Hartford Restaurant/Retail

[PubCrawl]

Theres lots of work going on at Standing Stone...itd be nice to see something go in there. And each day this week theres been the distinct sound of power saws inside kyto. Hopefully they're not just dismantling whats already there.

[gtru1981]

Theres lots of work going on at Standing Stone...itd be nice to see something go in there. And each day this week theres been the distinct sound of power saws inside kyto. Hopefully they're not just dismantling whats already there.

My boy bought out the old Standing Stone. I am suprised no one realized their was construction going on their, been like that for like a few months. Slated to open in November! I been inside and even help built. Its going to look nothing like the Standing Stone. Its going to be called One Eleven Lounge. Its going to be like kojis except no food. Its going to have a very New York Feel to it! They just got their logo made! One of the owners is a former On the Rocks Owner(which I heard is on the verge of closing).

[MadVlad]

I really liked Standing Stone, that's a shame in one respect that it won't be similar, but it'll also be cool to have a hipper place there as well....

[The Voice of Reason]

Theres lots of work going on at Standing Stone...itd be nice to see something go in there. And each day this week theres been the distinct sound of power saws inside kyto. Hopefully they're not just dismantling whats already there.

ever since you have posted this I have been checking KYTO by looking down at the place from my office. there is definately NOTHING happening on the upstairs, and there is no evidence of work being done, no work crews nothing.

maybe JOJO can give more info since he is right there, but I see nothing.

regarding standing stone, it kind of bums be a little as well, because it was a cool joint. I like Koji, and I definately see how Hartford could use another place like Koji, but why no food?

is there really enough business in Hartfords night life to survive without food?

I actually think that Koji is a perfect model for downtowns night life. the Pratt/upper Asylum area are definately more upscale than the Allyn street area. this might be changing with Black bear coming in, Standing stone being turned into a lounge, and Coaches taking up across from the excelent Agave.

But as I have said many time the Pratt area would be excelent with Kyto, and its a shame Bin 228 is not more visable to the average hartfordite.

Bin228, Koji, and Tapas are 3 of the best places in Hartford as far as the vibe mixed with quality food. They are always busy, and I would love to see a few more places like these in terms of scale and product. I thought KYTO might have been a nice compliment with its upstairs seating, but that never came to pass.

Lots o changes in the Hartford resturant/bar scene

[Luca Brasi]

Two new Asian Restaurants opened on Pratt... Tanuki Noodle Bar (Japanese) opened in the old No Fish Today spot and Tamarind Grille (Malaysian and Thai) opened in the Cugino's spot across the street.

Also heard there is talks for a new nightspot going in at the American Airlines Building.

[Luca Brasi]

ever since you have posted this I have been checking KYTO by looking down at the place from my office. there is definately NOTHING happening on the upstairs, and there is no evidence of work being done, no work crews nothing.

maybe JOJO can give more info since he is right there, but I see nothing.

I have heard from people in the zoning office that the entire rooftop has to be removed before Kyto can open. Its a shame that the city has been unable to work with the business owner to get this project back online long ago. Its good for downtown. Can't the people at City Hall see this...? Or do they just not care?

[The Voice of Reason]

I have heard from people in the zoning office that the entire rooftop has to be removed before Kyto can open. Its a shame that the city has been unable to work with the business owner to get this project back online long ago. Its good for downtown. Can't the people at City Hall see this...? Or do they just not care?

it really probably is a legit safety issue

i dont want people getting hurt or dying god forbin a fire breaks out.

I see no reason why trhe city would try and stop a place from opening unless the reason were legit. the lost tax revenues from this entire last year would be something the city could really use.

As far as Pratt. I had not realized that they were open.

glad to hear it.

has anyone heard more than I had posted about the space on Temple? Au Bon Pain was it?

also I remember that when that area was being finished off they said they had signed leases with Einsteins bagels. and a recent article spoke of Einsteins opening several locations around hartford in the near future and such.

the same can be said about Mo's I know Mo's said they were going to do a downtown location.

these are 2 decent chains that fill up the small spaces.

I would like to see them added to our list of downtown options

[eastern transplant]

it really probably is a legit safety issue

i dont want people getting hurt or dying god forbin a fire breaks out.

I see no reason why trhe city would try and stop a place from opening unless the reason were legit. the lost tax revenues from this entire last year would be something the city could really use.

