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Date: 6/7/2022
SPRINGFIELD - The endless brunch offerings and creative cocktails of the Connecticut staple The Place 2 Be opened their new Springfield location on June 1.
The fourth Place 2 Be location, which marks the restaurant’s first expansion outside of Connecticut, will be a part of the Hall of Fame’s array of restaurant offerings at 1000 Hall of Fame Ave. The Place 2 Be joins Max’s Tavern, Cold Stone Creamery and Plan B Burger Bar in the museum’s plaza space as it replaces where Samuel’s Tap and Tavern formerly operated.
Founder and CEO of The Place 2 Be Gina Luari said the brand first opened in 2016. With three other locations in West Hartford, downtown Hartford and Hartford’s south end, Luari shared that the franchise garnered best brunch recognition from the Hartford Courant and the Connecticut Magazine over the years.
Luari detailed The Place 2 Be’s distinct place in the brunch sphere. “We have brunch all day, seven days a week and run our brunch into the late-night hours,” said Luari in an interview with Reminder Publishing.
The new location gears itself specifically to the neighboring Basketball Hall of Fame, including aesthetics that fit the basketball theme. Luari also hired a champion of Food Network’s Chopped TV series as the restaurant’s culinary director. The new hire will work to orchestrate an expansion of their late-night menu offerings.
Lauri expressed that the Springfield area marked a perfect place for expansion after looking through customer data. “That customer data showed a tremendous amount of people with a 413 area code, so that really got us interested in Springfield as an expansionary prospect,” said Luari.
The restaurant owner also highlighted the site’s proximity to the Basketball Hall of Fame as an appealing factor.
“We love the Basketball Hall of Fame because it’s super accessible off the highway. It’s such a landmark, and with it being our first space in Massachusetts, it’s much easier for people to find us. Connecticut everyone knows where we are, but we’re still new to this state, so I wanted it to be very accessible,” said Luari.
Reflecting on the restaurant’s latest opening, Luari said the process of opening the Springfield location was “difficult at times.” Coronavirus pandemic-based impacts caused a backlog on the ordering of materials, while the restaurant’s process of securing a liquor license was “probably the most difficult liquor license I’ve had to get,” according to Luari.
Luari said opening the restaurant outside of Connecticut brings a lot of excitement. “I’m so excited…It was a little intimidating at first, but even during our soft opening, we’ve received such an awesome response from people coming in. It just feels really good,” said Luari.
Luari also expects for the Springfield location to be the first of other new expansions for the brunch brand. “I am excited to expand further into Massachusetts,” said Luari.
Readers can learn more about The Place 2 Be at https://www.place2bect.com/.