UConn basketball coach Geno Auriemma announces plans to open restaurant in Storrs Center

UConn women's basketball head coach Geno Auriemma signs an autograph for a young fan at First Night. File photo by Vito J. Leo for HTNP Sports.

UConn women’s basketball head coach Geno Auriemma announced at a press conference this morning that he plans to open a restaurant in Storrs Center, now under construction on Route 195/Storrs Road adjacent to the University of Connecticut campus.

The 100-seat restaurant, to be called “Geno’s,” will be part of the first phase of the project, and plans are to have it open by late summer, according to its developers, Storrs Center Alliance, LLC, a subsidiary of LeylandAlliance LLC.

“Geno’s” will be the newest restaurant to be operated by Auriemma and his partners, who also own and operate “Geno’s Fast Break” at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.

“This is an incredible opportunity for us… Storrs Center feels like home.  We hope Geno’s will be loved by the Mansfield community and campus population, as well,” Auriemma said.

“With Mr. Auriemma’s national reputation in the collegiate sports world, opening Geno’s restaurant is a natural for Storrs Center… Geno’s will be a signature restaurant, and we expect it to become a major draw,” said Howard Kaufman, Managing Member of LeylandAlliance,.

Several other restaurants have signed letters of intent to become a part of this project, which is being developed in cooperation with the Mansfield Downtown Partnership, the Town of Mansfield and EdR, a real estate company.

President of the Mansfield Downtown Partnership, Philip Lodewick said, “The Partnership has been working tirelessly with master developer LeylandAlliance to create a vibrant, mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented downtown for Mansfield.  With Geno’s restaurant joining the list of national, regional and local businesses in Storrs Center, I believe we are closer to meeting the ambitious goals we have set.”

Storrs Center is a $200 million project to create a “downtown” in Mansfield that is pedestrian friendly and that will include a mix of shops, restaurants, offices, and residential units. Applications are already being accepted from the first apartments. For more information about the project, visit www.storrscenter.com

Posted April 10, 2012

Editor’s note: We are currently making security improvements to our Web site, and you may sometimes receive a message that the site is temporarily unavailable. We thank you for being patient.

Have a news item, event or Letter to the Editor you’d like posted on this news site? Simply send your information to editor@htnp.com and include your town in the subject line of your email. Please also include a phone number where you can be reached if there are questions. To keep up-to-date on local news, “like” us (HTNP News) on Facebook