Beachland Tavern Opens for Business in Elmwood

A place where everybody knows your name.

It’s not just a lyric from the classic 1980s sitcom Cheers. It’s what Chip Kohn, owner of Elmwood’s newest eatery, Beachland Tavern, wants to cultivate in his restaurant. 

“I want customers to feel comfortable walking in. It’s going to be a place where the bartender knows your name, the server knows your name. I want a friendly atmosphere – our staff to be friendly and the customers to feel welcome.”

The restaurant, located in the Elmwood Plaza space formerly occupied by Elements Bistro, opened last week with a “soft opening” for friends and family on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Since then they have only been serving dinner, but that will change shortly as both lunch and dinner will be served seven days a week.

Kohn planned to open the restaurant during the traditionally slow mid-summer period so that he and the staff could take a little time to find their footing. “The restaurant is a work in progress right now, “ states Kohn.  “We are still making additions to the menu and the décor. Hopefully, six months from now everything will be running like a clock.”

The past six months have been hectic ones for Kohn. The West Hartford native decided that after years of managing restaurants for others, he wanted to incorporate what he had learned about running a successful establishment into his own place.

Upon signing the lease in Elmwood, he enlisted the help of fellow West Hartford natives, Curt Hickcox and Tim Marotto and proudly notes that, “we are just local guys who want to make a comfortable local tavern.”

Project contractor Hickcox took three months to renovate the space, practically taking it down to the studs. The basic layout remains the same but walls were painted, new floors laid, pine dividers placed in the bar area, and he’s built a new maple bar that delights Kohn.

A hand-painted elm tree, in tribute to the restaurant’s location, adorns one wall and a copper molding hand painted with images of hops flowers runs the length of the walls.

Chef Marotto was lured to the Beachland Tavern from his stint as the head chef at the Nordstrom Café. The graduate is working very closely with Kohn to create an affordable and appealing menu with a “made from scratch” bent.

“Tim is making mostly everything from scratch,” notes Kohn. ”He makes all of our salad dressings, he grinds the beef for our burgers. He even makes his own ricotta cheese for our Bolognese sauce. All of our desserts will be made here on the premises also.”

The menu will offer a little something for everyone with various starters such as Irish Nachos which, as the name implies, are a Gaelic take on the Mexican standard. Smoked brisket and sliced potatoes are substituted for the usual ground meat and tortilla chips. Other offerings include House-Made Wings, Crispy Spinach and Artichoke Won-ton and Buffalo Fried Ribs.

For those who want something more than an appetizer, there are salads, sandwiches, burger, pastas, and meat and fish entrees. But, Kohn notes, the menu is not going to be stagnant.

“There will be special dishes offered daily and the menu is going to be fresh. We’re going to change it a lot because we know that we are going to have a lot of regulars.”  

A late night bar menu will eventually be added, and will include mostly appetizers. A children’s menu with the requisite Mac and Cheese, Chicken Tenders, Grilled Cheese and burger is offered as well.  

Kohn is open to customer suggestions concerning his menu, or recommendations for wines that might be stocked in the bar. “If there is a type of wine that a regular customers want, they can ask us and we’ll get it in for them. It’s all about making our customers happy.”

The man who grew up on Glenbrook Road and, as a young boy played youth baseball and skated at Beachland Park, speaks about making his new restaurant a comfortable, inviting place for his patrons.

“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel here. We just want to give everyone good food at a good value.”

And, by the way, his favorite television show growing up was Cheers.