"It's pedestrian friendly, and we're very excited about folks getting an opportunity to explore the storefronts," V20 Group managing partner Joe Vaccaro told CT Insider in September 2025, when Heights Crossing opened on the site of the former Noroton Heights Shopping Center.
Thirteen months later, the block at 320 to 450 Heights Road can feed you from 6:30 in the morning until 11 at night. No single tenant covers that whole span, though. Each food business holds its own part of the day, and the hand-offs between them decide what you can actually get at a given hour. Romanacci is the one storefront still to open, and its announced menu covers more of the day than any tenant already there.
How a Nine-Storefront Block Filled In
At the September 2025 opening, CT Insider reported that eight of the nine commercial storefronts were leased. The project had been proposed in 2017 under the Palmer family, longtime owners of Palmer's Market, and was put on hold until V20 Group bought the property in March 2023. The tenants named at the time were The Goddard School, Heights Wines & Spirits, Sharkey's Cuts for Kids, Raphaël's Bakery, Pvolve, Chipotle, Garden Catering and MilkShake Factory. The food tenants were the ones slated to open later.
The food side then opened one business at a time over about eight months:
- Raphaël's Bakery, 370 Heights Road. Patch covered the French-style bakery's opening in November 2025.
- Garden Catering, 320 Heights Road. It opened on November 17, 2025, according to CT Insider.
- Chipotle, 330 Heights Road. It opened on Tuesday, December 23, 2025, as Patch reported that day.
- MilkShake Factory, 410 Heights Road. It soft-opened in mid-April 2026, and Patch reported it open by May 4.
In March 2026, the ninth storefront went to Romanacci at 346 Heights Road. The leasing agent now lists the property as fully leased.
The Block by the Clock
Each of these businesses posts its hours on its own location page. Put side by side, the hours show how the day is divided up.
| Business | Address | What it serves | Posted hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garden Catering | 320 Heights Road | Hand-cut chicken nuggets, breakfast sandwiches, potato cones, fries, salads, milkshakes | Mon–Fri 6:30 a.m.–9 p.m.; Sat 7 a.m.–9 p.m.; Sun 8 a.m.–6 p.m. |
| Raphaël's Bakery | 370 Heights Road | French-style baked goods | Closed Mon; Tue–Sat 7 a.m.–4 p.m.; Sun 7 a.m.–2 p.m. |
| Chipotle Mexican Grill | 330 Heights Road | Burritos, bowls and the rest of the chain menu | Daily 10:45 a.m.–11 p.m. |
| MilkShake Factory | 410 Heights Road | Hand-spun milkshakes made with homemade ice cream, sundaes, premium chocolates | Daily noon–10 p.m. |
Garden Catering is the only food tenant that runs from breakfast into the evening, and on weekdays it opens half an hour before anyone else. From Tuesday through Saturday, Raphaël's opens at 7, and the two share the morning until Chipotle opens at 10:45. MilkShake Factory doesn't start serving until noon. By 4 p.m. the bakery is closed. After 9 p.m. on a weeknight, the block is down to milkshakes until 10 and Chipotle until 11.
Where the Gaps Fall
Those hand-offs leave some predictable holes once you know the posted hours.
- Monday mornings. Raphaël's is closed all day Monday, so before Chipotle opens at 10:45, Garden Catering is the only food tenant serving.
- Sunday afternoons. Raphaël's closes at 2 p.m. on Sundays and Garden Catering at 6 p.m. A Sunday dinner at Heights Crossing comes from Chipotle, with dessert from MilkShake Factory until 10.
- Tuesday through Saturday mornings. From 7 a.m. until 10:45, the choice is coffee and pastry at Raphaël's or a breakfast sandwich at Garden Catering. Anything more like lunch starts when Chipotle opens.
- After 10 p.m. Chipotle is the only food tenant open for the last hour of the day.
Across the four restaurants you can get nuggets, French pastries, burritos and sundaes, but no pizza and no Italian food. The ninth storefront is set to add both.
What Romanacci Brings to 346 Heights Road
When the lease was announced in March 2026, The Connecticut Scoop described the menu as coffee, panini, pizza, Italian favorites, Roman street food and pastries. The restaurant will take 2,570 square feet next to MilkShake Factory. Darien will be the sixth Romanacci, joining locations in Westport, at Westport's Compo Beach, in Trumbull, in Fairfield and in Norwalk. CT Insider covered the same announcement that month.
Coffee and pastries belong to the morning, which Raphaël's and Garden Catering cover today. Pizza and Italian dishes belong to the evening, which Chipotle and MilkShake Factory cover. Romanacci's announced menu reaches both ends of the day. Its hours haven't been published yet, so the timetable above stays as it is until the restaurant posts them.
The latest timing comes from the Ricci brothers' other businesses. Patch reported on September 30, 2026 that Graziano and Maurizio Ricci closed Old Mill Grocery & Deli on Hillspoint Road in Westport that week, after three years, as they prepared for Darien. Their restaurant on Railroad Place in Westport remains open, and the Darien location is scheduled to open this fall. No opening day has been announced.
"This took just under two and a half years," Vaccaro said of the build in CT Insider's opening coverage.
The Rest of the Block
The other storefronts keep their own schedules. Pvolve, at 326 Heights Road, offers bookable functional-weight-training and sculpt classes that work on strength, mobility and stability. Sharkey's Cuts for Kids, at 350 Heights Road, does children's haircuts and related salon services. Heights Wines & Spirits and The Goddard School complete the roster CT Insider listed at opening.
Dates on the Heights Road Calendar
The block's first anniversaries start soon. Garden Catering turns one on Tuesday, November 17. Chipotle reaches the one-year mark on December 23. If Romanacci opens on its fall schedule, the block will reach its first winter with every storefront open. The Saturday before Thanksgiving, November 21, also brings two holiday markets elsewhere in town. The Darien Nature Center Holiday Market runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the Pop Shop Holiday Market at Darien Commons runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A walkable block with a full slate of storefronts changes how buyers see the streets around it, and our photographs show that for the homes nearby. If you live within a short walk of Heights Road and want to know how the finished Heights Crossing affects what your home is worth, The Ken Banks Team would be glad to walk the block with you. Request Your Complimentary Home Valuation.
