Danbury Restaurant Latest Coronavirus Casualty

DANBURY, CT — A Danbury tapas bar is the latest coronavirus casualty.

Ibiza Tapas, a fixture at 93 Mill Plain Road for the past decade, will shutter permanently on Wednesday after nearly a year of declining revenue due to pandemic restrictions.

Co-owner Laura Arias said that her other restaurant, Ibiza Kitchen at 76 King Street in Chappaqua, New York, will remain in business and honor Ibiza Tapas gift cards.

"Our sales dropped at least 75 percent," said Arias, a native of Columbia. When the restaurant was allowed to reopen for outside dining, it simply did not have enough space to make it work, she said. The establishment came close to making a comeback when coronavirus restraints were loosened and she was allowed to fill her dining room up to 75 percent. The death knell sounded when regulations were ratcheted back to 50 percent.

"Ibiza Tapas was never a place for takeout," Arias told Patch. Ambiance was a key component of the restaurant's success, she explained, and most of the dishes on the menu simply did not travel well enough to make a takeout business viable.

She said her Chappaqua location, open for just two years, remains afloat because her landlord is helping with the rent. Ibiza Kitchen also has a large patio — three times the size of its counterpart in Danbury — to accommodate outdoor dining.

Arias, who operates the restaurants with her husband, has also debuted a new venture, Spain At Home. The online store offers specialty foods from Spain, including quince paste, flan and stuffed piquillo peppers. Local delivery in Danbury, as well as curbside pickup at Ibiza Kitchen and domestic and international shipping, is available.

"I was able to create all these good relationships with my vendors for products from Spain," Arias said. She is reasoning she can leverage those relationships, and a loyal clientele from two restaurants, into an online business.