Eateries enhance Middlebury dining

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Middlebury First Selectman Edward B. St. John, left, and Economic Development Commission Chair Terry McAuliffe, right, welcome Aldo’s Chef Greg Salinas (in red) and owner Frank Loga (in blue) to Middlebury. Their restaurant opened for business July 7. (Marjorie Needham photo)

By MARJORIE NEEDHAM

Three new eateries in town – Aldo’s Ristorante and Wine Bar, Uncle Willie’s Wood Smoked BBQ and The Local Gourmet – offer a variety of dining options. Two, Aldo’s and Uncle Willie’s, are open as we go to press and the third, The Local Gourmet, will open in Middlebury Edge in late August.

The Middlebury Aldo’s is in the space at 199 Park Road Extension formerly occupied by L Restaurant, which closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Owner Frank Loga has added a patio out front that wraps around one side of the building. He said the patio can accommodate 70 diners.

Loga, who owns and operates Bella’Gio in Cheshire, said the landlord for the Park Road property, Robert LaFlamme, told him about the space and encouraged him to look at it. Loga said he came inside and said, “Wow! This is beautiful.” He knew he wanted to have a restaurant here. “When you see a beautiful opportunity in a beautiful location, you take it,” he said.

The Aldo’s in Waterbury closed in 2013, but Loga said he decided to bring back the name because he has good memories of the former restaurant and believes people here do, too. He said the restaurant features Italian-American dishes, and menu offerings change with the seasons.

As the owner, his philosophy is to make the food affordable so people can come back often and to offer nice portions so people have enough to take some home to eat later. He said you create a great name and great reputation by offering great food in a good atmosphere.

Aldo’s is open Monday to Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Thursday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. See the Aldo’s menu at aldosct.com. Call them at 203-528-3278.

Uncle Willie’s Wood Smoked BBQ is in the space in the Citgo gas station at 492 Middlebury Road formerly occupied by Blarney Stone Pizza. Service at the moment is inside the station, but the dining area is expected to open in late August.

Middlebury residents Bill and Diane Lombardi have owned and operated Willie’s since 1995, for 26 years, but this is the first time they have opened a retail location in Middlebury. Bill said their BBQ was voted in the top 10 in the U.S. by Roadfood.com. He said New Englanders tend to think of barbequing as quickly cooking something up on the grill, but Willie’s offers something different “real down home pit BBQ” that has been smoked for hours. All their meats are made from scratch on site.

Menu choices include pork, beef and chicken wings and they recently added fried chicken to the menu. Bill said they will continue to add menu items. Right now, they are offering BBQ sandwiches such as pulled pork and pulled chicken, BBQ meats, BBQ ribs and smoked chicken. Customers can choose from five different BBQ sauces, and sides include fries, baked beans and cole slaw.

Willie’s offers a catering menu (see the website, uwillbbq.com) that ranges from lunches for 12 to gatherings of 50 or more. The catering number is 203-250-1504. They deliver to all of Connecticut and parts of New York.

Large quantities of meat, mainly for truck catering, are smoked in a facility in Cheshire. They supply meat for food trucks and offer it via Door Dash and Grub Hub.

Here in Middlebury, in addition to catering they currently offer pickup and delivery Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., unless they run out of meat, which takes hours to smoke. They are closed Mondays. Call 203-527-7377 for more information or to place an order.

The Local Gourmet business partners Christy Buso, left, and Ashley Bugnacki stand by a window at their new location in Middlebury Edge. That location will open in late August. (Submitted photo)

The Local Gourmet, which has been operating in Southbury for several years, will open in the former Chubba’s space in Middlebury Edge at 1625 Straits Turnpike in late August. It is run by business partners Christy Buso and Ashley Bugnacki.

Area residents’ first introduction to The Local Gourmet sandwiches may have been during a visit to the Watertown Meat Market, which Buso owned and operated for 9 years. That was where she and Bugnacki, now her business partner, first started working together. After Buso sold the meat market, she opened the Southbury store.

And just as landlord Robert LaFlamme brought a location to the attention of Aldo’s Frank Loga, LaFlamme mentioned the opening at Middlebury Edge to Buso. She said he and his family are customers at the Southbury location. Although a lot of work had to be done to fit out the space for her business, she felt it would be a good location.

“I love being challenged and taking on new projects,” Buso said. She said she has a great staff but is still adding employees in both locations. Call the Southbury store at 203-262-4110 or email a resume to localgourmetcafe@gmail.com if you are interested.

Buso said the Middlebury location will share some menu items with the Southbury store, but it also will feature a breakfast menu. The Middlebury hours will be 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

For breakfast, they will offer breakfast sandwiches, gourmet toast, hot oatmeal bowls and smoothie bowls topped with granola or other cereal toppings. Breakfast will be offered all day.

Like the Southbury store, they will offer signature sandwiches, signature salads, smoothies and smoothie bowls. See the Southbury menu at thelocalgourmetct.com.

Catering is offered at both locations, but all hot catering will come from Southbury. Middlebury will offer cold catering. See the extensive catering menu on the website.