ANSONIA – A Peruvian restaurant with locations in New Haven and Bridgeport plans to expand with a new location in Ansonia’s ‘Restaurant Row.’
Icaru, which opened its first location in 2023, plans to open at 252 Main St. in Ansonia, directly across the street from city hall.
There is no official opening date yet.
Jose Diaz, the restaurant’s owner alongside his younger brother Pedro, said the restaurant will have Peruvian offerings similar to its other locations, including chaufa (fried rice) and tallarín (stir fry).
Diaz said he’s in the final stages of getting the building ready and expects it to be open in the next few weeks.
The restaurant will offer both take-out and dine-in options, according to a statement of use on file at city hall. It will be open seven days a week, with Monday-Friday hours of 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (weekend hours were not listed in the statement).
Diaz said he dreamed of owning his own restaurant since coming to the United States from Ica, a city in southwestern Peru from which the restaurant gets its name.
He worked as a chef at locations including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and Yale-New Haven Hospital while pursuing a culinary arts degree, he said.
He put his brother Pedro through culinary school and the two opened the first Icaru location together three years ago.
“I was always dreaming to get my own place, so I got to get it with my brother,” Jose Diaz said.
Click here for a previous interview with Diaz from the New Haven Independent.
In Ansonia, the restaurant will join a Main Street which has been revitalized over the last two decades. Main Street once sat mostly vacant, but now includes restaurants with cuisines ranging from Italian, to Spanish, to Thai, to Chinese, and everything in between.
You can view Icaru’s menu and more information on their website. The business is also active on Instagram under the handle @icarunhct.