Seahorse Restaurant Will Reopen June 22

The Seahorse, a popular pub and restaurant that was closed, turned over to creditors in a foreclosure, then bought by the owner of Spicer’s Marina, will reopen for business on June 22.

“It looks great,” said Bill Spicer, owner of Spicer’s Marina, who bought the Seahorse and remodeled it. “People are very excited about it."

The restaurant at 65 Marsh Road that served generations closed in January. CIT Small Business Lending Corporation, of Delaware, filed a complaint 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 then bought the restaurant and asked Thomas Tsagarakis, who owns Zack’s Bar & Grille in Stonington, to lease and run it. Remodeling began almost immediately.

“I said to him, my advice is to get a crane in here with a wrecking ball and take it down,” Tsagarakis said.

The inside was basically gutted and remodeled.

“There are only three things that are the same,” he said. “Lolly Stoddard’s mural on the back (painted in 1995), the bar is the same but with a new top, and the fish scales on the ceiling are still there. Everything else is brand new.”

The restaurant has new tables, booths, bathrooms, floors, a new kitchen and new appliances. Both bathrooms can also now be accessed without going through the bar.

Walls are painted ivory and taupe, and booths are blue cloth. The restaurant seats 141 - Tsagarakis took some seating away because he said he wanted the kitchen to be able to keep up with the demand.

“When we open up, we know we’re going to get crazy,” he said.

The menu will offer what used to be served at the Seahorse - foods like steak, seafood, lobster and fish and chips. The restaurant will be open from 11:30 a.m. until 10 p.m., seven days a week for food.

“It will be very, very popular,” Spicer said. “It always has been very popular when it was run right. And it will be run right.”