The new Starbucks at 135 West Road in Ellington has sent their tentative opening date as October 11th!

The new Starbucks is part of a new multi-tenant building built in front of the Big Y Plaza. Hartford Healthcare/Go Health Urgent Care Center will be located in the plaza with Starbucks. A 1,500 square foot space is still available in the building. The date is still subject to change based on an last-minute items that come up in the run-up to opening.
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Starbucks is still hiring for this location. If you or anyone you know is interested in this great opportunity please feel free to apply at Careers.Starbucks.com or via email [email protected]

Toby's of East Hartford is coming soon to Vernon!

The new Peruvian restaurant will open in the former Wang’s Buffet space at 295 Hartford Turnpike, Ocean State Plaza. The restaurant will occupy over 9,000 square feet.

The Peruvian restaurant is currently located in East Hartford at 798 Silver Lane, but their building will soon be demolished for a future development of the site. The restaurant also has a location in Winsted at 127 Main Street.
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No opening date has been announced for the new restaurant. Check out their menu and details here: https://tobysrestaurantct.com Stay tuned!

I’ve been working on getting a definitive answer about Craig's Kitchen. Unfortunately I have not been able to get in touch with Craig. I’ve messaged, called, emailed him; and I have gotten no response. If I knew how to send a carrier pigeon I would.

Here is what I know: Yes, it appears that Craig’s Kitchen has closed their doors, we are unsure if it’s temporary or permanent. They closed earlier this summer with a note on the door saying ‘Closed Sorry for the inconvenience.’ Their last social media post was July 16th. The soul food restaurant was located at 13 West Main Street in Rockville.
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If he reopens here or elsewhere, we will be sure to post it so his loyal customers can continue to support him.

Gas prices below $3 in Rockville! $2.99 a gallon at 7 Eleven at 180 Union Street ($2.92 if you have 7 Eleven Rewards.) This isn’t something I usually post on here, but I’m happy to see prices starting to go down.
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What’s the lowest you’ve seen gas prices recently? Comment below!

The longtime pizza place has been sold to the Husseini family of South Windsor! The family now operates the restaurant alongside their other restaurant, Villa of Lebanon on John Fitch Boulevard in South Windsor.

The owners have added Villa of Lebanon's menu to Anthony's menu; creating an Italian and Lebanese restaurant out of the shop at 216 Hartford Turnpike in Vernon, CT. Check out their updated menu here: https://www.pizzapeoplespizza.com/

Read our previous post about Anthony's here: http://www.theconnecticutscoop.com/vernonscoop/anthonys-under-contract-to-sell-owner-to-retire​
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Check them out in the Vernon Circle!

​Another restaurant is coming to Tri-City Plaza in Vernon!
Shah's Halal Food, a rapidly growing chain of halal restaurants, will be opening in the long-vacant KB Toys space at Tri-City Plaza. The restaurant will occupy 3,623 square feet between Shoprite and GNC.

The restaurant serves gyros, falafel, burgers, chicken, fries, and baklava. The restaurant is a late night option, usually open until midnight or later.

The restaurant has locations in Middletown, Newington, Stamford, Stratford, Bridgeport, and Danbury. No timeline has been announced for their opening.
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Shah's is just the latest chain to plan a location in the plaza. Jersey Mike's recently filed for building permits for the old Weight Watchers space, 7Brews Coffee is planning to demolish Denny's and build a location, and BIRDCODE recently held their grand opening next to Moe's!

Frankie B's Tavern (at 346 Kelly Road) is becoming 346 Gastropub according to a freshly launched website.

The restaurant describes itself as 'Serving delicious, high-quality food in a casual, relaxed atmosphere. Of course paired with thoughtful craft cocktails, spirits, & beer from national and local breweries'

The website notes the head chef and general manager is Frank Lepri, formerly of Trattoria de Lepri and Lepri Burger Bar in Ellington.
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The website is still not complete, no menu has been added. No timeline has been announced for the opening; once more information is released we will repost! Check out the website here: https://346gastropub.com/

Work is underway on The Pickleball Place! The new pickleball facility coming to the former Sears Hardware at 10 Pitkin Road, next to Stop & Shop!

The new facility will have 8 courts, a lounge (beer, wine, and snacks), kids area, a party room, golf simulator, arcade.
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The facility is expected to open this fall! You can find membership detail on their website here: https://pickleballplacect.com

BIRDCODE is now open at Tri City Plaza!

