Wethersfield officials on Tuesday will consider granting final approvals for a pair of proposals seeking to build an Artisanal Burger Co. restaurant and countertop showroom in town.
The town’s Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to vote Tuesday night on a proposal asking to build Artisanal Burger Co.’s second restaurant on Maple Street and another to construct a countertop showroom on the Berlin Turnpike.
Artisanal Burger co-owners Joseph Sullo and Dorjan Puka in recent years scored a number of approvals from the town’s Historic District and Inland Wetlands commissions for its planned $3 million, 250-seat restaurant on Maple Street. The partners operate another Artisanal Burger location in Manchester, and plan to expand elsewhere if the Wethersfield site is successful, Sullo said Monday.
Sullo, owner-manager of Classic Restaurant Supply in Hartford and its e-commerce affiliate, RestaurantSupply.com, in late 2017 paid over $2.1 million for an industrial building at the Maple Street site and another $440,000 for a pair of houses fronting the building, which he razed about a year ago.Â
Sullo has since relocated and expanded his online-fulfillment operations to the property, listed as 24 Maple St. Classic Restaurant Supply still operates a showroom-distribution facility at 312 Murphy Road in Hartford, in the city’s South Meadows. As previously reported, Sullo cited Hartford’s high property taxes for the relocation.
Depending on town approvals, Sullo and Puka — who also owns Treva, A’vert Brasserie and Zohara Mediterranean Kitchen in West Hartford as part of DORO Restaurant Group — plan to open the new Artisanal Burger location by Thanksgiving.
According to plans, the 6,000-square-foot restaurant will feature outdoor patio seating, at least 120 parking spaces and will employ 75 part- and full-time workers.
Also Tuesday, the zoning board is expected to vote on a special permit for a proposal from Meriden’s Stone House By Temponi to build a 5,000-square-foot showroom and outdoor display on vacant land at 1912 Berlin Turnpike.
The showroom/workshop would include outdoor display areas for large stone slabs, said Peter Gillespie, the town’s director of planning and economic development.
It was not clear Monday whether the proposed showroom would mark a relocation or expansion for Stone House.
