Let's check out the Main Street Market in Middletown! This indoor marketplace is located at 366-386 Main Street in Downtown Middletown.

The Main Street Market is home to a variety of businesses, creating a small indoor mall with local vendors The marketplace is home to Perk on Main Coffee Shop, Pokémoto, Celtic Cavern Gastropub, Marshmallow Factory, El Pulpo & Tapas Bar - Middletown, A Pocketful of Posies Gift Shop, and so much more.
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The marketplace is open Monday-Sunday from 8am-9pm; though individual stores have their own hours. This is the perfect place to grab a bite, meet a friend, or shop! Make sure you stop in and see what makes it a hidden gem!

A new tavern has opened in Storrs! The Tavern at Springhill Inn has opened their doors at 957 Storrs Road!

The new restaurant is located inside the historic Springhill Inn, a charming guest house dating back to 1734.

The restaurant features typical tavern fare including burgers, chicken, Mac & Cheese, Steak, and more. The restaurant also has some Mediterranean influence with menu items like Shrimp Scampi, Frutti Di Mire, and Lobster & Penne A La Vodka.

The restaurant is owned by Bharat Neupane, a local restaurateur, he also owns Kathmandu Kitchen at Storrs Center. The restaurant is open 11:30-9:00pm daily.

Ordinary Joes will be opening their second location later this year in Torrington! The restaurant will be opening at 823 New Harwinton Road, the former The Tipsy Pig space.

Ordinary Joe's is a sports bar located at 253 Buckingham St, in the Oakville section of Watertown, CT. The restaurant is widely known for their chicken wings, said to be on the greatness level of J Timothy's and Eli Cannon. Ordinary Joe's opened their first location in 2011. Check out their website here: https://ojoespubct.com/

The Tipsy Pig closed their doors earlier this year after 3 years in their location. The bar and grill opened in 2021. The owner of The Tipsy Pig now owns The Little Pig at 325 North Elm Street in Torrington and a partner in Crossroads Sports Bar at 29 Main Street in Torrington.

Have you ever had Ordinary Joe's wings? How did they stack up against CT's other famous spots? Comment below!

Bui Vietnamese Cuisine has opened their doors in Branford! The restaurant was a longtime fan-favorite in Manchester for nearly a decade before they closed their doors in 2023.

Bui Vietnamese Cuisine is located at 4 Brushy Plain Rd #514 in Branford, CT; also known as The Village at Brushy Hill. The restaurant serves traditional Vietnamese cuisine including Bun Bo Hue, Stir Fry, Chè Ba Màu, and much more. The menu also has a large vegan and vegetarian section, with options for almost everyone! Check out their full menu here: https://www.buifood.com/bvc/menu
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They're open Tuesday – Saturday 12pm-3pm for lunch service and 4pm-9pm for dinner service.

Foxwoods and Hell's Kitchen are now looking for food servers to be part of season 23 and 24 of the hit show! The show will be filmed at a new set at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, CT.

Here is the job description: 'This position is for the filming of the TV show Hell’s Kitchen. The candidate needs to be comfortable performing the assigned restaurant job duties on camera. This is a temporary position May through June and candidates must be flexible, available midweek and weekends. The incumbent will provide any of the following duties: traditional dinner service, welcoming guests, explaining the menu, suggesting wine, answering questions, expertly serving and clearing the tables within elevated service standards, and any other duties as assigned. Must have a minimum of one (1) year of food server/bartender experience in a full-service restaurant. Must be 18 years of age. Must possess a personable, customer service attitude with organizational ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, and an ability to remember orders. Maintains established company and department uniform, appearance, and hygiene standards at all times. Must be able to speak, read and write in English.'
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Seize this opportunity to work with one of the World's most famous chefs, Gordon Ramsay. Apply here: https://recruiting.ultipro.com/.../OpportunityDetail...

New redevelopment coming for the former Reid & Hughes building in Downtown Norwich! The site will soon be home to retail and market-rate apartments.

