The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
RESTAURANTS
ward brew pub” in Mystic, as described by owner Walt Bansley, opened in July 2021 in a former bank building. From the outside, it still looks like its former bank iteration, with a stately granite exterior and entrance flanked by four columns. Its open and airy taproom features high ceilings and a long white bar stretching across the center of the room. Bright green palm fronds lend a warm beach vibe, as does the “Cali reggae” soundtrack that Bansley, a San Diego native, favors. But even inside, its origins as a bank are obvious — guests can even check out the vault to the left of the bar. The brewery has a full kitchen, with beer-friendly cuisine like smashburgers, fried chicken sandwiches, hand-cut fries, wings and pretzel bites with housemade beer cheese.
Olive Oyl’s, Essex • Former gas station
Olive Oyl’s, a casual takeout eatery in Essex, has been serving breakfast and lunch out of its renovated gas station space since 1991. The space still features gas station memorabilia, with vintage soda signs and other decor featuring Mobil’s red pegasus logo on the interior walls. Owners Kevin and Jen Kendall serve up fresh baked goods, coffee and made-to-order breakfast sandwiches in the mornings, with salads and creative sandwiches and wraps available in the afternoons.
Whitecrest Eatery, Stonington Former mill
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The American-style bistro in Stonington’s repurposed Velvet Mill, which opened in the summer of 2019, spotlights local ingredients and has earned Connecticut Magazine honors as a top spot for burgers and brunch, as well as an experts’ pick nod as a hidden gem. Its winter “Wanderlust” menu stretches for five weeks in January and February, showcasing different global cuisines from countries and regions like Cuba, Australia, Korea and Naples, Italy. Whitecrest is part of a renaissance at the mill that once supported the former American Velvet Company, which left Connecticut in 1996, and it is now home to several food and drink-related businesses, including Beer’d Brewing
Company, The Flour Shop and Zest Fresh Pastry.
Millwright’s, Simsbury
• grist and saw mill
Former
Centuries before James Beard award nominee and “Top Chef” contestant Tyler Anderson opened his New England-inspired fine dining restaurant there, the Hop Brook Mill — built in 1680 — was home to an active grist and saw mill. Today, the renovated restaurant looks out over a rushing waterfall, with an upstairs loft, a first-floor dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows (and more tables on a newlybuilt enclosed bridge over the waterfall) and a more casual basement-level tavern space. Executive chef Ashley Flagg “lets the seasons guide the menu,” according to Millwright’s website, with ingredients from local farms showcasing global flavors, like a marinated crab tostada with salsa macha crema and a half chicken with local grits, braised mushrooms and chili crunch.
Broken Symmetry, Bethel
• Former train depot Broken Symmetry Gastro Brewery opened in Bethel in 2018 in the town’s refurbished former train depot, offering nine rotating drafts of its ales, lagers, IPAs and sours in addition to draft cocktails. The brewery’s food menu features a changing selection of bar fare, intended to be fluid alongside the rotating taps, head of distribution and brand development Rachel Diamond told Hearst Connecticut in 2023. Guests can expect bites like burgers, Korean arancini, crab toast, pierogi and a giant pretzel with mustard and beer cheese dipping sauces.
Plan B Burger Bar, Simsbury
Former train station
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A former Simsbury train station built in the 1870s, Plan B’s building was listed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1976, the year it opened as the One Way Fare restaurant. One Way ended its run in 2007, but a year later, the owners of Locals 8 Restaurant Group debuted their second Plan B Burger Bar in the space, bringing a menu of burgers, beer and bourbon to the Farmington Valley town after its inaugural location opened in West Hartford. Plan B has since expanded to Glastonbury, Hartford, Milford, Southington and Springfield, Massachusetts.
OKO, Westport
• Former firehouse
Brian Lewis opened the Japanese restaurant in Westport’s historic Vigilant Hose Company Firehouse in 2018, featuring his interpretation of traditional Japanese cuisine and sushi with ingredients from local farms and waters (as well as Japan’s Tsukiji fish market.) Ahead of its opening, Lewis told Hearst Connecticut that OKO promised “a really charming and lively environment” and “a cool industrial vibe” with “the right Japanese warmth.” The current menu offers nigiri sushi, sashimi, hand rolls, tempura and “crispies” (with spicy tuna, Wagyu beef and salmon atop planks of crispy rice) along with other selections like suckling pig belly bao, duck and foie gras gyoza and buttered lobster ramen.
Market Place Tavern, Litchfield
• Former jail
Market Place Tavern, which opened in 2019 in the former Litchfield jail building, retains features of the former penal institution, with jail cells overlooking the three-story bar and bars remaining on the windows that face the Litchfield Green. It was originally built in 1812 to serve as a jail for British prisoners during the War of 1812, according to the restaurant’s website. In the early 1990s, it served as a treatment center for men serving prison sentences, then later as a rehabilitation center for women facing incarceration. Today, it’s a spot for new American cuisine and craft cocktails, with dishes like buttermilk fried chicken, short rib poutine and ahi tuna poke.
The Library Wine Bar & Bistro, Wallingford
• Former library
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
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Former textile factory 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 sixsuite 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 onsite garden during the growing season.
The Courthouse, Putnam
• Former courthouse
The Putnam bar and Restaurants continues on D4