Arthur’s Café Opens In Hawleyville

By Kaaren Valenta

In 1978, Arthur Hillario opened Newtown’s first convenience store at his gasoline service station at 133 Mt Pleasant Road (Route 6). This month Mr Hillario opened a new restaurant, Arthur’s Café, next door.

Long known as Mauro’s Café, the restaurant closed two years ago when Mr Hillario bought the property. He soon embarked on an extensive renovation, inside and out. Trained as a stone mason, he had the skills to do much of the work himself.

“I was born in New Bedford, Mass., but when I was four years old my father took our family to Portugal because he couldn’t find work during the Depression,” Mr Hillario explained. “We came back to the United States in 1946 when I was 19. The first thing I did was to learn a trade to become somebody. I went to trade school because I wanted to have a skill.”

Mr Hillario eventually became a contractor, building homes throughout the area. When he bought the gas station in 1975 it was just two pumps and an old garage, which he renovated, and then added a towing business, now operated by his son, Paul.

“My wife, Silbina, does all the books for the businesses – she’s the brains of the business, a very smart lady,” Mr Hillario said. She was not pleased, however, when he decided to buy the property next door; at his age most men are retired, doing less work, not more. But Arthur Hillario, 74, was never one to avoid a challenge.

“I wanted to buy and remodel it – I wanted it to have a new image,” he said. “I want it to be a place where people would come, convinced that they would get good food at a reasonable price.”

With that in mind, he tore out the interior of the building, stripping it to the bare walls. He laid the ceramic tile floors himself, and did all the exterior brickwork on the building. He hired a local carpenter, Chad Tani of C. Tani Construction Co., to put in paneling and a custom-made oak bar. “He does beautiful carpentry,” Mr Hillario noted.

The next step was to gut the kitchen and install all new stainless steel equipment and a huge walk-in chiller/freezer.

“I spent $105,000 in just the kitchen,” he admitted, “about $250,000 in all because I even black-topped the whole parking lot and brought in 400 amp service so I needed an extra pole and underground wiring. But I wanted to do it right.”

Doing it right also means an appealing menu. There will be Sunday specials like pork tenderloin medallions sautéed in a wine sauce ($12.95); chicken with broccoli and mushrooms over ziti ($11.95); and broccoli/garlic/chicken pizza ($9.95).

The regular dinner menu ranges from spaghetti ($7.95) to grilled swordfish and shrimp scampi ($14.95), and includes traditional Italian favorites like eggplant parmigiana and stuffed shells ($9.95), as well as a half-dozen chicken dishes ($10.95-$12.95), veal marsala ($13.95), and sole almondine or Francese ($13.95). All dinners include a small salad, vegetable, and choice of pasta, potato, or rice.

There is a choice of appetizers, plus salads (house, chef, Caesar, and grilled chicken Caesar) in small and large sizes. “I have a cook who makes beautiful salads,” Mr Hillario said. “I think people will really enjoy them.”

For lunches and lighter dinners, there are sandwiches and grinders ($2.25-$4.95), some served with fries. The café also offers half-dozen pizzas in three sizes, including Arthur’s Special Pizza with sausage, peppers and linguica. Desserts, $1.95 to $3.25, include apple or blueberry pie al la mode, cheesecake and chocolate cake.

“We will be running specials each week, like a dollar off a small pizza. People like to get a bargain,” Mr Hillario said. “But they also like fresh food. And that’s what we will have. I want everything to be made fresh daily, not prepared ahead and reheated.”

Arthur’s Café is open for lunch and dinner Monday through Thursday from 11 am to 9 pm; Friday and Saturday until 10 pm, and Sunday from 2 to 8 pm. For more information call 426-2224.