The plans are to restore the existing building; creating 17 apartments in the upper levels of the building and creating a first floor retail space in the former department store space.
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A ground breaking for the project was held this morning. The building dates back to 1888, and was the home of Reid & Hughes Department Store for over 100 years; the building has sat vacant for decades after the business closed in 1995. The project has received grants towards its redevelopment including a $550,000 brownfield grant through The Norwich Community Development Corporation.

Let's do a check in on Waterbury's Brass Mill Center!

The mall is located at 495 Union Street in Waterbury, directly off I-84. The mall was opened in 1997 with Filenes, JC Penney, and Sears as the original anchor tenants, a Lechmere was planned to open as the fourth anchor but never did due to their closure. A 12-screen Regal Cinemas operated on the third floor of the mall until 2022 when they closed their doors.

The Lechmere box was filled by Burlington Coat Factory and Steve & Barry’s. Filenes was converted into a Macy's; which closed in 2021. Macy's was replaced by an Ashley Furniture and small space available for lease. Sears closed in 2018 and remains vacant. Steve & Barry’s closed and was replaced by Shopper’s World. JC Penney and Burlington remain open.

The mall has struggled with tenancy; national chains continue to flee the mall due to dwindling foot traffic. Notable losses include Express, H&M, Champs, Hollister, Victoria’s Secret; most recently Rainbow, Pretzel Maker (both locations), Track23, Ardene, and Bath & Body Work will be moving out to a new location of Chase Avenue.

Brighter days may be ahead for the mall. Kohan Retail Investment Group purchased the mall in 2022 with plans to turn it around. The company has brought on a new management company to lease the mall, Godin Property Brokers, who are actively negotiating with new tenants for the mall. Another bright spot is the reopening of the movie theater under Apple Cinemas! The opening is planned for Friday! New tenants have/are moving in including Bagel Factory, Island Spice, and Lost Souls Collective. We hope to see them turn things around!

Do you think this mall can be turned around? Comment below!

Express has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The fashion retailer has 4 full-line stores, 3 factory outlet stores, and 2 small-format Express Edit stores. Four locations are planned to close their doors in Connecticut including:

-Express at Danbury Fair Mall
-Express Factory at The Shoppes at Buckland Hills
-Express Edit at 125 West Main Street, Westport, CT 06880-3300
-Express Edit at 181 Greenwich Ave, Greenwich, CT 06830-6576
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Liquitation sales are expected to begin at early as Tuesday morning according to a message from corporate. This will leave Express with locations at Westfarms in Farmington, Tanger Outlets at Foxwoods, Clinton Premium Outlets, Trumbull Mall, and Connecticut Post Mall in Milford.

Check out what is left of Westbrook Outlets in Westbrook, CT. The outlet center opened in late 1995 as a Tanger Outlet Center. Tanger sold the outlet center in 2017 to Levin Management, and was 90% leased at the time of purchase.

The outlet center has continued to lose tenant since then and is now down to just 13 tenants including H&M, William Sonoma Outlet, Pepperidge Farms Outlet, Tapville Social, J Crew Outlet, Ink Publishing, Ashley Nielsen Studio, Reborn House Fabric Outlet, Loft Outlet, Eddie Bauer Outlet, Hanes Brands, Old Navy Outlet, Old Tyme Toys, and Westbrook Cinemas.

The outlet center is expected to be demolished and replaced with a large scale mixed use development. The project is still pending local approvals. If completed the $425 million development would include 595 apartments, 100 townhouses, 100 room hotel, 75,000 square feet of retail space, and an amphitheater. The development is spearheaded by Lexington Partners LLC.

Do you like the redevelopment plans for the outlet center? What else would you like to see open here? Comment below!

New restaurants are coming soon to Clinton!

Masa Sushi is coming soon to the former Bank of America at 88 West Main Street! The new sushi restaurant will reuse the existing building, while adding a 2 bedroom apartment above the restaurant. Work is now underway!

