RESTAURANTS
milk fried chicken, short rib poutine and ahi tuna poke.
The Library Wine Bar & Bistro, Wallingford Former library
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The restaurant is in Wallingford’s original town library, which was built in 1899 and “passionately and lovingly restored back to its classic, architectural beauty” in 2014, according to the bistro’s website. The Gouveia family, owner of Wallingford’s Gouveia Vineyards, opened The Library in 2015 and sold it to the Massella family in 2022. The Library’s current menu features a mix of Mediterranean and American fare, with entrees like lobster pappardelle, ribeye with black truffle butter and shrimp and grits.
Tavern at Graybarns, Norwalk Former textile factory
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GrayBarns on the Silvermine River began as a small textile factory at the turn of the 19th century, and became a speakeasy in the 1920s and later a classic country inn, according to its website. The site also noted that Elizabeth Taylor honeymooned there with husband Eddie Fisher, and actor Spencer Tracy frequented the inn. Reopened and refurbished by the Glazer Group, the six-suite inn reopened in 2017 and its destination restaurant and bar, The Tavern at Graybarns, followed two months later. Its upper-level dining room looks out over the river, and chefs pick fresh produce from its on-site garden during the growing season.
The Courthouse, Putnam • Former courthouse
The Putnam bar and grill was indeed built as the town’s courthouse in 1889, according to its website, and the building’s downstairs space was home to a series of businesses, including a soda fountain shop, a grocery store and a paint store. James Frost and his wife, Sheila, have owned the casual restaurant since 1998, with its menu (or “docket”) categories nodding to legal terms: “opening statements” for appetizers, “felonious fowl,” “bailiff ’s beef,” “illegal seafood” and “juvenile hall” for its kids’ menu.
Lisa’s Crown & Hammer, Collinsville Former rail cargo depot
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Lisa’s Crown & Hammer Restaurant & Pub is located in the former rail cargo depot of the village’s former Collins Company. The company, founded in 1826, “proved to be one of the most innovative edged-tool manufacturers in the world,” according to the town of Canton’s website. Lisa’s positions itself as “a warm and historic building filled with memories of the town’s beginnings,” offering pub-style fare like French onion soup, burgers, wings, salads and entrees like scallops and bacon, NY strip steak, baked cod and chicken piccata.
Willimantic Brewing Co., Willimantic Former post office
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“Willibrew” is now known as a destination for house-brewed craft beers and towering plates of nachos, but its
building is a former U.S. post office, built in 1909. The post office was abandoned by the federal government in 1967, according to the restaurant’s website, but Willimantic Brewing moved in nearly 30 years later once the business outgrew its first two homes in historic buildings on Main Street.
“We wanted to retain the early 20th century architecture as well as create a pleasant atmosphere for dining,” the website reads, and Willibrew’s owners decided to preserve remnants of the post office memorabilia and add a dining room mural that depicts a scene from Main Street in the 1920s. The bar currently offers about a dozen house beers and nearly 30 additional taps with local, regional and national brews, and an extensive food menu features burgers, sandwiches, flatbread pizzas and entrees like meatloaf, tacos, a sausage platter and jambalaya.
Twisted Vine, Derby • Former bank
The Derby restaurant, housed in the former Birmingham National Bank building built in 1892, is an apparent hotbed of “paranormal” activity: flickering lights, unexplained moving furniture, the shadowy figure of a child. Norwalk-based Ghost Storm investigated the venue in 2019, and Twisted Vine was named one of Food Network’s “Most Haunted Restaurants in Every State.” The restaurant also appeared on a 2020 episode of Travel Channel’s “Kindred Spirits.”
Twisted Vine’s American/Continental fare leans heavy on Italian and pasta dishes, with some Asian and Pacific Rim influences. The restaurant hosts a full slate of “paranormal” events.
NewSylum Brewing, Newtown Former psychiatric hospital
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NewSylum Brewing opened in 2020 in a historic building at what was formerly Fairfield Hills Hospital, a psychiatric facility on a 100-plus-acre campus with more than a dozen buildings. The state operated the hospital from 1930 to 1995, according to NewSylum’s website, and in 2004, the town of Newtown bought approximately 184 acres of the original property. The brewery space was once the staff dining room, and later became the staff library.
“When asked whether the campus is haunted or not, we can only answer, ‘We’re not sure,’ ” its website reads.
NewSylum offers assorted varieties of its beer brewed on site, including its Counting the Days IPA, Therapy Session pale ale, Keating Farms kolsh and Turbo Encabulator doppelbock, along with food options like wood-fired pizza, giant pretzels, charcuterie boxes and other snacks and desserts.
The Station, Naugatuck • Former train station
What do Naugatuck’s former train station and the Lincoln Memorial have in common? They were both designed by the same New York architect, Henry Bacon. The Spanish Colonial Revival style was “a departure” for Bacon, according to ConnecticutHistory.org, which noted that he was known for more classical design. In December 2018, the Naugatuck Historical Society acquired part of Bacon’s original blueprints for the train station, dating back to 1907.
Today, the Water Street space is home to The Station restaurant, which opened in 2017 and still showcases the building’s exposed brick, high vaulted ceilings and railroad memorabilia. The eatery and bar features an Italianinfluenced menu, with pastas, chicken and veal dishes, baked and fried seafood entrees and grilled steaks and chops.