BJ Ryan's East Plans February Opening, Will Keep Beloved Pizza

NORWALK, CT — As work continues on both the interior and exterior of BJ Ryan's East, a new eatery opening in the former Partner's Cafe & Pizzeria building in East Norwalk, owner BJ Lawless said the restaurant is still on track to open its doors this month.

While speaking inside the under construction restaurant last week, Lawless said opening in time for the weekend of Feb. 13, Super Bowl weekend, was always the goal and is still the plan.

"It has gone really quickly and we did not run into any supply issues," Lawless said. "It's gone as smoothly as we could've hoped for."

It will mark the opening of BJ Ryan's third location in town, joining a lineup that includes the original BJ Ryan's restaurant on Main Street and a separate seafood eatery, BJ Ryan's Banc House, on River Street.

In December, the Spinola family announced they would be selling Partner's Cafe, located on the corner of First Street and Cove Avenue, to BJ Ryan's after nearly 40 years in business.

"We've spent the last four decades building a business we are proud of by doing what we love most, making others happy," the family's Dec. 13 post reads. "The decision to sell did not come lightly and weighed heavy on our hearts. We are honored to have been part of the Norwalk community and the rich history of East Norwalk for so long. For this we have no one to thank other than our loyal customers who have become family over many years of service."

In announcing BJ Ryan's East, the restaurant's team pledged to maintain the family-friendly neighborhood restaurant and bar scene that preceded them at the long-standing pizzeria while bringing their own modernized pub flare to the space.

While that remains true, Lawless noted he decided to go for a complete overhaul of the space, bringing familiar BJ Ryan's touches to the building's interior and exterior while, at the same time, offering those who loved Partner's some familiarity.

"There's going to be homages to what Partner's was and the people that were here for it," Lawless said.

For Lawless, taking over the space has been a somewhat full-circle moment, given that he previously worked at Partner's and met his wife, also an employee at the time, at the restaurant.

He also has known Debbie Spinola and her family for a long time, having met Spinola's eldest son, Nick, in fifth grade and grown up with him.

It was this long-standing relationship that convinced Lawless to take on the beloved East Norwalk location following discussions with Spinola.

"It was as smooth [a process] as it could be," Lawless said. "We were on the same page from start to finish. We kept their entire kitchen staff, which was a concern of Debbie's. We've known their whole kitchen staff as well, so we're happy to have them back."

According to Keith Torpey, the restaurant's vice president, keeping the kitchen staff was a key decision as some of them have been with the restaurant for over two decades.

For Lawless, what stood out about the space the most was its history, as well asits location being, in his opinion, one of the best in East Norwalk.

"It's an honor to take this spot," Lawless said. "I mean [being open for] 40 years, you just don't hear about that anymore. It's a great honor, and it was a wonderful thing to have Debbie trust us enough to keep going with it."

Torpey noted the location should be especially great during the spring and summer months when the area tends to fill up with people biking, walking their dogs and running along the streets.

"It's just a really fun, nice weather, beachy neighborhood," Torpey said. "This place has a lot of regulars, and they love this place. We wanted to build on what was already here."

One aspect of Partner's that Lawless and Torpey were more than happy to keep is their pizza, which has been a local favorite for decades. They also emphasized the pizza served at BJ Ryan's East will be made exactly the same way Partner's made it.

"It's Partner's pizza," Torpey said. "Same staff, same oven, same pizza. If anybody says it isn't, they're wrong, because it's literally going to be the same exact pizza."

In addition to keeping a lot of other favorite Partner's dishes, Lawless plans to add a number of new items to the menu.

"We're going to bring over some of the favorites from BJ Ryan's and Banc House," Lawless said, "and then we've got some new stuff that we think everybody's going to really love."

While BJ Ryan's East will have its own identity and be more in line with what those familiar with Lawless' other restaurants have come to love, he and Torpey hope keeping certain touches of what came before them will make the space's transition all the easier, especially for those who frequented Partner's for nearly four decades.

"A lot of their clientele have been our clientele, so it just made it a little easier," Lawless said. "I think it's going to be easier for people to accept that Partners is done, but there's a new entity that's going to be still familiar to them to come to."

Torpey summed up the pair's ambitions for the restaurant in an even more succinct way.

"We're ready for a new beginning."