‘IT DRAWS SO MANY PEOPLE’
Puerto Vallarta, other restaurants turn eyes toward mall locations
STAMFORD — Esaul Rodriguez has aspired to open a restaurant in Stamford for many years. Within the next month, he is finally set to fulfill that goal.
The founder and owner of the Puerto Vallarta chain of Mexican restaurants has expanded his business to Connecticut’s second most populous city with an establishment expected to open sometime in April in the restaurant plaza at Stamford Town Center. The new location highlights the resilience of Puerto Vallarta amid the economic disruption of the past few years and the enduring ability of malls such as Stamford Town Center to recruit dining tenants.
“Restaurants need a lot of foot traffic to support their businesses, so being at the mall is ideal because it draws so many people,” Rodriguez said in an interview at the new restaurant. “And we really like the location. We like to be around other restaurants and
places of entertainment because it creates a synergy.”
Opening at the mall
Puerto Vallarta’s restaurant in the restaurant plaza, at 230 Tresser Blvd., will mark its eighth location — as well as its first
establishment in a mall and its first opening since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are also Puerto Vallarta restaurants in Avon, Danbury, Fairfield, Middletown, Newington, Orange and Southington.
The new establishment has taken over a section of the restaurant plaza that had stood vacant since the departure of the previous tenant, a Rascal Flatts restaurant, which operated there from 2017 to 2018. It has imprinted its style on the venue, with a colorful interior design punctuated by features such as bold murals and a fireplace.
“The restaurant is absolutely beautiful with exquisite lighting, finishes, furniture and amenities. They spared no expense, and I know they will be wildly successful,” Stamford Town Center General Manager Dan Stolzenbach said in an email. “We’re also extremely pleased with their focus on exceptional service and food quality. We’ve deliberately chosen restaurant tenants that are committed to a top-notch dining experience, and Puerto Vallarta will most certainly deliver.”
Puerto Vallarta’s new establishment occupies approximately 8,500 square feet, with about 220 seats — making it the largest
view. Cooper said PURA will announce the standard service electric rates in mid-May, 45 days in advance of when the new rates take effect on July 1.
The way Connecticut’s standard service procurement process works, the utilities are only allowed to charge customers the amount that it cost them to purchase power from
the electric generation companies.
In neighboring Massachusetts, regulators have approved a 58 percent reduction in electric rates for customers of National Grid who have that state’s version of standard offer service. The rate reduction for National Grid’s customers will take effect May 1.
Looking beyond the second half of this year into the first half of 2024, Shuckerow said he expects the broad swings in electric prices Connecticut
consumers have seen to continue.
“The (off-shore) wind projects that are in the pipeline won’t be built and producing electricity for a number of years,” he said. “The same is true for the interconnection efforts to bring in hydroelectricity from Canada. That means we’ll continue to see oscillation in electric prices for awhile.”