A round-up of openings, closings, and other news about West Hartford businesses. 

Business Buzz is sponsored by NBT Bank, and we are very thankful for their support! 

By Ronni Newton

We’ve hit the last week of January, and while I hate to wish time away I am probably not the only one who wants to be done with the arctic weather we experienced last week.

When it’s that cold, my house just can’t warm up – so neither can I. The family room, where we spend most of our time, has windows on three sides and a high ceiling with skylights, and even though we didn’t turn the heat down in that area at night, the temperature was in the 50s when we came downstairs in the morning! I was so tired of being cold at all times that I just started wearing three layers inside, plus two pairs of socks. Friday and the weekend it felt so much better with temperatures in the 30s and I think it was even 40 on Sunday!

In addition to Friday’s weather being warmer than it had been, I was honored to cover one of the most heartwarming events of my career. The now-closed Elmwood Community Church is continuing its legacy of support for the community by distributing its remaining funds, which included the proceeds from the sale of the 24 Newington Road church building last fall. The church’s incredibly generous gifts, presented Friday to West Hartford’s Town That Cares Fund and to West Hartford Public Schools to create scholarships – a total of $400,000 (that’s not a typo) – will have an incredible impact for countless people. Click here for the full story.

Other than the lunch I had in the creation of the lead story for this column, my dining out this past week was during a late morning breakfast meeting with our business manager and sales director (Bob Carr and Kaushik Makati) at Effie’s Place. They were the ones who split the carrot cake as breakfast dessert – although I did have a tiny taste!

Ted and I went to the Bridge Family Center’s Children’s Charity Ball on Saturday night (link to the photo gallery is here as well as in a bullet point below), and while I was also working, we also had a great time. Since that was our Saturday night dining, I took a photo of my dinner, and the dessert plate that was for our table. And I want to give a special shout-out to my daughter for teaching me to curl my hair – something I had never previously been able to master – with the curling wand she got me for Christmas!

If you’re looking for something to do while waiting in line, or in a waiting room, or while putting off doing something you really don’t want to do, we have a fun option to occupy your time! Check out the “Games” on the We-Ha.com site under the “Lifestyle” tab. There are card games, word games, and even my all-time favorite game – Tetris! Click here for a direct link.

If you are a long term, regular advertiser on We-Ha.com and have a 60 to 75 word submission for a future Business Buzz please send to Bob Carr at [email protected]. You can also contact Bob if you are interested in becoming a sponsor of a section of the site.

If you have information to share about local businesses, please provide details in the comments or email Ronni Newton at [email protected].

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Here’s this week’s Buzz:

• I’ve been obsessively checking on the status of Just Salad, and excited to share the news that fast casual restaurant opened Thursday in the former Esquire Cleaners space at 2538 Albany Avenue in Bishops Corner! The West Hartford location is the first in the area and third in the state (others are in Fairfield and Westport) for the chain store, which is corporate-owned and not a franchise. The menu includes not only amazing salads like the Crispy Chicken Poblano or the Thai Chicken Crunch but also warm bowls (I had the Cilantro Lime Chicken), wraps (like Honey Crispy Chicken), soups, and smoothies, with build-your-own options in each category. “We are definitely excited, super excited, to be in West Hartford,” Jesus Garcia, area manager, told me when I stopped by just about 90 minutes after they opened on Thursday. I also met General Manager Rudy Guaba, and Regional Manager Alex Chavez. Chavez, who said Just Salad prides itself on its “fresh, healthy, and sustainable” approach, pointed out that they have a reusable bowl program intended to reduce fiber use. The bowls can be purchased for $1.99 (there are currently limited edition Sesame Street styles) and you get a free topping when you bring the bowl at future visits. Garcia noted that Just Salad is very careful and conscious about allergies, and willing to substitute, and dressings are house-made. There’s a great mural on the wall of the West Hartford store that highlights several of the town’s parks (Westmoor Park, Spice Bush Swamp, and Elizabeth Park) and a plaque that explains Just Salad’s “Path to Produce.” According to the website, Just Salad, founded by Nick Kenner in New York, “started in 2006 with a simple premise: offer healthy, affordable, climate-conscious, and mouth-wateringly delicious meals. We were literally just salad, but we were damn good salad.” The strong commitment to sustainability includes not only offering the reusable bowls but also “carbon labeling” the menu. “We believe that the next step in fighting the climate crisis is transparency and traceability. That’s why we’re giving you the information you need to make lower impact food choices. On our menus (including orderjustsalad.com, our Earth-Friendly store menu board, and our mobile app), you’ll see a ‘carbon label,’ expressed as kg CO2e. This stands for ‘kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent,’ a unit used to show emissions of many types of greenhouse gases (GHGs), not just carbon dioxide.” Just Salad has more than 80 locations, and the direct link to the West Hartford menu can be found here. The West Hartford store will have a grand opening, probably in a few weeks, Garcia said, and they plan to partner with local charities.

• This exciting information could have been the feature for today’s column, but I know it will be the subject of many future updates where it will probably get top billing as additional details become available. I’ve learned that the space at 60 LaSalle Road, vacated when H&R Block moved a few doors up the street, will soon become the restaurant South Bay! Another concept that’s part of the Siguenza family’s JS Restaurant Group, it will be a sister restaurant to Harvest, which is right next door, and will have the same managing partner team as the West Hartford Harvest – brothers Jorge Guerra and Edwin Guerra. I stopped by Harvest to find out more, and Jorge told me that the construction just started, and will involve a full build-out from scratch since it was formerly office space. Right now they are finalizing the color scheme, which will likely incorporate a nautical blue. The size of the space is roughly the same as Harvest, and while the fire marshal will make the final determination of the permissible number of seats, Harvest seats 125. They hope to open by mid-summer, Jorge said. South Bay, which has locations in Greenwich, Fairfield, and New Haven, has a seafood focus, but is much more. “We want to do a tapas bar and grill at the same time,” he said. “Lunch, dinner, brunch – that is the goal,” but they will likely start with dinner until the restaurant is established, said Jorge. They’re also hoping to be a late-night spot for the over-25 crowd – not a nightclub, but rather a place where you can sit and talk, and have an after-dinner drink, while a DJ plays music of the 80s and 90s. “That’s what we want to bring to town,” Jorge said.

