Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • January 13, 2020 • Hartford Business Journal 9 to a partner of The Half Door pub in Hartford in 1998. Hamlin, 51, also served as a busboy, cook and kitchen manager for a va- riety of restaurant chains in Greater Hartford and broke into the mort- gage business in the late 1990s. At that time, Barnett and his wife, then his fiance, actually lived in a multifamily house Hamlin built in New Britain around 2000. Hamlin and his now wife also lived there. HRG began to form around that time with founding part- ners Barnett and Quijano, who met at CCSU, and Hamlin and McA- voy. The partners in 2002 acquired several buildings that included The Keg, a popular Italian-American family restaurant located on Hartford's Sisson and Capitol avenues. There, the first Wood-n-Tap was born. Wood-n-Tap locations vary depending on where you're din- ing. Some restaurants are in free- standing buildings (Vernon), while others are in large shopping centers (Newington). HRG owns about half the real estate it occupies. But all restaurants largely offer a similar experience with reason- ably priced pub food, party rooms, outdoor patio seating and food, des- serts and dressings all made on-site. Wood-n-Tap has also developed a major takeout and delivery business — one that drew over 14,300 Uber Eats orders at its Hartford loca- tion in 2019. "I think we do a good job at not being just a casual-dining restaurant but a little more upscale, but still offer a value- driven price," he said. "All of our food is made in-house. Some of our restaurants don't even have a freezer." That recipe fueled the Wood-n- Tap franchise during the fallout of the 2008-2010 Great Recession that wiped out many restaurants across the state. Wood-n-Tap sales sunk roughly 10 percent in the two years follow- ing the housing-market crash, but it survived and grew, Hamlin said, because HRG already had money banked away. "You could see it coming, but it came fast," he said. "When you have debt payments, and you lose your profitabil- ity, then it really started to become a big issue for a lot of companies." Creating jobs, min. wage impact In the restaurant industry, Barnett and Hamlin believe developing talent- ed and reliable staff is key to building a successful business. That's why the partners are keen on promoting staff internally. Several employees have worked for the organization from its inception, starting at entry-level positions and ascending to front-office roles. For example, HRG's current chief financial officer got her start as a server during Wood-n-Tap's founding in 2002. "Our goal is to make sure that our employees are well taken care of," Hamlin said. "In an industry with sig- nificant turnover, we think we have had good success keeping people." Meantime, Connecticut's recently adopted minimum-wage increase is largely a non-factor financially for the restaurant group. Approxi- mately 10 percent of its workforce, or about 70 of 700 people, earn the state's minimum wage, which will reach $15 per hour in July 2022. (There's an exception for employees who work for tips, including res- taurant staff and bartenders, whose wages are frozen at $6.38 and $8.23 per hour, respectively.) "I think a higher minimum wage is a good thing, because those people can afford to spend more money in the economy and go out to restaurants — and hopefully they come to ours," said Hamlin, adding that most of HRG's minimum-wage workers hold entry-level positions. HRG is also sharing its earnings. The restaurant group has fund- raised money and donated Wood-n- Tap gift cards worth millions of dol- lars to local charities, hospitals and nonprofit organizations through a variety of "Giveback Nights" where community members take home 15 percent of sales on any given day. Despite their waterfront investment in Farmington, the partners say they are still looking to evolve the business with new recipes and locations across Connecticut or elsewhere. The hope is that its growth narra- tive will continue for years to come. "Hopefully we will be telling every- one about our 50th-year anniversary in 32 years from now," Barnett said looking at Hamlin. "That would be pretty fun." Hartford Restaurant Group spent millions of dollars to renovate the former Apricots Restaurant in Farmington. The 3.3-acre property, sitting across the street from Farmington High School, is located along the Farmington River. Wood-n-Tap locations Hartford: 99 Sisson Ave. Farmington: 1593 Farmington Ave. Southington: 420 Queen St. Rocky Hill: 12 Town Line Road Vernon: 236 Hartford Turnpike Orange: 311 Boston Post Road Wallingford: 970 North Colony Road Hamden: 2100 Dixwell Ave. Newington: 3375 Berlin Turnpike PHOTOS | CONTRIBUTED

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