Three New Restaurants Planned for Manchester!

Three new restaurants are planned for Manchester! On the heels of the opening of BJ's Brewhouse next week near the mall, and the opening of Toro Azteca last month inside the mall, the Buckland area will welcome three new restraurants. One restaurant will be themed to Cajun seafood, and another to a Mexican theme, and the third to a microbrewery. 

Crab Du Jour

Announced earlier today, Crab Du Jour will take over the former Hometown Buffet location at 196 Slater Street in Manchester, CT. The restaurant, themed with a Cajun Flair and Southern Charm, says that the restaurant should take 3-4 months to build-out and open. Other locations listed as coming soon on their website include a location inside Westfarms in West Hartford, CT. Crab Du Jour is an up and coming chain of seafood restaurants; with restaurant coming soon in Connecticut, North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, and Georgia. 

Hometown Buffet closed in January of 2019; the chain had occupied the 10,000 square foot space for nearly 15 years leading up to the closure. The restaurant had been the last remaining Hometown Buffet in Connecticut. Other locations in CT included West Hartford, Wethersfield, Orange, Enfield, and Waterbury; all of which closed during their 2012 bankruptcy. The restaurant has sat vacant since its closure.


Frontera Tacos & Tequila

A chain of Mexican themed restaurants will open their first location in Connecticut! Frontera Tacos & Tequila, a New York-based chain, will open in recently-vacant Plaza Azteca location near Best Buy! The restaurant is currently under renovation, but as Plaza Azteca sported a very similar theme as Frontera, the renovations should be minimal. The coming soon banner popped up on the building two weeks ago, roughly a month after Plaza Azteca moved into the mall as Toro Azteca. the restaurant should be open later this summer/early fall.

The site of Frontera has been home to a few restaurants in the past, originally home to Romano's Macaroni Grille, an Italian themed chain. Plaza Azteca took over the vacant space after Romano's closed; and operated fo nearly a decade before moving to the former Bertucci's space at the mall. The space is slated to become yet another restaurant by the end of the summer. 


Elicit Brewing Company

A new brewery/restaurant concept will open in the former Adams Mill location at 165 Adams Street! The restaurant will be operated by Eli's Restaurant Group, the owners of Eli's Restaurants throughout Connecticut as well as Roost, a fast casual chicken restaurant. The new restaurant will serve pizza, wings, pretzels, and sandwiches. The restaurant will have retro arcades games, giant jenga, a wine bar, beer garden, as well as on site brewing. 

The Adams Mill closed earlier this year after 37 years of business. The space was previously home to a mill that had caught fire and was mostly abandoned before the owners of a Glastonbury restaurant bought the space and opened The Adams Mill. Elicit should open later this year.