If you've driven Sullivan Avenue in South Windsor any time this year, you've seen the same three storefronts sit behind paper-covered windows for months, then wondered which ones actually opened while you weren't looking. Local write-ups reflect the status at the time they were published: a midwinter post said a coffee shop would open "in February," and a summer post described a taco spot as "under construction." Sullivan Avenue has kept moving since.
Here's where the street actually stands as of late September 2026. For the two pending projects, see Patch's report on the September 21 Town Council meeting.
What's Actually Open on Sullivan Avenue Right Now
| Business | Address | Status as of late September 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Three Amigos Mexican Taqueria | 944 Sullivan Ave | Open since March 20, 2026 |
| The Wicked Press | 948 Sullivan Ave | Open since April 18, 2026 |
| Benson's Bagels | 1014 Sullivan Ave | Cleared its health department walkthrough, awaiting final pre-operation inspection |
| Sally's Apizza | 5 Cedar Ave | Building permit issued, interior construction expected to start mid-September or October |
Three Amigos and The Wicked Press are the two that most lingering "coming soon" write-ups still haven't caught up to. Three Amigos has been serving tacos, burritos and churros at 944 Sullivan Ave since its grand opening on March 20. Two doors down at 948 Sullivan Ave, The Wicked Press opened as a combination bookstore and coffee shop on April 18. Both have now been operating for six and five months respectively, long enough to build a regular lunch crowd and a stack of online reviews.
Benson's Bagels and Sally's Apizza are the ones actually still pending, and the gap between them is worth understanding if you're timing a coffee run or a pizza night around either one.
How the Timeline Got This Confused
The confusion isn't really anyone's fault. A story written in January accurately said Three Amigos was still under construction, because it was. Three Amigos then opened in March, and posts written before that date still describe the earlier status. That's the nature of local business coverage: once a story is published, it stays exactly as accurate as the day it was filed, whether or not the underlying reality moved on. A search for "new restaurants South Windsor" can surface posts written months earlier, so checking the publish date helps put their information in context.
If you're planning an evening around what's open on Sullivan Avenue, check the publish date: a post about Three Amigos or The Wicked Press written before those businesses opened in 2026 may reflect an earlier status.
The Two Still Waiting on Their Turn
Benson's Bagels is the closer of the two. According to a report presented at the September 21 Town Council meeting, the South Windsor Health Department has already walked through the space at 1014 Sullivan Ave and cleared the owner to start bringing food into the building. What's left is a final pre-operation inspection from town staff, which is typically the last procedural step before a restaurant can open its doors. This will be the chain's third location overall and its second in Connecticut, joining an existing spot on Enfield Street, and it sits close enough to the other new openings that a resident could realistically walk Benson's, The Wicked Press and Three Amigos in a single loop once it opens.
Sally's Apizza has a longer runway. The building at 5 Cedar Ave, a shell structure near Chipotle and Starbucks inside the Evergreen Walk development, has been sitting finished but empty for a while now. A building permit is already issued, and the same September 21 town report puts interior construction starting sometime between mid-September and October. No opening date has been announced yet, which tracks with a company that's currently mid-expansion on a much bigger scale than one South Windsor location. Sally's posted plans late last year outlining a goal of 255 locations across 12 states, with South Windsor named alongside newly announced spots in Norwalk, Boston Seaport, Newington, Cranston, Foxwoods and several others. For a South Windsor resident, that context matters less for timing and more for expectation: this isn't a single local operator opening at their own pace, it's one storefront in a chain's much larger rollout, which is often a slower and less predictable process than a standalone restaurant getting its interior finished.
The Corridor That Didn't Wait for Any of This
What makes Sullivan Avenue worth paying attention to isn't just the storefront turnover. It's what's been running the whole time a few minutes away, unaffected by any of it. Bordua Farms on Main Street is still doing CSA pickups and pick-your-own flowers. Jones' Farm on Avery Street is still selling sweet corn by the dozen. Petersen's is still open. The Saturday market at 220 Nevers Road is still drawing a crowd before the day heats up. None of that depended on a health inspector's schedule or a chain's national rollout plan.
That combination, working retail turning over fast on one end of town while working farms hold steady scale on the other, is unusual for a Hartford County suburb, and it's the actual story underneath the restaurant news. Sullivan Avenue isn't replacing anything. It's building a second spine to complement Evergreen Walk, where Red Heat Tavern and Burtons Grill have both rolled out seasonal fall menus this October, everything from Halloween-themed cocktails to new seasonal dishes. A resident now has a real choice between two ends of town on any given night, something that wasn't true a year ago.
If you're planning an actual Sullivan Avenue errand run this fall, the honest version looks like this: coffee and a bagel at The Wicked Press or Three Amigos for lunch are both live options today. Benson's is close enough that it's worth checking before you default to the Enfield location out of habit. Sally's is the one to be patient about, since neither the town's report nor the company's own site has put a date on it yet.
For more on what's changed in South Windsor beyond the restaurant scene, our neighborhood coverage offers more local context. If a move to South Windsor is somewhere on your horizon and you'd like a read on how a specific street or neighborhood is holding up, Burke Moves is always glad to talk it through.
