Noodles & Co. — a restaurant chain concentrated in Colorado, Wisconsin and Maryland — is opening its first Connecticut location in West Hartford’s Bishops Corner.
The restaurant, which serves Asian, American and Mediterranean noodle dishes, is expected to open in the Marshalls plaza on North Main Street in late September. It is the latest lease to be signed in a plaza that is currently undergoing renovations and will include a Walmart neighborhood grocer.
Connecticut’s first Noodles & Co. is expected to open in West Hartford’s Bishops Corner in late September. A job fair will be held Saturday at the store. Photo by Kenneth R. Gosselin/kgosselin@courant.com
Robert Barton, the franchise operator, said he chose the plaza over trendier Blue Back Square because of the parking lot and the plaza’s elevation above street-level.
“It’s up a little on a hill,” Barton said, “and right in your face.”
Barton, who sold four, local Five Guys Burgers & Fries franchises in 2011, said he plans to open five more Noodles & Co. restaurants in the next few years, with the second coming in 2013. He declined to identify potential locations.
Barton heard about Noodles & Co. from a friend after the Five Guys sale and visited one in Maryland. Barton said the restaurant won’t have any direct competitors. Other restaurants offer some of the noodles, but not all of them in one place, he said.
The restaurant will occupy 2,700 square feet, mid-size for a restaurant in the chain. The Bishops Corner location will seat 71, and Barton plans to seek a permit next spring to add a patio and another 36 seats. Barton said he expects to invest between $700,000 and $800,000 to open the restaurant.
Barton expects to employ 40 full- and part-time workers initially, and may add more after the opening. A job fair will be held at the restaurant Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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8 Responses to State’s First Noodles & Co. Latest Tenant In West Hartford Plaza
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Looking forward to the opening, Robert. With you at the helm, I know it will be a huge sucess.
Your Proud Aunt,
Susan
Sounds wonderful but please, please, please, have some Gluten Free Noodles on the menu for those of us with Celiac Disease. Rice Noodles would work
Every voter who believes “You didn’t build that!” should read this story. Here is a man, Mr. Barton, who’s putting his OWN MONEY where his mouth is! We should ALL praise him, because here’s a guy who ACTUALLY CREATING JOBS !
yep, he built the roads, he put up the $ that made WH Center a profitable retail area, he provides police protection, and so forth.
Actually, gtb, no voter believes that. And only ill-informed voters believe that’s what President Obama said. Fox and the PACs have done a masterful job at editing the actual statement which ended with, “You didn’t build that.”
In the case of Bishop’s Corner, the President’s statement would have mentioned the millions and millions of dollars recently speant and/or destined for road work, re-aligned traffic patterns, the removal of the parking garage, the new parking lots, the new facades, etc. which have created a far more inviting atmosphere for Mr. Barton to locate his franchise.
Now, if you want to get nit-picky, and if we could, it would be interesting to hear if Mr. Barton ever received small business loans or other government programs to help him acheive his dream. All the “We Built It” small biz people at the RNC have received government loans and assistance. (I have no idea about Mr. Barton and wish him luck.)
This meme is just so silly and damagine and deceitful… and the RNC was built around it. Shameful.
This restaurant sounds great! Much success!
And to Guy: Obama believes in government – not free enterprise. I don’t watch Fox or belong to the GOP – I’ve watched the man tear apart our capitalist society replacing it with – government. Government is so in our face today that I hope Mr. Barton doesn’t get frustrated with the EPA, et al – all the nannies issuing decrees as to how many calories we eat (Mrs. Obama), what kinds of food we eat etc., etc. Are we better off than we were 4 years ago? Definitely not. I feel government breathing down my back.
[...] Read my interview with Barton here. [...]