Middlebury Gets New Ristorante and Wine Bar

Location, location, location. That's the key to success in real estate, right? It's also the key to success for restaurants. There are a few "Hidden Gem" locations in our area. One of my favorite former "Hidden Gems" was L Restaurant, which was located at 199 Park Road Extension in Middlebury. L occupied the end space on the old Timex building, and unfortunately, L closed permanently earlier this year. One of the many culinary victims of this pandemic. Well, good news, actually, great news, considering the state of our world right now, a new place is rising out of the ashes of L. It's a new Italian restaurant and wine bar, whose name should be familiar to Waterbury residents. I noticed the sign in the photo above, it's posted on the corner of Park Road and Straits Turnpike, so I took a ride by last night on the way home.

Aldo's Ristorante & Wine Bar is located in the space formerly occupied by L Restaurant, which is at 199 Park Road Extension in Middlebury. So far, nothing notable, like a menu, or website, comes up for the new place if you do an internet search. The only information that I found online about it is from an article posted by Bee-news.com, which informs us that the new restaurant is co-owned by the owner of Bella'Gio in Cheshire, Frank Loga, who formerly owned Waterbury's Aldo's of Italy, which shut down in 2013, and Chef Gregory Salinas. I did see a couple of people walking into and out of the location last night, but it seemed like they were workers, not diners. Great news for fans of Italian cuisine, along with Waterbury's Verdi, and Domenick's & Vinnie's, Park Road should smell delicious year round.