Lucile's launching dinner service this week

Lucile's owner Tony Hanks has heard repeated requests to add dinner to his Fort Collins restaurant for the past 20 years.

This week, the popular 400 S. Meldrum St. brunch spot will finally oblige.

Lucile's will test out dinner hours from 5:30-10 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

"I was always against it at first," Hanks said. "But chef (Derek Hardin) talked me into it. I'm now pretty excited about it."

Hanks and Hardin sampled high-end Creole restaurants in New Orleans for inspiration and hosted a private menu tasting in April.

The initial dinner menu will include crawfish Etouffee, shrimp creole, blackened salmon, smoked salmon crepes, barbecue shrimp, chicken Robicheaux, Andouille po'boy sliders, crawfish cakes and smoked burgers.

The restaurant's signature beignets, a deep fried pastry coated in powdered sugar, won't be available during dinner hours. The restaurant will instead offer a variety of new desserts.

More:Laxen: Eating monkey balls a Taste of Fort Collins tradition

The spot joins The Lost Cajun, at 331 S. Meldrum St., and Sazerac New Orleans Bistro, at 1003 W. Horsetooth Road, among Fort Collins restaurants offering Cajun- and Creole-inspired dinner service. That style of cooking is also served at Loveland's Mo' Betta Gumbo.

Lucile's initially launched out of an old house in Boulder in 1980. It is named after founder Fletcher Richards' mother.

The Fort Collins location, owned by Hanks, debuted in 1996.

Hanks — previously a commercial crop dusting pilot — used to fly to work daily from Boulder in his personal plane. He's since moved to Fort Collins.

Lucile's also operates in Denver, Longmont and Littleton. Each of the six spots has its own menu.

The Fort Collins restaurant will be the lone location to serve dinner. It will continue its normal brunch service from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 

More:The dish on Lucile's beignets

Follow Jacob Laxen on Twitter and Instagram @jacoblaxen.