As far as Pratt. I had not realized that they were open.

glad to hear it.

has anyone heard more than I had posted about the space on Temple? Au Bon Pain was it?

also I remember that when that area was being finished off they said they had signed leases with Einsteins bagels. and a recent article spoke of Einsteins opening several locations around hartford in the near future and such.

the same can be said about Mo's I know Mo's said they were going to do a downtown location.

these are 2 decent chains that fill up the small spaces.

I would like to see them added to our list of downtown options

Do you mean Moe's Southwest Grill?

It would be nice to see one downtown instead of having to get in a car and drive to West Hartford every time I want a cheap burrito...

[The Voice of Reason]

Does this mean Hartford has a "china town" or at least an "Asia town"

Pratt

Green Papaya (Thai)

Tanuki Noodle Bar (Japanese

New Thai place in cujinos place

Tamarind Grille (Malaysian and Thai)

KYTO (if it ever opens in any form

Asylum

Koji

Feng

am I missing anything?

the chinese place on Temple I guess, and we also have the Thai place and the Chinese place inside the SHS building. thats a pretty high density of asian food stuffs in a very small area.

[The Voice of Reason]

Do you mean Moe's Southwest Grill?

It would be nice to see one downtown instead of having to get in a car and drive to West Hartford every time I want a cheap burrito...

Yessir

there is also one in evergreen walk.

but let me try and find the article.

http://www.courant.com/business/custom/consumer/hc-wgmoes-ylif0518.artmay18,0,1284614.story

I sent it to my wife (a fan of Moe's) from work and the search filter was kind enough to find it for me.

since the link is dead, the only other thing I wrote my wife was 10-15 new Moe's in Central ct

dated 5-22-08

[bignasty96]

Yessir

there is also one in evergreen walk.

but let me try and find the article.

http://www.courant.com/business/custom/consumer/hc-wgmoes-ylif0518.artmay18,0,1284614.story

I sent it to my wife (a fan of Moe's) from work and the search filter was kind enough to find it for me.

since the link is dead, the only other thing I wrote my wife was 10-15 new Moe's in Central ct

dated 5-22-08

That link didn't work for me, so here's another about Moe's: http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news4580.html

[jcrc]

it really probably is a legit safety issue

i dont want people getting hurt or dying god forbin a fire breaks out.

I see no reason why trhe city would try and stop a place from opening unless the reason were legit. the lost tax revenues from this entire last year would be something the city could really use.

like to see them added to our list of downtown options

Elbow Room in West Hartford has exposed roof top dining where chances of someone trip and fall to the ground is much greater than Kyto's enclosed roof top. Maybe that slum of place known as downtown West Hartford is not what Hartford want to be like. I mean having nice and unique places is just not Harttord wants; we want abandon buildings and empty streets.

[The Voice of Reason]

Elbow Room in West Hartford has exposed roof top dining where chances of someone trip and fall to the ground is much greater than Kyto's enclosed roof top. Maybe that slum of place known as downtown West Hartford is not what Hartford want to be like. I mean having nice and unique places is just not Harttord wants; we want abandon buildings and empty streets.

no arguments from me. hell I think Elbow room is the closest thing we have as a comparison to this building, but for some reason, that we are not aware of here it was shut down.

I would be completely thrilled to have this place open, and likely am only 2nd to you in the amount of time spent looking at the building in progress and um not in progress.

it just plain sucks, but like that time I didnt get "rock em sock em robots" for Christmass, you just have to get over it. something else will come along, and someday this space will be able to open a rooftop seating area.

[Luca Brasi]

Looks like Eurocafe / Bistro 942 has closed. There is a sign in the window saying they have closed and thanking everyone for their support.

[The Voice of Reason]

that location/concept is clearly not going to work at this point.

its a shame.

anyone been to either of the new places on Pratt yet?

[The Voice of Reason]

So, today I saw people looking around sweet janes today. maybe a new place coming to Pratt?

Also,

There are signs up where the foot stop shoe store used to be on Pratt(next to Rose Gourmet) advertizing some fancy ladies boutique clothing store.

this should class things up a bit!!!

another thing I noticed yesterday during the ING Fire Drill was that there are actually 2 berths at the temple street food area that are being renovated. It will be interesting to see what goes in. I am almost positive that the one is leaving State House Square for that location.

