Manchester Brewhouse Wants To Expand Patio At Landmark Building

MANCHESTER, CT — The new brewhouse in a landmark Manchester building is working on a more permanent outdoor dining layout while a temporary one is set up in its large larking lot.

Elicit Brewing this week submitted an application to a special exemption permit to expand its the patio. The restaurant is located at 169 Adams St. and an easement into No. 185 has been requested.

"We are very excited to have the expansion under way," said Elicit Brewing Assistant General Manager Amanda Fromerth of the application.

Director of Development Ellis Reilly added, "Putting a patio out back was always the plan, We wanted a real biergarten feel for part of our beer garden, The winter and COIVD19 set us back a bit but now we're pushing full steam ahead."

Reilly said the patio will be about 5,500 square feet with an additional bar with many of the same offerings — beer, wine and cocktails — but more focused on tiki/island/summer cocktails.

"We’ll have a mix of seating options — high-top standing tables, community tables, picnic tables, block seating, lounge seating, et al," Reilly said. "We have a stage going out there as well as some fire pits and the like. As far as the aesthetic goes, we're pulling some of the feel of the inside out onto the patio - so a sort of clean yet rustic industrial feel."

That's what Eli's Restaurant Group wanted when it fashioned Elicit Brewing Co. at the site of the old Adams Mill restaurant.

Elicit was then touted as "the younger, the younger, laid-back, and ever-so-slightly edgier sister restaurant of the Eli's Restaurant Group family.

The historic, 19th-century brick building once housed a paper mill and was, up until recently, the site of the Adams Mill Restaurant, a culinary landmark in Manchester.

In March of last y ear, after 37 years in business, Adams Mill owners Deb and Tony Scarpace said the April 28 brunch would be the last meal served at the old converted factory on Adams Street.

Elicit currently has temportary outdoor seating in it's parking lot.