The Goode Company 4-restaurant fiefdom on Kirby Dr. near Westpark is planning another expansion. Plans submitted to the city show the local chain is seeking to expand Goode’s Armadillo Palace with additional covered patio space, a new courtyard facing Bartlett St., and covered walkways connecting them — all on the current parking lot directly across the street from Goode Company BBQ. In addition, a new Goode’s Armadillo Palace General Store is planned for the far eastern end of the site, with a raised covered porch in front of its entrance facing Bartlett St. The single-story structure housing the store, according to the documents, would be built in a “traditional German country style.”

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Goode Company is requesting a variance from the city for several aspects of the plan, including the existing encroachments of the Armadillo Palace building at 5015 Kirby Dr. into 25-ft. (along Kirby) and 10-ft. (along Bartlett St.) setbacks. If the variance is approved as submitted, new structures, including the new covered patio intended to serve as the Armadillo Palace’s new main entrance along Bartlett St. (colored purple on the site plan below), would also extend into the otherwise-required setbacks. (The setback requirements were established by the city long after the 1948 structure was built.) The longer leg of an L-shaped trellis wrapping around the new courtyard along Bartlett St. would stand within the 10-ft. setback as well.

A hearing on the proposed variances is scheduled for this Thursday.

Demolition currently taking place on the lot directly north of the Armadillo Palace does not appear to be connected to Goode Company’s expansion. According to city permits, the front of the Wendy’s drive-thru at the corner of Kirby and North Blvd. is being demolished as part of a restaurant remodeling. However, a reader tells Swamplot that there are “rumors” that the site is planned to be a new banquet hall for the Armadillo Palace.

• Previously on Swamplot: Sixties Mod Goode Company Home of Glazed Bricks and Pecan Pies Goes Down on Westpark

Site plan: Philip Ewald Architecture. Photos: Swamplot inbox