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January 17, 2025

The Friendly Toast to open 1st CT location in WH Center

Contributed The Friendly Toast restaurant is expected to open in West Hartford Center this spring.

A New Hampshire-based brunch restaurant group will add to the growing list of establishments coming to West Hartford Center.

The Friendly Toast, which describes itself as an “all-day brunch and bar,” is expected to open by early spring at 36 LaSalle Road. The location formerly was home to Division West Bistro, which closed in January 2024.

Madelyn Dignam, director of marketing for The Friendly Toast, said the original restaurant opened in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1994 and was acquired by the current owners in 2014. 

They have since expanded throughout New England. In addition to four locations in New Hampshire, there is one in Maine, seven in Massachusetts and one in Vermont. The LaSalle Road site will be the 14th, and the first in Connecticut.

Dignam said the West Hartford restaurant will seat 149 customers, and added that the hope is to also offer about a dozen seats for dining outside. 

She did not know how many employees will be hired, stating that the number of staff at each restaurant varies depending on its capacity and demand.

What makes The Friendly Toast different is its funky decor and expansive menu, which includes many gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan and allergy-friendly options.

“Our menu is pretty expansive and pretty unique,” Dignam said. “We are a breakfast and brunch restaurant, so we try to have the classics and then put sort of a fun twist on them as well.”

That includes everything from avocado toast to breakfast tacos and chicken and waffles. It also serves both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

In addition to the brunch restaurant, West Hartford Center also will add two high-end restaurants on Farmington Avenue in space formerly occupied by a CVS Pharmacy.

Market Hospitality Group, which acquired the building in September, has announced plans to transform the site into two restaurants, featuring a fourth Mercato location on one side and Blu Pointe on the other. 

Those restaurants are not expected to open until at least the fall of this year.

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