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    Sunday, May 12, 2024

    Mohegans' first Arooga's franchise to open March 15

    Mohegan — The Mohegan Tribe made more restaurant news Friday, announcing its Arooga’s Grille House & Sports Bar will debut next month on reservation land at 32 Sandy Desert Road.

    The 9,000-square-foot restaurant — the first of 15 Arooga’s franchises the tribe plans to open in New England over the next several years — will feature more than 100 TV screens, an all-season dining patio with fire pits and stadium seating.

    And the first 100 guests will receive free wings for a year, according to Arooga’s opening statement.

    The restaurant will provide 125 jobs, more than previously estimated, the tribe said.

    “We’re not just opening another sports bar, we’re opening up the future of sports bars, and this is the best one in America,” said Gary Huether Jr., president and co-founder of the central Pennsylvania-based Arooga’s chain. “Our partnership with the Mohegan Tribe is a dream about to become a reality, and we are confident that this is going to blow away even the greatest expectations of our guests.”

    Gov. Dannel P. Malloy attended a groundbreaking ceremony last July at the restaurant construction site off Route 32, part of a Mohegan Sun employee parking lot.

    The Mohegans announced their franchising agreement with Arooga’s in the spring of 2014, and followed that up with a similar deal with Smashburger, a Denver-based restaurant chain. The tribe opened the first of as many as 16 Smashburger franchises last November in the Waterford Commons shopping center.

    Last week, the tribe announced a 10-franchise deal with Jersey Mike’s Subs, a New Jersey-based chain with more than 1,000 sandwich shops across the country. The tribe plans to open its first two Jersey Mike’s in as-yet-unspecified locations in a territory encompassing Rhode Island and the southern part of Massachusetts’ Worcester County.

    Arooga’s — the name comes from the sound a Model T car horn makes — will have seating for more than 300 people and will serve more than 40 beers on tap, including Connecticut-brewed craft beers. Patrons will be able to play bar games on tablets linking them to customers at bars across North America.

    “I’m tremendously excited to welcome this state-of-the-art restaurant experience for friends and family to Uncasville,” Kevin Brown, the Mohegan chairman, said.

    b.hallenbeck@theday.com

    Twitter: @bjhallenbeck

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