A new restaurant called Sei Bella has opened at 182 Main St. in downtown Bristol, in the space that was most recently home to Main Street Pint & Plate. The restaurant calls itself a “free-styling” Italian eatery, and its name translates to “you’re gorgeous” in Italian, according to a recent profile of the restaurant. After a soft opening last week to work out the kinks, Sei Bella opened to the public Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 4 p.m.
The Connecticut Scoop first reported the opening and identified the restaurant’s partners as Julien Garcia and Brenda Torres.
Italian at the core, with detours
Sei Bella’s menu takes classic Italian dishes as a starting point and lets the kitchen borrow from other cuisines. Garcia pointed to dishes such as Jamaican-style jerk oxtail served over mushroom risotto and short-rib rigatoni. However far the menu wanders, he said, “The core of it is always going to be Italian.”
Garcia also described Sei Bella as a “pan sauce restaurant,” meaning sauces are built to order in the pan rather than ladled from a pot. Cooks start by sautéing aromatics such as garlic, peppers and shallots, then add the remaining ingredients, a method he said intensifies the flavor. He said he chose the name because it sounded upscale and modern while still feeling approachable.
Starting late next week, the restaurant will be open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Sei Bella is also listed on Uber Eats for delivery.
A Main Street address with history
The building at 182 Main St. sits within Bristol’s Main Street Historic District, a stretch of the central business district built up in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The space has changed hands more than once in recent years. JR and Leanne Rusgrove opened Main Street Pint & Plate there in 2018 and sold it in 2024 to Rosendo Cruz-Perez and Jenny Santiago-Martinez, owners of Plaza Oaxaca Mexican Food and Grocery on Farmington Avenue, The Bristol Press reported. The gastropub later closed, clearing the way for Sei Bella.
Part of a bigger downtown shift
Sei Bella opens inside downtown Bristol’s state-designated Cultural District, which the Connecticut Office of the Arts approved in August 2022. State arts officials toured the district this spring after selecting Bristol as one of two pilot communities for “Ascend,” a new initiative to strengthen local arts economies, The Bristol Edition reported.
The opening also comes as the city nears the end of a downtown revitalization effort two decades in the making. On the former Bristol Square Mall site, now called Centre Square Village, Carrier Construction has been finishing 104 apartments in two mid-rise buildings along North Main Street, and Monterrey and Pure Foods have relocated there, according to a report syndicated on AOL. Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu said she expected the last open parcel to be the easiest to develop, given how well the rest of downtown had come together.
City leaders have long said sit-down restaurants are key to that plan. Economic development director Justin Malley said residents have asked for more dining options and that downtown will succeed if it offers a lot of variety, The Bristol Press reported. The city has also offered a $750,000 low-interest, partially forgivable loan program to help new downtown businesses, restaurants included, get started.
