Westville Celebrates Restaurant Renaissance

Four years ago in Westville, there were 11 empty storefronts. This year, there’s only one.

Westville Village Renaissance Alliance Executive Director Lizzy Donius proudly recited that statistic about — well, Westville Village’s current renaissance, during a Thursday afternoon press conference celebrating the opening of two new restaurants and the re-opening of a third. 

Local politicians, chefs, and neighbors all joined in for the Westville foodie bash in support of Camacho Garage, Delaney’s Restaurant & Tap Room, and Pistachio.

“We are so thankful that you all have pressed the [Go] button, despite this pandemic,” said Mayor Justin Elicker.

“It’s truly critical – the food and restaurant industry is 10 percent of Connecticut’s economy,” added Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz. That number is even higher in New Haven – 14 percent of the regional employment comes from the hospitality and restaurant industry, said city Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli.

Mexican Consul General Jorge Islas praised the three restaurants as welcome additions to Westville.

“Restaurants play an important role in the life and culture of a city,” he said. ​“We can discover and learn about different cultures.” He singled out Camacho Garage Chef Arturo Camacho for making particularly delicious Mexican cuisine.

“Look at the variety of places and multicultural cuisines we have,” added Elicker, pointing to the Pistachio Cafe during the last ribbon cutting. ​“There’s a place to get a beer and relax, a coffee shop where you can work, and a nice restaurant for an evening out.” 

Dining Desert No More

Camacho Garage Co-Owner Marc Knight said that, in the last few years, Westville has felt like a bit of a ​“desert for drinking and dining.” He said he lived in Westville 20 years ago, and wanted to come back to the neighborhood. ​“We just had to do something,” he said.

This is the third restaurant Knight and his business partner, Robert Bolduc, have opened in New Haven. You can read more about Camacho Garage here and here.

“A lot of the lull was because Delaney’s burned down in 2014. They really were the anchor of the district,” said Donius (pictured). ​“With retail dying as a whole, we’ve had some tough blows.”

“Maybe people felt [Westville] was risky to invest in because it’s far away from Downtown and highway access,” said Knight. But the more restaurants open up, he said, the better. ​“There’ll be that critical mass of people, and that helps everyone.”

For others, the warm community of Westville was precisely why they decided to open up. Mohamad Hafez, a local artist and the owner of Pistachio, has lived in New Haven for six years. ​“I know that the community is supportive of local businesses, which encouraged me to open here.”

Building Back Employment

“This is crazy timing,” laughed Donius when asked about the effects of Covid-19 on business openings. ​“But these places were the cumulative work of years.”

Camacho Garage’s building, Donius said, was bought by the current owners four years ago. Delaney’s burned down in 2014 and the owners briefly moved before coming back and trying to find a new place.

Only Pistachio, written about here, was conceived and implemented during the pandemic.

All three restaurants, however, have provided new jobs to Elm City residents.

Bolduc estimated that Camacho Garage employs about 30 people. Most of these workers are from New Haven, he said, even from Westville itself. ​“Our assistant manager, for example, grew up in Westville.”

Peter Gremse and Mike Shanahan are the co-owners of Delaney’s Restaurant & Tap Room. ​“We’re currently doing a lot of the work ourselves,” said Gremse. He added that they’re starting off with a smaller staff of around four to five people. ​“We don’t know what to expect. We’re starting small because we don’t want to have to let people go if things are difficult.”

“In the long term, we’re hoping to expand back to at least half of our staff,” said Shanahan. Before their building burned down in 2014, their staff consisted of 49 people.

At Pistachio Cafe, Hafez hired seven employees, both full and part time. They are ​“all from New Haven, across the city,” he said.

Increasing employment opportunities has been crucial amidst the pandemic. ​“We’re still at around 8,000 unemployment claims filed each week,” said Piscitelli. ​“That’s pretty high.”

These restaurants have already found loyal customers. Tasha Hawthorne came to Pistachio with her daughters Haviland (right) and Hayden (left). Haviland likes the mango smoothie, and Hayden likes the black forest cheesecake.

“If not already, Pistachio will soon become a staple of our community,” said Hawthorne.

Watch a snippet of the event here.