NewHavenEats: Avro Kitchen & Bar replaces the Meatball House

(Mara Lavitt ó New Haven Register) February 12, 2014 New Haven The IPA mussels special: local IPA beer, mussels, hot cherry peppers, roasted garlic, finished with butter and white wine. Avro Kitchen & Bar. less (Mara Lavitt ó New Haven Register) February 12, 2014 New Haven The IPA mussels special: local IPA beer, mussels, hot cherry peppers, roasted garlic, finished with butter and white wine. Avro Kitchen ... more Photo: Journal Register Co. Photo: Journal Register Co. Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close NewHavenEats: Avro Kitchen & Bar replaces the Meatball House 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Truth be told, I really liked the New Haven Meatball House, which served delicious food at unbeatable prices. Open for lunch and dinner, the core dinner hours were packed with happy, satisfied patrons, but the location was just a wee bit too far for lunch to be that busy as well. Blink, you might have missed the transformation in early-February from the Meatball House into a dinnertime gastropub named for a World War II British airplane, Avro Kitchen & Bar. The meatballs have been upsized into full-fledged burgers, the sides still full-flavored, and the drinks creative in look, taste and name.

Owner Bob Potter has always been interested in aviation. Avro is a longtime British manufacturer of planes, with the Lancaster being its most famous, WW II heavy bomber. His Scottish father was in the Royal Air Force and trained in Avro planes during the War. When it was time to rethink the Meatball House, Potter chose a gastropub theme and then did a bit of private word association, connecting gastropub to pub to England to his interest in British warplanes. In honor of the Avro, there is a chalk rendition of the Lancaster on wall.

Read full blog post, view more photos at NewHavenEats.