An Italian restaurant and a pub-style eatery are slated to open in West Windsor in the coming months. Il Forno, owned by West Windsor resident Jeff Malloy, will be located in the CVS shopping center at the corner of Southfield Road and Route 571. Brick House Tavern and Tap Restaurant will open at the site of the former Macaroni Grill, next to On the Border on Route 1.
Il Forno’s owners also own Carmen Trattoria in the North End of Boston. According to township community development director Pat Ward, Il Forno is currently under health department review, a requirement before seeking code enforcement approval.
Brick House Tavern and Tap Restaurant received preliminary and final approval for its plans at the West Windsor Planning Board’s February 12 meeting.
Owned by the Ignite Restaurant Group, this Brick House will be the third in New Jersey; the others are in Neptune and Plainfield.
Company spokesman Sean Rae said the establishment — a “blend of both” a restaurant and a bar — plans to employee 50 to 75 people over the course of two shifts.
The biggest issue before the Planning Board was the restaurant’s proposed hours of operation. The restaurant is seeking to remain open until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. Establishments in West Windsor are generally allowed to stay open until 11 p.m. without needing a waiver; the Macaroni Grill had been allowed to remain open until 12:30 a.m.
“In evaluating this request, we considered first the impact it would have on residents,” said Planning Board Chairman Marvin Gardner. “The closest development is Canal Pointe, which is too far away to be impacted by this change. We also looked into whether the hotel guests or others in the area had ever lodged a complaint against the Macaroni Grill due to noise or lighting; none had ever been lodged with the township, and the hotel management informed us that they had never received a complaint either.”
“Moreover, Rae testified that they would be using gooseneck exterior lighting, which is covered and points downward,” Gardner added. “With this information, we decided to grant this waiver.”
In addition to seeking site plan approval, the restaurant asked the Planning Board to approve additional waivers, including a reconfiguration of the outdoor patio. The restaurant plans to build a 1,300-square-foot covered, heated outdoor seating area, using radiant heating and including the current outdoor seating area. Rae testified that the restaurant hopes to be able to utilize the outdoor space 275 days a year.
Other waivers were for the lettering on outdoor signage of 48 inches rather than the standard 24 and parking. The group sought waiver to allow them to have one less parking space than would be required if the undeveloped adjacent property were also developed into an entity needing parking. Currently, the Brick House will have more than enough parking to accommodate its guests and employees.
“The original site had 14 trees, all of which have died and have never been replaced,” Gardner added. “The Brick House has agreed to replace all of them, as well as adding additional landscaping. They will also ensure that the courtyard area between their site and On the Border will remain intact, and will in fact widen a pathway that connects the restaurants with the hotel and potentially other businesses located in the area. They are also going to redo the facade by filling in the stucco, adding a light layer of rustic-looking brick, and adding faux windows. They will be using LED lighting throughout the restaurant, with the exception of the kitchen, and will be renovating the interior as well.”
The restaurant still has to get several approvals from the county and state, Gardner said, but once these are obtained the renovation should take from 90 to 120 days.
