a restaurant type of feel.”

Both said the growth of the restaurant area fits into their already developed move toward a family-oriented, full-service restaurant.

“We already are family-oriented … and it’s like all ages are allowed,” Beth said. “We want families to come and dine here, and we have quite a few that do.”

Besides the expansion, the restaurant also launched a new menu. The two explained that they change the menu twice a year to shift between warm-weather and cold-weather dishes. The new menu includes a fajita bowl, a Cobb salad and a bacon jam burger.

“We like to keep the fan favorites, but we do change quite a bit of things to kind of keep in line with … how your tastes change,” Matt added.

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