‘Eclectic’ Ives Street restaurant gets OK
DANBURY — A pair of Danbury businessmen who sold their downtown restaurant during the height of the coronavirus outbreak have won approvals to open an “eclectic” café and bar on Ives Street.
The approval this week of a café liquor license for Wilson Pelaez and his brother-in-law Juan Vazquez came with it hope from Danbury leaders that the new investment in Ives Street will lead to the block’s resurgence as a magnet for entertainment and nightlife.
“This used to be one of the best destinations of our city,” said City Council member Ben Chianese at a public hearing on Tuesday, shortly before Danbury’s Zoning Commission unanimously approved plans for the new restaurant and bar. “Hopefully this can add to more establishments coming down to that area to bring it back to the destination that it once was.”
Pelaez and Vazquez, who owned and operated Billy Bean’s restaurant on White Street until last year, will now focus on opening Downtown 11 Café and Bar one block away on Ives Street.
“We have been part of the city of Danbury for over eight years with our businesses, trying to do our best here,” said Vazquez, the owner of Vazquez Soccerchamp Sports on White Street, during Tuesday’s public hearing.
Vazquez and Pelaez plan a 120-seat bar and café in a 5,000square-foot building at 11 Ives St. that Danbury shut down 12 years ago for code violations related to overcrowding.
The businessmen’s attorney said they had no plans to attract overflow crowds that led to the demise of Horizon Restaurant.
“My clients are well aware that if they wish to have music and dancing they have to apply for a separate entertainment license,” said attorney Thomas Beecher at Tuesday’s public hearing.
City Council member Duane Perkins said Danbury never intended Ives Street to go dark after the former Horizon restaurant was shut down.
“Danbury had a pretty popular nightlife a decade ago but through a series of actions the city decided it needed to take corrective measures. Sometimes when legislating, the pendulum swings a little too far. So that is kind of where we are now,” Perkins said at Tuesday’s public hearing. “But things are beginning to change. Things are starting to happen down there, and we are happy to have that occur.”
Perkins is referring to a new traditional Mexican restaurant that opened in December three doors down from the newly approved café, among others nearby.
Other eateries on the block include Two Steps Downtown Grille, Sabor Bakery, Galapagos Restaurant, and the Copacabana Café.
“My clients are excited to become part of the re-emergence (of Ives Street) and add to the variety and diversity of establishments in this area,” Beecher said. “A menu has not been finalized but it will be an eclectic menu with a mix of Spanish, Peruvian and Ecuadorian foods, as well as your more standard tavern fare such as burgers and fries.”
City Hall has been busy in the Ives Street corridor, next door to the CityCenter Green.
“Public works and their team redid the downtown green area, and it looks really nice down there with new pavers. Once the weather breaks they’re going to put the band shell up and they’re going to try to get back to some normalcy,” said Perkins, referring to the 22-month-old coronavirus crisis, which has had a stifling effect on leisure-seeking crowds.
A half-block away from the newly approved restaurant, City Hall is poised to sell the former Tuxedo Junction nightclub to a bank that will demolish it as part of an office building project at Main and White streets.
The Savings Bank of Danbury plans to replace Tuxedo Junction with a grassy lot.