Haven Beer Co. opened its doors to the Hamden community in the spring of 2024. Despite the restaurant and bar being a popular spot for college students and residents alike, it faced numerous challenges even before its opening. When the restaurant was in its early stages and the original plans were announced, that’s when the lawsuits filed in.
“We went through planning and zoning that [lawsuits] came about during the planning phase,” Haven Beer Co. general manager Dave St. Onge said. “It was very clear we were planning to open something and get underway designing and making it, that’s when they first kind of popped up.”
Haven Beer Co. occupies the space where the old Mickey’s Tavern used to sit. But, before it could get off the ground running, it faced legal issues. After two unanimous approvals through planning and zoning, the restaurant was given the green light. That was until Tri-Star Realty, which owns property that Eli’s on Whitney and Roishi’s sit on, filed an appeal stating that the new restaurant violated parking regulations regarding whether they would have sufficient space for their customers. Both restaurants sit steps away from Haven Beer Co.
Following the appeal, Tri-Star Reality filed a lawsuit at the New Haven Superior Court stating that they didn’t address the parking requirements.
“They brought a lawsuit on a few different grounds,” St. Onge said. “One of them was potentially being parking, which was dropped as we have a full parking garage that fits more cars than we ever would need from planning and zoning approval.”
St. Onge went on to say that despite the two lawsuits nothing slowed Haven Beer Co. down from opening its doors. But, St. Onge pointed to the ongoing legal process that took place at the time of the opening.
“It was just the process of time for it to move up through the court system to actually get a hearing date,” St. Onge said. “With each hearing date that came, the [lawsuit] was basically judged not a legitimate cause and dropped each time.”
The restaurant felt a lot of pressure to just “get going” and open its doors.
“It kind of put an uneasy feeling of ‘Hey this is something ongoing,’” St. Onge said. “There was nothing ever wrong and there was no grounds to stop it … you can’t stop from opening and it was just another thing to deal with. We were just trying to be open as soon as possible.”
St. Onge pointed to the fact that Haven Beer Co. wanted to be open sooner but faced architecture planning and interior designs issues.
“[Kevin Fitzsimmons] knew the space well from living in Hamden,” St. Onge said. “Prior to Haven Beer Co. there was a restaurant, an Italian spot in part of the building that closed around the time of COVID.”
Despite the numerous lawsuits that plagued the restaurant before its opening, it still found a way with plenty of support from the community. The community has embraced the restaurant.
“It was a great dining experience, the outdoor section feels really nice and it’s still got the ambiance of the busiest intersection in Hamden,” Nicholas Fizzano said. “You still feel like you’re in town.”
Lawsuits never stopped the restaurant from its goal of being in the community. St. Onge wants to keep adding to the decor of the restaurant and the inside.
There are no plans to expand the physical building, but the restaurant intends to add a rooftop bar. The hope is to have it done in the spring.
“We already did the structural reinforcement,” St. Onge said. “It would be a rooftop bar and patio area. Zoning wise we were already approved for it.”
With a chuckle, St. Onge said that was it for any further improvements to the restaurant.
“We are very lucky to have Hamden,” he said. “We have gotten great support from the town of Hamden the people, all our guests, we love. Quinnipiac has been very supportive as well.”