The Grist Mill: Upscale Dining with Casual Flair

Written and reported by Avon Patch Editor Jessie Sawyer.

The Grist Mill celebrated almost 23 years in business with open houses Wednesday and Thursday at its new Avon location.

"We have the fine dining aspect and then the casual aspect," Giraulo said.

The open houses were part of the restaurant's initiative to re-establish itself in the 51 East shopping plaza along Route 44 after a successful run in Farmington.

"We're morphing," co-owner Anthony Giraulo said. "We like being here and people like us being here."

The restaurant moved to Avon in early June after Carmen Anthony's Fishhouse of Avon sold its assets, furniture and fixtures to The Grist Mill in May of last year. The restaurant updated its menu about three weeks ago, adding more casual fare like sandwiches in hopes to offer "diverse" options and build its lunch traffic. There are also many $5 Happy Hour "bar bites," including the newly added fried pickle spears.

Whether a restaurant moves next door or "several miles away," it's like starting a new business in a way, Giraulo said.

"The longevity that we've had because of our former location was purely word of mouth," Giraulo said. 

The Grist Mill had a website in Farmington, but now Giraulo is turning to Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, as well as Yelp, to spread the word about its new Avon restaurant. Giraulo decided to make a social media splash because he knows many of his customers are online often.

"You can't stay the same," he said. "You have to go where the people are."

Some regulars and locals familiar with restaurant's former grist mill site in Farmington paid a visit to Wednesday's open house. John Arcidiacono, of Unionville, who went to high school in New Britain with Giraulo, was excited to see the new location.

"That was a beautiful place overlooking the river (in Farmington)," Arcidiacono said. "But it's nice here too."

There were also some new faces. Stacy Dlubac, of Windsor Locks, brought her friend Jennifer Thomacos, of East Hartford, "just to check it out" after seeing a television advertisement for The Grist Mill event. 

Businesses that distribute alcohol to the restaurant led Wednesday's tastings, including West Hartford resident Joel Russell, of Slocum & Suns wine distributor, Allen Nelson, a sales representative for Thomas Hooker Brewing Company in Bloomfield and Simsbury resident Nadine Gengras, of CT Distributors in Stratford.

Have you been to The Grist Mill since it reopened in Avon? Tell us about your experience in the comments!