Siren Pizza appears to be back under construction in the former Friendly's at 62 West Main Street! The pizza place has been under construction since 2022, with new plumbing and HVAC permits were issued early this year. The former Friendly's has been expanded and a patio will be added for the new restaurant. The owner of the new restaurant will be the same as Siren Kitchen & Bar in Essex.

What else would you like to see open in Clinton? Comment below!

Prohealth Physicians will be combining their Bristol offices into a new large hub center at 1251 Farmington Avenue!

The new 25,000+ square foot building will be building from the ground up on a vacant parcel of land. A ground breaking is planned for April 18th for the project. Studio Q Architecture designed the facility.
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Chick Fil A is rumored to join the site. The site plan approved in 2023 showed a fast food restaurant and a car wash as part of the final site plan. No car wash brand has been identified yet.

The Fresh Monkee, LLC is continuing their local and national expansion with 2 new locations opening in Connecticut, and numerous new locations throughout the US! The fresh smoothie shop currently 6 locations.

The Fresh Monkee will be opening new locations at 25 Talcottville Road in Vernon, CT and at 138 College Street in Middletown, CT! The Vernon location is planned to open in June; while the Middletown location will open sometime this summer.

The local chain will be expanding nationwide! The shop recently opened their first location outside of Connecticut at 9 Cedar Swamp Road in Smithfield, Rhode Island. New locations are planned for Wakefield, Rhode Island, Meza, Arizona, and Westborough, Mass. The shop has signed on two new franchisees to open new locations in Florida and North Carolina!
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The Fresh Monkee was started in Wethersfield in 2014, and has quickly expanded include new locations in Glastonbury, Southington, Manchester, Mansfield, Berlin, and Smithfield RI.

Four Dads Pub, a quickly expanding restaurant group, has collapsed and has closed all their locations.

Four Dads Pub started as a single pub in Granby, Connecticut in 2020, the height of the pandemic. The pub took over an old carriage house, turning it into a cool rock-n-roll themed pub.

The restaurant quickly expanded; opening locations in Hartford and Coventry. The Hartford location opened at 114 Asylum Street in 2022. The pub replaced the short-lived Artichoke Pizza, and has since become The Brownstone, a similarly themed pub. The Coventry location opened at 50 Lake Street in 2023, and closed shortly after their soft opening. The Coventry location has been replaced by Lakeview Restaurant, an Italian eatery that had previously occupied the same space. A fourth location was planned and announced in 2023 for 141 Congamond Road in Southwick, Mass; but never opened.

Four Dads Pub collapse was partially caused by ongoing litigation by the Four Dads. A deal was struck in 2023 for three of the partners to sell their shares to the fourth partner, Dante Boffi for $100,000 total. The deal was never fully paid for according to court documents. A default judgment in the amount of $78,670.58 was ordered in February.

The original location in Granby recently closed, and will soon be replaced by The Bear’s Den. A May 1st opening is planned for the new venture.

Did you ever visit any of their locations? Will you visit the new businesses? Comment below!

It’s a new chapter for the storied Bart’s Drive In in Windsor! Lobster Tales Food Truck will be opening their first brick & mortar location! The restaurant will be opening at the site of Bart’s Drive In location.

Lobster Tales will open their food truck on May 1st in the parking lot of Bart’s Drive In, while construction starts on the restaurant. The new name of the building will be Beer Garden at Barts.

The restaurant will continue to serve hamburgers, hotdogs, ice cream, coffee, beer, and wine; continue an over 80 year old tradition of the drive in. The eatery will add Lobster Tale’s famous lobster tales, lobster grilled cheese, and all your favorites.

This new chapter of Lobster Tales unfortunately means the end of their tenure at Gastropark in West Hartford. Their last day at Gastropark will be April 28th.

Zac Young's Sprinkletown is NOW OPEN at Foxwoods Resort Casino!