[The Voice of Reason]

http://www.hartford.gov/Development/planni...0111808%202.pdf

OK

looks like 901 Main is trying AGAIN to get past the design review board.

last time they were in front of the board it said applying for more units and changing the fascade etc.

this time it says

renovation of an existing 9 story commercial building into 100 residential units, commercial and restaurant space.

lets hope the restaurant space is Kyto

[mikel]

http://www.hartford.gov/Development/planni...0111808%202.pdf

OK

looks like 901 Main is trying AGAIN to get past the design review board.

last time they were in front of the board it said applying for more units and changing the fascade etc.

this time it says

renovation of an existing 9 story commercial building into 100 residential units, commercial and restaurant space.

lets hope the restaurant space is Kyto

Let's hope it's retail, actually. Rooftop dining is just not on my priority list.

[The Voice of Reason]

12/9 The Planning and Zoning commission will be looking at Kyto again.

This means it is past the design review board. in my opinion this is hopefull.

This place is not the missing link really in Hartford, but having it open on that corner next summer will really help pull the area. together. Temple, Pratt, and Main Street are undoubtably the center of Hartfords current come back, and tying this together I think would be important.

I spoke to the planners today and apparently there were just a ton of things done wrong with this property in the first place, and thats why it has taken so damn long. So I guess they have worked through what has been built, and what can be built, and its getting glose to the point when things can be put back to city standards, and progress can be had. whatever the miscommunication(its totally subjective and depends on your perspective as we have seen on these boards, so lets not drag that up again) I for one am glad that the details SEEM to be working themselves out.

[Luca Brasi]

A lease has been signed for the old Eurocafe spot. A hip, funky wine bar and lounge with italian style tapas and dj's.

[HartfordTycoon]

A lease has been signed for the old Eurocafe spot. A hip, funky wine bar and lounge with italian style tapas and dj's.

Sounds good, it seems like the small lounges in Hartford are really thriving right now.

[The Voice of Reason]

A lease has been signed for the old Eurocafe spot. A hip, funky wine bar and lounge with italian style tapas and dj's.

Funny, I was at citysteam while a couple was touring that location(could see them through the windows. My buddies and I were talking and said it should be a little wine bar like Bin 228. that place is always busy, and there is room for another in this city. especially at the top of Pratt. Bin 228 is far enough away and has its clientell pretty set from Theaterworks etc. I hope goodwin does not close, but if it does I hope it does not hurt the businesses over there like 228 and tapas, two great places.

Will it be a spanish themed tapas place? I have thought that an authentic Catalonian Tapas place would do well downtown.

this little strip of main at the top of Pratt can surely support more bars and resturants. I think this place might really work well. the other concepts that failed lacked a key ingrediant... booze

[The Voice of Reason]

BIG NEWS!!

and no I am being totally serious.

There are now TMobile banners on Asylum street.

T-Mobile will be opening or are open I can not tell from my office perch, next to FENG on Asylum.

if you think this is a no news moment I am here to say you are wrong.

think about it

Hartford has almost no retail outside of food/drink

Cell phone companies are major corporate retail tenants, and there are NONE in downtown.

If T-mobile is opening up a shop and it appears they are, have no doubt that Verizon and AT&T will do the same, especially if T-Mobile has any success.

Office people like myself would much rather hit a verizon store downtown rather than brave Buckland after work.

The more often that people walk out of their office to one of these retail locations the better off our downtown is. Phone service is another service residents want to have convenient access to, and downtown would have the burbs beat in that department right away. (have you ever waited in line at the verizon in Manchester?)

Add with the coming womens boutique clothing store on Pratt, we are seeing real tangible progress.

ok, so agreed its not really huge, but the fact that a national retailer is opening downtown during a horrible retail townturn is a big deal still.

I only hope that there is continued progress on Asylum and Pratt.

[MadVlad]

AT&T had one in the, well, the AT&T building, and closed it. Smart move, duh!

[mikel]

Cell phone companies are major corporate retail tenants, and there are NONE in downtown.

Hate to burst your bubble, but there is a cell phone store on Pratt St. next to Professional Barber Shop called Bell N' Beep. They sell T-Mobile there as well as I believe ATT and some other pre-paid brands. Also they sell unlocked phones which is cool.

Also, not to do it again, but I believe the new T-Mobile store is a franchise. Meaning they probably sell the same products as the Pratt St. store and are redundant. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that was my impression as I quickly walked past it last week.