Rocket Cafe, ready for liquor. Credit: Dereen Shirnekhi file photo
A soon-to-open new Westville sports bar called Rocket Cafe won permission to serve alcohol — and plans to sell Colombian food alongside American appetizers.
The sports bar’s owner, Adriana Orozco, appeared before the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) Tuesday night to request a special exception to serve alcoholic beverages for immediate consumption on the premises with no live entertainment at 883 Whalley Ave.
All five zoning board commissioners voted in support of the request, and included a condition that the bar not sell booze before 4 p.m. or after 11 p.m.
Orozco owns Rocket Cafe along with her husband Jaime Rua, who was also in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting, which was held at 200 Orange St.
The couple owns My Little Colombia, a restaurant and bar in East Haven, as well. Orozco and Rua have run My Little Colombia for four years.
In front of the commissioners, with the help of Spanish-speaking translator Carlos Tirado, Orozco made her pitch. She said that the small restaurant, with a 30- to 35-person capacity, will sell liquor, beer, and wine. She said she has no desire to change the building’s exterior, that there is a parking lot nearby and no school, and noted its location in a commercial zone. She also said that she will add some Colombian food to the menu, after stating in September that the sports bar would sell American appetizers, along with hamburgers and chicken wings.
Commissioner Adam Waters asked for confirmation that alcohol would only be served on the premises. Orozco said that it would.
Commissioner Christian Peralta noted that the restaurant had previously been portrayed as a sports bar. “Or is it a Colombian food restaurant?” he asked.
Orozco said that the menu would include American appetizers as well as Colombian food.
“So it would be similar to the restaurants that are in that neighborhood?” Peralta asked.
“Correct, but different food,” Orozco said in Spanish.
Mike Martinez, serving as the chair of the BZA for the night, invited the public to speak, and Norma Rodriguez-Reyes — publisher of La Voz Hispana and chair of the Online Journalism Project, which publishes the New Haven Independent — stood to address the board.
“I come here asking you to please approve the application because I personally know Adriana and she owns My Little Colombia restaurant, and it’s a great restaurant,” Rodriguez-Reyes said. “The people who go there don’t cause any kind of problems or issues. They’re very kind people. They do a very good job.” Because of that, she “strongly recommend[ed]” the board’s approval.
The board then voted in favor of the special exception, granting Rocket Cafe permission to sell liquor, beer, and wine on its premises. After the meeting, Orozco said that she’s not sure when Rocket Cafe will be able to open, as she’s still waiting for a license from the Health Department. She’s hoping for the upcoming weekend.
The Independent first reported in September on Rocket Cafe’s plans to open, after the restaurant put up its purple sign outside of 883 Whalley Ave., at the site of the former Westville Emesa pizza restaurant. The four-unit retail building in Westville has been owned by Friends Center for Children since 2022, when the early childhood education nonprofit bought the property, along with an adjacent office building at 881 Whalley, from an affiliate of Ocean Management.
In September, Orozco and Rua said that they were drawn to the empty Westville storefront due to its positioning along a commercial corridor, as well as its proximity to Southern Connecticut State University.
Norma Rodriguez-Reyes testified before the BZA about the owners of Rocket Cafe: “They’re very kind people.”
Inside a still-underway Rocket Cafe back in September.
Students in Claire Priest’s property law class at Yale Law School make for a bigger crowd than usual, due to a course requirement that they attend a BZA meeting.