The hot chicken restaurant is now open at 35 Talcottville Road, in the former Papa Gino’s at Tri City Plaza!
The restaurant serves Nashville Hot Chicken, crispy & grilled chicken sandwiches, chicken bites, salads. Sandwiches come in different heat levels including Code Breaker, Hot, Medium, Mild, and Country Style (the most mild,) The menu has sides including fries, cheese fries, coleslaw, and mac & cheese. Their dessert offerings include banana pudding and cookies!
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This will be their third location in the chain, behind their first in West Hartford and second in Darien. They have plans to expand into Cheshire, Canton, New Britain, and more!

A new clothing store is planned for 154 Talcottville Road in Vernon.

New England for Trump, a Trump-branded merchandise store, has filed for a building permit to operate a store at 154 Talcottville Road, the plaza home to Vernon Tailors and Americay Mortgage. No large scale renovation is planned for the space; only the addition of store fixtures.

This will be the chain's seventh location. They have existing locations in Massachusetts, Georgia, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire.

*This post is not an endorsement of either political candidate. The Vernon Scoop does not take a political stance, this is just a new business opening in town that we are covering.*

Anthony's is under contract to be sold! The longtime pizza place is located at 216 Hartford Turnpike in Vernon.
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The pizza place has been an anchor of the old Vernon Circle for over 50 years. Longtime owner, Dave, plans to retire once a deal is finalized. He will provide more details once they are more concrete.

The owner said in a statement:
"To my valued customers and friends,
When I started this journey back in 1980, I could have never imagined I'd still be here some 44 years later. Its been quite a ride. Plenty of highs and a few lows, and thru it all I'd like to think I did a decent job of providing you with the service, quality and experience you deserve. There comes a time in everyone's life that you have to take stock of where you are and where you want to be. For me that time is now. After a great deal of thought and soul searching I've made the decision to retire and sell the restaurant. There are a miriad of reasons which brought me to this point. Many of you know I've been talking about this for quite some time. Ultimately for me it comes down to health, peace of mind and quality of life. The restaurant industry is a tough business and it's not getting any easier. With all of your support and patronage we managed to survive a couple of reccesions, freak snow storms, hurricanes and COVID. Just last year we celebrated our 50* year in business. Reaching that milestone was something I never could have imagined all those years ago, but with the help of a great staff and loyal customers we made it happen!

​So for now its time for me to step aside and let someone else carry on the tradition. I've reached a tentative agreement to sell the restaurant. As things progress and the time frame becomes more concrete, I will provide more details. So for now eat, drink, and enjoy life......most of all please just stop in and say hello. From the bottom of my heart I cannot thank you all enough. Without you, none of this would have been possible."

Serendipity Nails & Spa is NOW OPEN in Vernon!

The new spa is located at 554 Talcottville Road in Vernon, the former ProHealth Physicians building next to Enterprise. They offer manicures, pedicures, full body waxing, and head spa. The spa is looking to expand, with rooms available to rent for additional services like a hair stylist or eyelash technician.

Seredipity is owned by the same family as PhoLy Vietnamese Restaurant in Vernon. Expect the same great service and family atmosphere!
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You can find them at 554 Talcottville Road. Call them at 860-454-7420. Or online at SerendipityNailsSpa.com

BIRDCODE will open their doors on July 25th! The new Nashville chicken sandwich restaurant will be located next door to Moe’s at Tri City Plaza, 35 Talcottville Road!

The Tolland County Chamber of Commerce - TCCC will have an official ribbon cutting that day.
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This will be their third location in the chain, behind their first in West Hartford and second in Darien. They have plans to expand into Cheshire, Canton, New Britain, and more!

A new smoke shop is coming soon to 200 Hartford Turnpike!

Stiizy Smoke Shop & Convenience plans to open a new store at 200 Hartford Turnpike, next door to Cut to the Chase Hair Salon Vernon CT and D'Angelo Grilled Sandwiches.

The smoke shop would occupy around 1,000 square feet of vacant retail space that was previously home to another smoke shop called Smoke & Vape. The space was previously home to a number of cell phone stores as well.
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The store will be owned by Ayman Alsayedi according to permits filed with the town. No timeline has been announced for the store's opening.

The Fresh Monkee, LLC is NOW OPEN in Vernon!

The health shake shop is now open in the new location at 425 Talcottville Road at The Shops at Eastview, the plaza home to Planet Fitness and Great Harvest Bread Company - Vernon CT.

The shop relocated from their Manchester location, they were previously located at The Plaza at Buckland Hills.
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Make sure you check them out!

Poké Sushi Vernon is NOW OPEN in Vernon! The new Asian restaurant is located at 129 Talcottville Road in Vernon, next door to Verizon.

