JK's In Danbury Changes To Grandpa's Famous 'Hot Weiners' Remain

One of the things I have always heard and said myself is, "the one constant in life, is change", and that is exactly what is happening to the name of one of Danbury's longest-running institutions.

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We all know it as JK's Family Restaurant "Featuring Original Texas Hot Weiners", but after 98 years that is changing. According to an article in Local Today, the new name will be...*drumroll*...Grandpa's Restaurant, cue the fireworks and marching band! The new owner is Banana Brazil owner Nilton Coelho and he purchased the eatery back in the summer.

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A guy named Juan Contreras is listed as the principal owner, according to public records and he owns another "Grandpa's" in Naugatuck. Contreras owns other businesses in Danbury, La Kabanita, an Ecuadorian Restaurant, and American Home of New England, a home-building company. Even though the name is changing, certain things will remain the same, this is from General Manger Yolanda Perez, according to Local Today:

“He (Contreras) is going to continue with the hot dogs because of the tradition,” Perez said. “That way the old customers come back.”

They also cited the fact that residents in Danbury made the trip to Grandpa's in Naugatuck as one of the reasons for the purchase of JK's. So, instead of making that trip now, Danburians who seek the food and family atmosphere of Grandpa's won't have to drive quite so far. It's almost like it is a combination now of the new and the old. The arrival of a new restaurant, with a new name, and a new menu, but with the classic "Hot Weiners" that JK's famously served still available as they have been for nearly a century.

Lou Milano

Thanks for hanging out with me and you can find more incredibly captivating articles written by me by tapping or clicking right here, including a recent one with the 21 Connecticut restaurants included in Yelp's 'New England Top 100 Restaurants.' See you again real soon. Scroll further so see the "Abandoned Cedarcrest Hospital" inside and out...

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