HARTFORD, Conn. — A Hartford staple is closing its doors after more than a half century in Connecticut’s Capital City.
“It's bittersweet,” Jordan Dikegoros, owner of J Restaurant & Bar, said. “It's very, very tough, especially as time is winding down with the two more weeks to go. It's really starting to hit home.”
For Jordan Dikegoros, J is more than a business; it’s a piece of his family.
His father Nick opened the site on Hartford’s Washington Street as a pizzeria back in 1970 when it was then called “Pizza Plus.”
“It means everything,” Dikegoros said. “I mean, I was five years old when we opened. I was handed a broom when I was five. My dad's like, sweep the floors. Been here my whole life. I've been running it for 37 years.”
Jordan led the establishment through an expansion into a full restaurant and bar, through the 2008 economic recession, and then through the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, when he doubled the size by serving customers on an new outdoor patio.
“It's sad to see because I've known this place back in the day, when Jordan was younger, and his parents were here running it,” Brian Ambrose, a frequent customer, said. “It’s home for a lot of people.”
J is home not only to customers but also to longtime servers like Alex Pace and her mom.
“I love coming to work with her,” Pace said. “We understand what each other needs.”
When J closes in early July after 54 years in Hartford, customers will be losing more than comfort food.
“It's been such a staple for the community,” Pace said. “There's not a ton that brings you over here unless you're at the hospital and there's a positive thing right across the street.”
For decades, J Restaurant was the go-to lunch destination for visitors and staff at the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and soon it will transform into a parking garage with retail.
“We made a promise years ago to the hospital when they were ready to expand that we would cooperate with them,” Dikegoros said. “They've been great neighbors over the years. Without them I wouldn't be here today, so it's our turn to give back to them. We’re sacrificing our business for the better of the children in the hospital and all the families that are going to be visiting this hospital.”
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While the corner of Washington Street will not look the same, Jordan said that it’s not goodbye, but see you later.
“I am not done yet,” Dikegoros said. “We are going to pack everything up, store everything in a warehouse. Hopefully recreate something that's going to make you feel like you're walking back into a restaurant again.”
Customers can still order off the full menu through Saturday, June 29 and then a partial menu a few days after that.
As for what’s next, Dikegoros said it’s not his last venture in the dining industry, with a number of catering events on the Summer schedule and a goal to reopen another J Restaurant and Bar in the Hartford area sometime soon.
Bridgette Bjorlo is an anchor/reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at bbjorlo@fox61.com. Follow her onFacebook, X and Instagram.
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