A popular breakfast and lunch restaurant in West Haven has picked up and moved because of a planned redevelopment project.
Construction has yet to begin on The Haven upscale outlet mall, but Nick’s Luncheonette is doing just fine thanks to its loyal customers.
“For me it was a very important place,” Nick Milas, the owner, said of the location at the corner of First Avenue and Elm Street.
Milas, his family and staff have settled into the new home for Nick’s on Saw Mill Road. They said they have loyal customers.
“I’m very happy,” Milas said. “We’re very busy.”
The numbers of tables and staff members have more than doubled. The kitchen is bigger and there are new options on the menu.
“More salads and then we have this delicious new cinnamon pancake, a lot more healthier stuff like wraps that are gluten-free,” longtime waitress Alicia Barbagiovanni said.
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Selling the old location to the developers of The Haven was tough for the entire Milas family.
“It was definitely difficult, more difficult for my parents,” Nick’s oldest son, Kosta Milas, said.
On Monday, West Haven Mayor Nancy Rossi (D) and city officials stopped by for an official ribbon cutting.
“I thank them very much for staying in the city of West Haven,” Rossi said.
Katie Borer, a customer, said she’s been coming to the restaurant “once a week at least” and would have followed Nick’s wherever it went.
Her oldest son is now 15 and she said she thinks they celebrated his first birthday there.
Now she brings her younger daughters.
“They’re 2 and 4 and they love the pancakes,” she said.
It took nine months to transform a former Pizza Hut into the new restaurant and Nick’s opened on Saw Mill Road in January.
“I was looking for a restaurant so I was thinking this was the right place,” Nick said.
Now, more people are discovering one of the busiest spots near the shoreline for breakfast and lunch.
Kosta said it feels like their family has grown because customers feel like family and the Milas family has also literally grown with the birth of Nick’s grandson -- “Little Niko” who is named after him.
As uneasy as it was to move out of the old location, Kosta said the family is trying to look forward to a future in the new one.
“Knock on wood everything has been great so far,” he said.