The new donut and ice cream shop is located in the Great Cedars area across from Cedars Steakhouse! The new shop will feature customizable donuts, signature ice-cream sundaes, and specialty creations. Chef Zac Young previously had a pop-up location of Spinkletown at Foxwoods that opened in December 2021,

Chef Zac Young is known for his Final Four finish on the inaugural season of Bravo's Top Chef: Just Desserts, The Cooking Channel's Unique Sweets and Food Network's Halloween Baking Championship. He appears on Chopped, Beat Bobby Flay, Worst Cooks in America, Bakers Vs Fakers, Best Bakers in America, Supermarket Stakeout, and Santa's Baking Blizzard. He also hosts live cooking classes on the Food Network Kitchen App. Chef Young is known for his dessert 'Piecaken,' a dessert-version of turducken. The dessert is a mix of Pie, Cake, and Cheesecake.

The Connecticut Scoop was first to break the news of Sprinkletown's return last year! Zac Young joins Guy Fieri, Gordon Ramsay, and David Burke as celebrity chefs with a presense at Foxwoods!

Check out their website here: https://www.sprinkletown.com

​Check out their menu here:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6011cbf57049424835c22678/t/661991f40417cc7526afc4aa/1712951797003/SprinkletownDIC_Menu_WEB.pdf

There is a new arcade open in Granby! Next Level Arcade Gaming is NOW OPEN at 518 Salmon Brook Street in Granby.

The new arcade features classic arcade machines, as well as new VR experiences. The arcade has a large set up for Nintendo Switch gaming. VR features a VR Arena and VR escape rooms. The center is perfect for all ages! Check out their website here: https://nextlevelgranby.square.site

The arcade is available to rent for parties, with three levels based on the number of guests. Check out their party packages here: https://nextlevelgranby.square.site/partiesevents
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The arcade is open Wednesday-Saturday 12pm-9pm and Sunday 12pm-4pm. Make sure you check them out at 518 Salmon Brook Street in Granby.

Grassroots Ice Cream opens today at 4:00pm at their new location at 2 Wilcox Street in Simsbury! The ice cream shop replaces Joe Pizza at Fiddler's Green Shops & Restaurants! This is Grassroot's third location behind Granby and New Milford. Check out their website for all their details!
https://grassrootsicecream.com/scoop-shops/

Deeproots Street Food will be opening on Saturday (04/13) at 11:00am! The restaurant will share a space with Grassroots and will feature a unique menu of globally inspired sandwiches, salads, and plates! Check out their website for all their details! https://grassrootsicecream.com/deep-roots-street-food/

Blossom Café will be opening their new restaurant at 6 Wilcox Street, the former McLadden's space, on April 21st with a grand opening planned for April 28th! Blossom Cafe (花) is a chic Asian fusion brunch-style restaurant transports guests to the lush and vibrant world of East Asia. Check out their website for all their details! https://blossom-cafe.com/
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What else would you like to see open in Simsbury? Comment below!

The new Apple Cinemas Waterbury will open their doors on April 19th at Brass Mill Center according to the mall's website! The 12-screen movie theater replaces the Regal Theater that closed in 2022.

The theater is located on the mall's third floor. The theater will hopefully provide a boost to foot traffic at the mall, a number of tenants are leaving or have left the mall in recent weeks including Ardene, Track23, Rainbow, and both Pretzel Maker locations.

A few new tenants have joined the mall as well including Apple Cinemas, Bagel Factory Deli & Coffee, Ashley Furniture, and Island Spice Carribean Cuisine (coming soon!)
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Apple Cinemas on Wolcott Street is expected to remain open once this new location opens! Though the Wolcott Street location is no longer listed on their website, we have been assured it will remain open. This will be the 12th location of the movie theater chain.

Starbucks is coming soon to North Windham! The new Starbucks will be located at 6 Northridge Drive, in a portion of the former Ruby Tuesday building!

The new Starbucks will feature a drive-thru when it opens later this year. Construction has started on the project. The coffee shop will share that building with the existing T-Mobile store. The shop will occupy 2,550 square feet of the building; with a large interior lobby and an outdoor patio planned. 

