Seahorse Restaurant Could Reopen By April

The Seahorse, a popular pub and restaurant that was sold last month as part of a foreclosure, has been purchased by the owner of Spicer’s Marina in Noank and could reopen by April, the new owner said.

Bill Spicer, owner of Spicer’s Marina, said he bought the restaurant in late January or early February because he felt “it was the right thing to do.”

“Everybody loves the Seahorse,” Spicer said. “And it wants to stay relatively similar to what it has always been.” He said the business could re-open sometime in April.

The restaurant at 65 Marsh Road that served generations closed in January. CIT Small Business Lending Corporation, of Delaware, filed a complaint last May against Sader Realty, LLC, Seahorse, Inc., and Robert Sader of Westbrook, saying the property’s mortgages were in default.

A New London Superior Court Judge granted an order of foreclosure and ordered it turned over to creditors.

Spicer declined comment on the condition of the restaurant when he took it over, but said a lot of cleaning has already been done. “We’ve made a lot of progress,” he said.

Thomas Tsagarakis, who owns Zack’s Bar & Grille in Stonington, said Spicer approached him about running the Seahorse. The two have known each other for 20 years, Tsagarakis said.

“I plan on keeping it very simple,” he said. “It’s going to be a restaurant for the boaters, and people in Noank, Groton Long Point and Old Mystic.” The Seahorse has a bar on one side and restaurant on the other; the bar would serve simple pub fare, he said. Tsagarakis said he has not decided on the restaurant menu yet.

“You’d be amazed at the progress that’s already been made there already,” he said.

“What we’re concerned about is not what took place in the past. But what we’re going to do here in the future.”