Restaurant boom in south Windsor

Mazaar Restaurant in South Windsor. (Courtesy Mazaar.ca)

There's a restaurant boom happening in south Windsor.

Within the last seven months, various restaurants have been popping up in the area.

Imad Najjar, a partner with Mazaar Restaurant, opened a second location in South Windsor back in July.

“I didn’t find there was enough of my cuisine presence in the area, the way I thought I wanted to present Mazaar,” says Najjar. “So the opportunity was there and I took advantage of it."

Najjar says business has been great at the new location.

“Once you go with your heart to a community, people will take you in and accept you and love you and that’s been our case here so we're enjoying it here," says Najjar.

KOMA Restaurant opened in May. Sandy Despotidis says the large parking lot was a huge asset when choosing their location.

"It's difficult sometimes when you're looking for parking half the time when you're reservation is at 7, so the parking lot here is quiet an asset," says Despotidis.

Michael Anthony Barlozzari, chef and owner of KOMA, says the menu is a spin on Italian food while the restaurant was designed to have an intimate feeling.

“The restaurant itself has eight tables and capacity is about 40, without the bar, comfortably,” he says.

The latest restaurant to join in on the fun is Spago Trattoria.

Ralph Vitti owns Spago with his brother, Peter. They've owned and operated their Erie Street location since 2010.

“In terms of convenience for our clients, branching out to south Windsor, we'd like to provide that and give back for all the support that they've been giving us,” says Vitti.

Their menu is traditional Italian food. Vitti says the new location has created 35-50 jobs and can seat up to 200 guests.