If At First You Don't Succeed ...

Douglas Hanson, a Pawcatuck resident and entrepreneur has not given up on downtown.   

Hanson and his former partner opened Apizzo, a Neapolitan-style wood-fired pizza restaurant in late 2008 at 59 West Broad St. in downtown Pawcatuck. In business less than two years, the pizzeria closed, this despite positive—glowing, even— reviews on travel and foodie Web sites including yelp.com.

Now on his own, Hanson is giving it another shot with the proposed Broad Street Bar & Bistro at the former Apizzo location. And if town officials see fit and the zoning application is approved, it may be in time for the summer season, and not a minute too soon for the downtown Pawcatuck economy—and morale.

In a recent application to the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission, Hanson requested an approval on a Special Use Permit to operate a full-service 75-seat restaurant and bar. Since it is a new submittal to the PZC, a date for public hearing has not yet been set although the application was listed on the PZC’s most recent agenda.  His previous restaurant sold beer and wine; the new application for the Broad Street Bar Bistro would serve liquor.

Hanson, of Woodland Court in Pawcatuck, filed a limited liability corporation (LLC) with the State of Connecticut in August of 2010.

The restaurant location has its sign—and windows—covered and concealed.

Hanson’s former Apizzo partner Stefan Ambrosch has since opened a similar concept pizzeria serving wood-fired pizza called Mangos in Mystic.

A call to Hanson for comment was not returned.