RESTAURANTS

windows and flickering lights.

“It’s not necessarily a bad energy; it’s just...someone’s there,” she said. “We call her Sarah. We believe her to be a young girl...when she acts up, we pour her a little mocktail and leave it out on the windowsill behind the bar. It’s like our version of a Shirley Temple. Things calm down after that.”

Here are some noteworthy Connecticut restaurants in unique revamped spaces.

Grano Arso, Chester

• Former Chester Savings Bank

The former Chester Savings Bank building housed commercial businesses and former vegan restaurant Six Main before Italian eatery Grano Arso debuted in 2017, offering antipasti, housemade fresh pastas and entrees like scallops with pistachio pesto, braised short rib with gnocchi and duck confit with brown butter cauliflower. Owners Joel and Lani Gargano turned the bank’s vault into private dining spaces, featuring an intimate dining room that holds up to 32 guests, a speakeasy-style lounge and a wine tasting room, according to the restaurant’s website.

Taquerio, Mystic •

Former 1950s gas station Offering “hot tacos and cold margaritas,” Taquerio in Mystic sits in a restored 1950s-era

gas station and repair shop (which was previously remodeled by the owners of M/BAR, its predecessor.) In the warm months, Taquerio’s garage bay doors open to let in fresh air, with additional outdoor seating on its patio and underneath

a canopy that once arched over gas pumps. The menu features a variety of tacos, with fillings like barbacoa, al pastor, carnitas, fried avocado and grilled swordfish, along with classic, flavored and frozen margaritas.

Present Company, Simsbury

• Former Textile Mill Present Company opened in the summer of 2016, picking up where its predecessor, The Mill at 2T, left off in a renovated former textile mill. The fine-dining restaurant in Simsbury’s Tariffville section features an open kitchen with coveted chef’s counter seating, where guests watch the culinary team prepare courses like charred Spanish octopus, spinach and artichoke tagliatelle, miso-honey glazed black cod and pistachio-crusted rack of lamb. Present Company offers three or four-course prix-fixe menus, along with a nightly five-course chef ’s tasting.

Union Street Tavern, Windsor

• Former fire station

The brick exterior, garage bays-turned-windows and the “WFD” concrete signage offer clues that this neighborhood tavern used to be a fire station. Once guests step into the lobby, it’s immediately confirmed, as the restaurant is decorated with historic photos of Windsor’s police and fire departments, and vintage memorabilia honoring public safety leaders from generations past. The tavern’s casual menu even plays on its firehouse connection, with wing sauces ranging in heat from “one to three alarms.” Other items include burgers, sandwiches and hearty entrees like mac and cheese, chicken marsala, fish and chips and bourbon steak tips.

Bank & Bridge Brewing, Mystic

• Former bank

The laid-back “culinary-forRestaurants continues on D3

Leeanne Griffin/Hearst Connecticut Media Olive Oyl’s in Essex is a casual takeout restaurant located in a former gas station and the decor features gas station memorabilia.

Leeanne Griffin/Hearst Connecticut Media The Library Wine Bar & Bistro is located in Wallingford’s original town library.

Leeanne Griffin / Hearst Connecticut Media Taquerio in Mystic is located in a former gas station and repair shop, photographed February 2024.