This marks the return of the coffee-giant. The chain previously operated a location at 327 Boston Post Road in North Windham, now occupied by Oriental Groceries, an Asian market.
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The next closest Starbucks to the new location is at UConn in Storrs.

Ellie's Farmhouse has opened their Southington location! The new eatery is located at 461 Queen Street in Southington, the former Que Whiskey Kitchen.

The eatery will serve all-day breakfast and lunch starting at 11am. Their menu features all the breakfast staples while their lunch menu has burgers, sandwiches, salads, and more!

This is Ellie’s Farmhouse’s second location, with the original location in Methuen, Massachusetts. The restaurant is open Monday-Friday 8am-2pm and Saturday-Sunday 7am-3pm.

Check them out online at elliesfarmhouse.com

A new restaurant from the Racanelli Restaurant Group is coming to town! The restaurant will be located at 36 Pine Street, formerly home to South End at the Station. The new restaurant will occupy 3,951 square foot space according to the landlord's real estate broker, True Commercial Real Estate.

Racanelli Restaurant Group operates a number of restaurants in Connecticut including Molto in Fairfield and Darien, Spiga in New Canaan, Lugano in Old Greenwich, Via Gastrobar in New Haven, and Zucca Gastrobar in Westport. The chain operates restaurants in New York as well.

The actual restaurant concept is not yet known, we have reached out to the restaurant group for comment but have not heard back at the time of posting.
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What kind of restaurant would you like to see here? Have you ever visited one of their other restaurants? Comment below!

American Steakhouse will be closing their Meriden location permanently on April 21st. The steakhouse has been a fixture of Meriden for decades.

An employee confirmed the closure in a call on Tuesday morning. The steakhouse is located at 1170 East Main Street in Meriden.

American Steakhouse has 2 other locations, in Norwalk and Bridgeport, that are expected to remain open after Meriden's closure. American Steakhouse was once a large chain with locations in North Haven, Waterbury, and throughout Connecticut.
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Have you even dined at American Steakhouse? Will you miss them? Comment below!

A new ice cream shop and clothing store are NOW OPEN and two mall staples are COMING SOON to Norwalk's The SoNo Collection! More additions are on the way!

-Haagen Dazs has finally opened their location at the mall! The new ice cream shop is located on the top floor of the mall next to Starbucks!

-Charlotte Russe has opened their new location at the mall! The store is located on the second level. The teen-centric fast fashion retailer is located next to Galaxy VR.

-GameStop is coming soon to the mall's second retail level! The video game and novelty store will be between Aldo and Miniso at the mall, occupying 1150 square feet, a space that has been walled off since the mall's opening.
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-Hot Topic will be joining the lineup this year as well! The pop-culture / teen centric store will occupy the third floor space now occupied arcade machines next to Abercrombie Kids. No timeline is set for the retailer to open. The closest Hot Topic is currently at Trumbull Mall.
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These new retailers will be joined by Sally's Apizza, Chiwa Bistro, and more later this year!

Egg and Cheese is NOW OPEN in their second location in Willimantic! The breakfast and lunch joint is located at 776 Main Street in Downtown Willimantic!

The restaurant serves a variety of breakfast sandwiches like their famous egg & cheese, as well as staples like steak & egg, bacon egg & cheese, and much more. They also serve pastries and coffee.

For lunch, they have a variety of sandwiches including BLTs, Cheeseburgers, Chicken Sandwiches, Steak & Cheese, Grilled Cheese, and more. Sandwiches are served with chips and a pickle.

The restaurant also has weekly specials, stop in and try something new every time! Make sure you give them a try! Find them online at https://eggandcheesect.com and their original location in North Franklin.

Have you tried Egg & Cheese yet? What’s your go to menu item? Comment below!

Target has set their opening date for their new Danbury location! The department store will open on April 14th at the Danbury Fair!

Target replaces Sears at the mall, a 126,000 square foot space. The building is shared with Primark, which operates above Target. Target joins other new anchor tenant Round1; which recently replaced the former Forever 21 on the first level.

Make sure you check them out next week!