Little Pub, Hotel Prepare For Stratford Opening

STRATFORD, CT — Stratford's mayor hopes the new restaurant-hotel combination expected to open within the next few months on Long Island Sound will be a destination for both its neighbors in the Lordship area and the broader town community.

Mayor Laura Hoydick and other officials gathered Tuesday for a groundbreaking at the former Marnick's and Rodeway Inn property, which will soon be home to a Little Pub restaurant and a waterfront hotel tentatively named The Surfside.

"We wanted to be in Stratford for a long time," said Doug Grabe, who co-owns Little Pub with his wife, Daneen Grabe.

Doug and Daneen hope to fill the void left when Marnick's closed about a year ago, specifically with regards to the casual eatery's popular breakfasts and ice cream. Unlike the other four Little Pub locations, the Stratford restaurant will serve breakfast. The Grabes also plan to sell ice cream from a retrofitted 1950s trailer outside the restaurant.

Inside, the pub will feature a bar that was handmade out of a boat as well as high tops and booths overlooking beach views. Diners can expect to find Little Pub standards such as burgers and mac and cheese on the menu, but those dishes will appear alongside more seafood than is offered at other locations.

Doug's sister, Laura Grabe, is designing the 29-room hotel and said no two rooms in the space are the same. Doug has said he and Daneen want the hotel to offer an atmosphere similar to Montauk or Martha's Vineyard at a mid-tier price point that will provide inland Connecticut residents with the option to take a beach getaway without leaving the state.

The two businesses at 10 Washington Parkway will create a combined 40 jobs, Doug said, with most positions in the restaurant.

The Grabes hope to open the restaurant by the end of August and the hotel in late September. The new businesses represent a rebirth for Stratford, said Hoydick, who added that Stratford has the largest number of waterfront restaurants in Connecticut.

"I'm thrilled that they're opening," she said.