Andy Restaurant-Bar brings Colombian fare to New Haven's Sargent Drive - New Haven Register

NEW HAVEN — A new restaurant, Andy Restaurant-Bar, has once again lit up one of the most visible restaurant spaces in the area, the former Greek Olive on the ground floor of the La Quinta Inn & Suites at Long Wharf, and in addition to breakfasts, burgers, salads and smoothies, it's got a surprise: Colombian food.

Owner Andres "Andy" Pastuzano, a local resident for seven years, originally is from Cali, Colombia, and thinks people will love the Colombian fare as much as he does.

"I want American people to know a little bit about Colombia," said Pastuzano, who has murals of some of Colombia's most beautiful spots, both natural and man-made, on the walls of the 402 Sargent Drive spot. "There are many things" to know, "more than just the bad" things you might have heard about concerning violence or drug cartels, he said.

For customers looking for more traditional menu items, the restaurant has a variety of omelets and egg sandwiches, chocolate chip or blueberry pancakes, fruity French toast and crema caramel waffles.

Offerings also include Buffalo wings, Caeser, Cobb and or garden salads, steak, surf and turf, burgers, sandwiches, paninis and pasta.

There also are desserts options including cheesecake, flan and or creme brulee.

But there are the Colombian dishes that Pastuzano hopes customers will enjoy.

Bandeja Paisa, Colombia's national dish, is a steak crowded on the plate with rice, beans, grilled plaintain, egg, pork belly, corn arepa, chorizo and sliced avocado.

It's right there on the menu alongside a churrasco (Colombian steak), chuleta caleña (pork steak with rice and beans) and other Colombian specialties.

Like a few other Colombian restaurants in the area, including Jerri's Luncheonette in West Haven, Andy Restaurant-Bar has a dual menu, specializing in both American and Colombian food.

Among other things, it offers a "Colombian special breakfast" with three eggs, tomato, onions, Colombian sausage and a Colombian arepa, or corn cake.

"We want people to mix," said Pastuzano, 32. "I want American people to try the Colombian food. I want people in New Haven to know you can find everything" on the menu.

Everything the eatery serves is made from scratch, he said. "Nothing is pre-packaged. We make everything ourselves."

Of the 15 or so employees, including managers Sebastian LaVerde and Jose Alzate, kitchen staff and waitstaff, most are Colombian-born, Pastuzano said.

Many of them are quite experienced, but this is the first time owning a restaurant for Pastuzano, who also owns a construction company and develops and builds houses.

But he grew up in Colombia with a mother who had a "very tiny" restaurant where she was both the cook and the waitress, he said.

As befits an eatery that also is the in-house restaurant for a hotel, Andy Restaurant-Bar opens for breakfast at 6 a.m. and remains open until midnight, he said.

Right now, the business is waiting for its liquor license to be approved. But once it's in place, Pastuzano plans to build up the bar business — and has fixed up the bar with a huge mural of Manhattan.

There's also a newly-renovated banquet room in back suitable for parties, holiday functions or weddings.

Open for just over a week now — and with 140,000 or so vehicles a day passing by on Interstate 95 — Andy Restaurant-Bar, directly opposite southbound I-95 (Exit 46) is beginning to attract some attention.

Angel Diaz of New Haven was there for the second time for lunch Friday.

"I pass through here all the time," said Diaz, a native of Puerto Rico and 35-year New Haven resident who lives in the Fair Haven section and works as a machine operator in Stratford. "I saw the sign. I was very curious — then I found out it was Colombian food!"

Colombian food is quite different from Puerto Rican food, Diaz said. So he went in. "When I entered, the people were very nice. They treated me very well." He said he had a hamburger the first time he was there and a ham and cheese panini the second time, but will be ordering from the Colombian menu soon.

"I hope everybody comes here," Diaz said.

The Greek Olive closed in November 2021 after 20 years in business, an apparent victim of a pandemic-related business slowdown. The closure came a few months after the daughter of the Greek Olive's owners, Branford native Jennie Antonakis, tweeted former CNBC TV personality Marcus Lemonis for help, winning her parents, Anna and Tony Antonakis, what proved to be a brief reprieve.

mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com

Andy Restaurant-Bar brings Colombian fare to New Haven's Sargent Drive - New Haven Register