Birdie & The Barrel is open at the Simsbury Farms Municipal Golf Course, 100 Old Farms Road, and it's open to the public, not just golfers. Town officials announced the opening this week. The operators are the Pasquariello and Brown families, who have run Cracker Barrel Pub in Tariffville for years; Denise Pasquariello is the new restaurant's general manager. The Board of Selectmen awarded them a five-year lease in March after a competitive selection process, and Town Manager Marc Nelson said the team's local experience was a key factor in the decision.
The operators renovated the indoor and outdoor dining areas — new seating, a bar, updated lighting, televisions — and the patio looks out over the Farmington Valley. Tom Tyburski, the town's Culture, Parks and Recreation director, framed it plainly: golfers, pickleball players, and pool-goers can now stay and eat instead of leaving the complex.
Here's the channel worth noticing: a town-owned facility went out to bid, picked an established Valley restaurant family, and handed them a five-year lease with built-in foot traffic from the golf course, pickleball courts, and pool. For a restaurateur with a track record, municipal concession work is a quieter expansion path than competing on Route 44 rents — the traffic is guaranteed, the customer is captive, and the landlord is the town. Watch whether other Valley towns start treating their rec facilities the same way.