Reversal of Fortune: Danbury Mall Eatery To Survive Chuck's Buy

On Tuesday we got a message from one of our sales executives that Dean Barberie was interested in speaking with us.

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Dean and his Barberie's restaurants have been chatted about on social media a lot lately and he wanted to clear up any confusion the public may have. On October 30, 2023 the News Times published a piece about the restaurants Dean co-owns. The article shared two items with the public, Barberie's purchased the old Chuck's Steakhouse restaurant and they would be closing their Barberie's eatery in the mall.

Well, something has changed and that is what Dean wanted to talk about. We asked him to be our guest on Tuesday (11/07/23) and tell us what is happening now.

You recently acquired Chuck's Steakhouse and then we read that you would be moving out of the Danbury Mall restaurant and you're saying, not so fast, right?

Dean: "Well. it's been a very complicated deal, we've been working with Chuck's to make the acquisition for awhile. Now, we're at a place where we kind of stepped back and looked at it and we have an established business at the Danbury Fair Mall, Barberie's Grill and you know, why move the location? We can just go to Chuck's and operate Chuck's as well."

So was the news report wrong? It appears there is a quote from you in the article saying that you want to make a seamless transition. Where did that come from?

Dean: "That did come from me, like I said everyday the plans change here and that was early on. The forecast was we were going to make a seamless transition from the mall to Chuck's but where we stand now we think it might make more sense to do both."

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Recap:

Barberie's purchased Chuck's Steakhouse and will operate that under the name Chuck's Steakhouse by Barberies.
They are keeping the Barberie's Grill restaurant at the Danbury Mall.
They also have the Eagle road location: Barberie's Black Angus Grill

The social media rumor-fest was not limited to which locations they would/would not keep. Apparently Facebook has been overrun with questions about the famous salad bar at Chuck's Steakhouse. We asked Dean whether that would stay or go?

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What the hell is going on with the salad bar Dean?

Dean: "I got good news, the salad bar is going to stay."

You can listen to our entire interview below.

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Check out the Ethan, Lou & Large Dave Podcast on Apple and Spotify

I95's Revealing Interviews With Candidates Released Ahead of Danbury Vote

Each week for the past month, the I-95 Morning Show has dedicated two long-form segments to talking with the candidates for Mayor of Danbury.

On Wednesdays at 9:20 we would speak to Danbury Democratic challenger Roberto Alves. Then on Thursdays at 9:20 we would chat with Danbury Mayor Dean Esposito. Below you can access all of the segments we've done with both men and read all their comments.

NOTE: The headline dates are the day the article was published, not the date the interviews took place.

Gallery Credit: Lou Milano

10 Wonderfully Witty Ways to Describe Danbury in 5 Words or Less

I've been told I tend to be long-winded with my descriptions so I'm working on it. Why say something with 20 words, when you can easily say the same thing with just five? I decided to practice this brevity concept while describing my home city of Danbury, CT. Here are 10 Wonderfully Witty Ways to Describe Danbury in 5 Words or Less.

Gallery Credit: Lou Milano

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