ANN ARBOR, MI - The space left empty by the closing of Argiero's Italian Restaurant in Ann Arbor already is planned as the site of another restaurant venture.

Phillis Engelbert and Joel Panozzo are co-owners of The Lunch Room and have signed a 5-year lease for the Argiero's building at 300 Detroit St., less than 500 feet from their Kerrytown location, with plans to create a full-scale vegan restaurant called Detroit Street Filling Station.

"The food's going to be unique, it will be noteworthy, it will be delicious, and a concept that hasn't been done in Ann Arbor before," Engelbert said.

It will be the third location for The Lunch Room ownership, which currently operates locations at 407 N. Fifth Ave. in the Kerrytown district and a bakery and cafe at 2200 Fuller Court inside Huron Towers near the University of Michigan campus.

There will be some crossover of menu items between the Detroit Street Filling Station and the original Lunch Room, Engelbert said, but the new restaurant will feature international vegan meals with a seasonal menu created by Chef Emil Boch.

"He's been coming up with concepts," Engelbert said. "There's a long list of amazing sounding things he wants to do that we'll be working with. It's going to be amazing."

The name pays homage to the building's history. It was built in 1925 to house the Staebler Family Oil Company filling station.

"We were both looking at having Detroit Street in the name and when we discovered what it was historically, it became pretty obvious what we should call it," Engelbert said.

The Detroit Street Filling Station will be open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday and for brunch on Sunday. There are plans to create a full bar in one section of the restaurant with wine, beer and craft cocktail offerings.

Tentative business hours are from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays.

Things will remain the same at The Lunch Room Bakery and Cafe in Huron Towers Apartments, but the Kerrytown location will see some changes as the Detroit Street Filling Station opens and customers become familiar with each restaurant's distinct menu.

The Lunch Room Diner & Canteen will focus on American vegan comfort food for breakfast and lunch, Engelbert said, and operate differently after 4 p.m. with an emphasis on bar drinks and a vegan ice cream parlor in the works.

Some favorites will remain on The Lunch Room menu. Business hours will be 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays.

"We'll keep the mac and cheese, have a couple breakfast items we'll do all day and a small selection of soups and salads," Engelbert said. "Our most popular lunch room items will end up on the menu at either the Kerrytown site or the Detroit Street site."

Brad Hayosh, of Wickfield Capital, met with Engelbert and Panozzo Tuesday, May 16 to go over the lease and talk with them about their plans for the property. Wickfield Capital bought the property from the Argiero family in the last year.

"We bought that building because we love that location. It's in the epicenter of Kerrytown," Hayosh said.

There was a lot of interest from people and companies interested in leasing it, but Hayosh said he is glad they waited for the right tenant to come along.

"It came to our attention a couple of months ago," Engelbert said about the property being up for grabs. "We started making inquiries, so it has only been in the works since March."

The decision to open another location came after Engelbert and Panozzo kept seeing signs The Lunch Room was unable to keep with its growing clientele. Customers would complain about being cramped, or the wait for lunch and dinner.

It also put a strain on those creating and cooking the meals for hungry customers.

"For us, it's become unworkable. The dining room and the kitchen are too small," Engelbert said.

The new location is about 2,400-square-feet, about double the footage of the Kerrytown space. There will be a renovation and update of the kitchen, including equipment, and some overall changes in the decor to give it more of The Lunch Room style.

"Obviously, The Lunch Room kills it over in Kerrytown itself and I think they're going to do some great things at the new location," Hayosh said. "They're all inked up and they're excited."

Overall, the plan is to have a quick build-out to open the Detroit Street Filling Station as soon as possible.

"We're doing some renovations, decorations and changing the decor to modernize it and update it but we're not doing a massive build-out," Engelbert said. "We're hoping to do the kind of build-out that takes a couple of months. We want to be open while it's still warm out, to take advantage of the outdoor patio."

Some things have not been determined, like how many people may need to be hired and how many experienced staff will move to the new location. The Lunch Room currently employs 36 full-time and part-time employees.

The Lunch Room is now offering Meal Plans that can be used at all locations, a strategy that Engelbert said was used when the Kerrytown location was in the works.

"It's a way to get people involved in the opening of the restaurant and get people excited to get public buy-in to the location," Engelbert said. "It worked great for us the first time around."

Each meal plan, purchased at $100 to $500, comes with a 10 percent bonus to be used on food items at The Lunch Room along with perks like event invitations or merchandise.

The Detroit Street Filling Station should be open by the end of the summer at 300 Detroit St.

"There's been a tremendous response to this," Engelbert said. "People are so excited."