The eatery serves poke bowls, orange chicken, teriyaki chicken, sushi, tuna bowls, salmon bowls, and much more!
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The restaurant is open Sunday-Thursday 11am-9pm and Friday-Saturday 11am-10pm. Check out their menu here: https://www.pokesushivernon.com

7 Brew Coffee has officially submitted plans for a new Vernon location!

The drive-thru coffee shop is proposed to be located at Tri-City Plaza. The chain would demolish the former Denny's building; and in its place construct a new 510 square foot building.

The coffee chain would have their pre-fabricated building supplemented by a 230 square foot cooler and storage building attached by a canopy.
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The project will have to go through Vernon's Planning and Zoning Commission and the building department before construction can begin. This would be the chain's second Connecticut location, a location in Wallingford is set to replace the former Captain Sea's building.

7Brew, a national drive-thru only coffee chain, is scouting Vernon for potential locations according to people close to the matter! The chain is fast-growing around the country!

This would be the chain's second Connecticut location, a location in Wallingford was recently approved to replace Captain Seas at 905 North Colony Road.

No word yet on what sites are being considered, though spaces on Route 83 and Route 30 are good bets. The chain has a small footprint at only around 500 square feet, meaning they can be put on small parcels of land. Locations are pre-fabricated and are dropped into place on site once site work is complete. They are drive thru only and do not feature a dining room.

A new LLC has been established for the new coffee shop, DTB Vernon LLC, controlled by Drive Thru Brew LLC and Rohan Kapoor the franchisee for the new Wallingford location.
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Where would you like to see them open in Vernon? Comment below!

Paradise Pizza & Family Restaurant is coming soon to 575 Talcottville Road!

The new pizza place will replace the former Xpress Pizza. Xpress Pizza closed quietly earlier this year.
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The pizza place will be owned by Rudy V Castaneda, Jamil A Mendita Romero, and Gall H Mendieta Vintimilla according to business filings last month. The restaurant is currently undergoing some renovation before they open.

A new medical office building has been proposed for 927 Hartford Turnpike in Vernon! The parcel of land is located between New England Pizza and Dr. Burns' dental office.

The building would be roughly 6,100 square feet total split between 2 floors; a main level and basement. The building is depicted in plans as a new Dental office for Dr.Griffin (a DMD located on Merline Drive currently) and Griffin Counseling Services (currently in South Windsor.)
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The plans have been submitted to the IWC, Inland Wetland Commission for wetlands approval. ​If a public hearing is required (administrative approval could be given) the meeting would be set for June 25th. A Planning and Zoning application has not been submitted for the project yet. 

The new Pickleball facility has been approved for the former Sears Hardware space at 10 Pitkin Road!

The Pickleball Place was approved to open in the former Sears Hardware space (next to Stop & Shop), the facility will feature 8 courts for rental, a pro shop, refreshment stand (featuring beer and wine), and an event space for parties!
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The facility will be the first indoor pickleball courts in Vernon, no timeline has been announced for the opening. The facility joins a number of planned indoor courts including in Simsbury, Meriden, Orange, Windsor, and more.

ConeHeads Creamery has opened for the season! The ice cream stand is located at 95 Hartford Turnpike, at the Golfland complex.

The ice cream shop had their official opening earlier this month! The ice cream shop features 32 in-house flavors of ice cream, soft serve, milkshakes, sundaes, and more!

The creamery is part of the larger Golfland development. Local businessman, Jerry Fornarelli, has overseen the construction of the new Golfland. While construction continues on the new attractions and main building, Rockinghorse Smokehouse and Coneheads are open for business!
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Make sure you stop by for a cone! Check their Facebook for the most up to date hours of operation!

Great Harvest Bread Company - Vernon CT is for sale! The bakery is located at 425 Talcottville Road, inside the Planet Fitness plaza.

The bakery has been located in Vernon since 2015 when they relocated from Manchester. Their Manchester location burnt to the ground in a large fire in 2013. The business has now been operating for 21 years.

The owners, Jean and Dale Roberts are now ready to hang up their aprons and enjoy retirement; and have now put the bakery up for sale. The asking price is $200,000 for the fully-operational bakery, the space is rented.

The bakery is not closing and will remain open while it’s on the market. Check out the listing here:
​ https://www.bizbuysell.com/Business-Opportunity/Well-Established-Great-Harvest-Bread-Co/2117517/

Deals on Wheels is coming soon to Vernon! They plan on opening on June 7th! The store will be opening in the former Ladd & Hall store in Courthouse Plaza at 20 East Main Street in Rockville.

The store is known as a bin store, a discount store selling merchandise out of bins in a treasure hunt experience. Each day has a different price for all the merchandise, with $12 days and a daily price decrease down to $1. The store also has a variety of discount items that are not part of the bin-pricing system including appliances and more.

This will be their second location after the original store in Waterbury.