Nataz restaurant moves to former downtown Southington pharmacy

By Jesse Buchanan Record-Journal staff

SOUTHINGTON Without fanfare, Nataz Restaurant moved from its 28 N. Main St. location in June to the renovated space next door that for decades was the home of Serafino Pharmacy.

Owner Rick McLain said it takes customers just one meal at Nataz to want to come back over and over again. He prefers word-ofmouth to other forms of marketing and only grudgingly put a restaurant sign over the new space.

“You come out to my restaurant, you will never go anywhere else,” McLain said. Even his enemies, the chef said, go to his restaurant. “They say, ‘I hate this guy but I love his food.’”

The new space is better laid out, McLain explained, and also lets him turn 28 N. Main St. into Nataz Bistro, a reservation-only eatery. McLain himself will be the only cook there, creating chef-driven or chef-inspired dishes for customers.

The bistro is his opportunity to cook for a small group of people, many of whom are locals he’s known for years.

“That’s me and my home town,” McLain said. “You come out, I feed you, guaranteed you’re going to be happy.”

Better space in former pharmacy

The 28 Main St. location is a former doctor’s office and had seating upstairs and downstairs. That was hard on wait staff, McLain said, who are much happier with the single-level dining in the pharmacy location.

Renovations to the pharmacy started in January and completed at the end of March. Ron Serafino, longtime owner of the pharmacy who retired two years ago, still owns the building as well as the one next door that will house Nataz Bistro.

“It’s gorgeous inside. Top to bottom, everything is new inside,” Serafino said.

He’s still nostalgic going into the space that he and his father called their pharmacy for more than 60 years. While eating, Serafino and his wife Nancy Serafino have See Nataz, A49