• On Friday, I met with the owners of Park Lane Pizza! All three owners (Bobby, Kosta, and Jimmy Vavaroutsos, as well as manager Jimmy Gerakou) so they could show me firsthand what the space looks like now, provide an update, and also offer their sincere thanks to the community for the amazing outpouring of support of the GoFundMe campaign that we mentioned in this column two weeks ago, which as of Sunday had raised $14,720 – blowing away the goal of $9,500. “We appreciate all the donations, and all the support we have gotten from friends and customers. We miss them as much as they miss us. We also feel bad that it’s taken so long for us to open up but we are almost there. There’s not much more to do,” the Vavaroutsos brothers said in a joint statement. They are scheduled to have an inspection by the town this week, after some of the latest requirements have been completed, including adding individual gas shut-off valves to the ovens and a test of the ansul system. The tables are currently being refinished, and that should be done next week – and for those who have been concerned, the jukeboxes are still there. The donations from the community have greatly helped, and “now it’s just little things two be done,” Bobby said, including repair to the sign. “It’s been a struggle, financially, emotionally,” said Bobby, since a storm that resulted in damage and a ceiling collapse on Jan. 16, 2024. Once you open up the ceiling and begin renovation work, a space is no longer grandfathered but rather is subject to all updated code requirements, and the 337 Park Road building where Park Lane Pizza is located was built in 1921, so it’s now more than a century old and there were many upgrades required. Fingers crossed they will have a firm opening date to announce in next week’s column – or at least another update.

• Congratulations to Nero Kitchen on their ribbon cutting on Jan. 23, 2025 with the West Hartford Chamber of Commerce and town officials. Nero opened in September at 13 South Main Street, and has quickly and successfully become a favorite gathering space in town.

• [Updated] Thanks to Jean-Luc Dube of the Connecticut Scoop for the tip that Regency Centers has updated their lease plan for Corbin’s Corner to indicate that the bakery/cafe Paris Baguette will be located in the former Verizon store space, between Nothing Bundt Cakes and the J.Crew Factory Outlet store. The lease plan indicates that the shopping center on New Britain Avenue is now 100% leased. On Monday morning, Senior Leasing Agent Shanna Athas said in an email, “I can confirm Paris Baguette will be coming to Corbin’s Corner. We’re excited to welcome them to the already wonderful mix of retailers at the center.” According to its website, Paris Baguette doesn’t currently have any locations in the state but has two in the Boston area and multiple in New York. I’ll share more information as soon as I can get it.

• In other pizza news, the exterior sign is up at Westfarms for Sally’s Apizza, which will also be accessible from the lower level entrance to Jordan’s Furniture. A spokesperson for Sally’s said there should be available information about the opening date in the next week or two, and I will continue to follow up on this one, too!

• It appears from the website that the IVX Health West Hartford Infusion Center has opened at 2533 Albany Avenue in Bishops Corner (along the side where Nautical Bowls and Subway are located).

• One of the vacant spaces at 74 Park Road is now occupied by an office of Senior Helpers, an organization that, according to the website, “offers a comprehensive suite of programs and services that support aging in-place.” Nothing to report yet about the former Essential Health space in the same strip, although it’s my understanding that when Essential Health moved in mid-2023 (around the corner to 266 Prospect Avenue in Hartford), they expected their sign to have been removed from the Park Road building.

• More progress has been made on the build-out of the future Chipotle, Jersey Mike’s, and Teriyaki Madness in Prospect Plaza, but it doesn’t appear as if the opening of any of the businesses is imminent. There was plenty of activity taking place last Friday, however, when I drove by to check on the status.

• ICYMI, I had a chance to attend the friends and family preview for The Laurel last Monday, in advance of the opening of the new Elmwood restaurant (in the former Corner Pug location) which was on Thursday. They are open Mondays from 5-10 p.m., and Thursday through Sunday from 5-10 p.m. (closed Tuesday and Wednesday). For the complete details, and lots of photos, click here.
• ICYMI – and everyone should know about this incredible generosity – the former Elmwood Community Church, distributing its remaining funds, donated an incredible sum to the Town That Cares Fund and West Hartford Public Schools. Click here for the complete story.
• The Bridge Family Center hosted the 26th Children’s Charity Ball on Saturday night at Farmington Gardens. Business and community leaders – including a large contingent from the West Hartford Fire Department and West Hartford Public Schools were in attendance. Click here for the full story and photo gallery.
• “Stories Behind the Big Stories” is an annual event hosted by the Connecticut Foundation for Open Government (full discloser, I am on the board) and it’s a chance to hear from some of the top journalists in the states about how some of the biggest stories of 2024 evolved. The event will be Thursday evening at the Elmwood Community Center, and here’s the link for more information or to purchase tickets.
• Finally, welcome to Melissa Cole, who will be writing some feature stories for We-Ha.com. She had her first byline on the site last week, and you can find her story about Jayne Champion here.

Remember, if you have any business news to share, add it in the comments section below or email Ronni Newton at [email protected].

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