This spring, 507 Taproom and Filling Station will expand to a second location at the old bank building on Yelm Avenue East.

Owner Bill DeVore said he hopes the doors to the new spot, which will include a grill, will open on or by the business’ three-year anniversary on March 15.

DeVore said the primary reason for the expansion is because the business is too busy to accommodate all of its potential patrons.

“There was just not enough space inside the building for seating,” DeVore said. “We started counting how many people would walk away on the weekends. There was a very large amount of people who just couldn’t come in.”

The original location, at 106 Prairie Park St. N.E., will remain open, but will be available for day-use rentals. 

DeVore said he’s received multiple requests to rent the bar out for events like birthday parties, baby showers or anniversaries. Since most of those requests asked to reserve the space for Saturday or Sunday, 507 Taproom was unable to accommodate them. Now with the expansion, the original location will be freed up to double as a small-scale event space.

Each spot will be open seven days a week through the spring and summer, but the hours at Prairie Park Street Northeast will likely change. The business at Yelm Avenue East will boast expanded hours, which are tentatively set for 11 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Sundays through Thursdays as well as 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

It will also have more staff and a specialized manager.

DeVore is working to keep the ambiance of the bar intact, noting that the live-edge, pressed-wood bar tops will be featured at the new spot as will the corrugated metal in the interior.

“We’re making it the same type of feel that everyone seems to like next door,” DeVore said.

Like its predecessor, the new location will be a 21-and-over business so it’s not family friendly, but DeVore hopes the staff at the business will become family to those who frequent the establishment.

The second location will include all the services as the original business, but it will boast more offerings. 

It will have 32 tap handles, which is double what is currently offered. Once each half-barrel of beer is gone, a new type of beer will take its place.

“It will always be evolving,” DeVore said. “That’s something that we wanted to make sure that we kept, because that’s something that everybody likes, that there’s always something new when they come in.”

Taps change more frequently at the original 507 Taproom because it’s set up on a one-sixth-barrel system.

DeVore said he’s working to keep the same “relaxed” atmosphere, a pursuit that will be achieved through strategic staffing.

“We’re in the process of trying to hire employees that have the same ideas and personalities that we currently have,” DeVore said. “The people we have now are hard working. They’re on time. They want to be there. They’re not there because it’s a job. They’re there because they enjoy it. … That’s what we’re looking for.”

He said one of his current employees quit her day job so she could work solely at 507 Taproom because she enjoyed it so much.

“I truly believe that our new location will be a destination for people within the community and outside the community,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of buzz from people from Tacoma and Auburn and Shelton and Chehalis that they’re really excited for what we’re doing and really excited to be part of it.”

The business is known for helping the community when it can, as seen through its work with programs like Dollars for Scholars and the Gift of Gobble. DeVore said he hopes the new space will help 507 Taproom continue that tradition.

“I think within the community, with the larger spot, we’ll be able to accommodate people that want to come in and visit us to see what we’ve done, but also give the opportunity to be able to give back more than we do now within the community,” DeVore said.

The second location will be housed at 608 Yelm Ave. E. in Yelm.