What was once a hole-in-the-wall biker bar in a small northwest corner town has evolved into a gathering place with popular food and plenty of atmosphere.
AJs Steak and Pizza began in the center of Goshen, when Mark Wasdo bought a small pizza restaurant and bar on Route 4. He named it AJs after his son, Josh, and daughter, Alicia, and ran the business at that location for 20 years.
“I ran a bar in Naugatuck in the 1990s, for 10 years, and then I moved to Florida,” Wasdo said. “I moved back here to Connecticut but I wanted to be more in the country. I saw this little pizza place with a bar, and the guy wanted to sell. So I bought it.”
Then, in 2016, Wasdo built a new restaurant at 171 Torrington Road/Goshen Road, just a few miles north on Route 4.
That new building transformed the little bar and pizza stop into a community steakhouse, where residents and visitors of all ages and walks of life come for lunch and dinner. The business is 30 years old.
“We’ve been here for 10 years, and it just gets better. More people find us, and we have the community to support us,” said Wasdo.
On a recent morning, he sat on the porch/patio of the restaurant, paying bills and making calls.
His son, Josh Wasdo, is the chef at AJs, while his daughter, Alicia Hedden takes care of the restaurant’s social media pages, promoting menus, specials and events. There’s karaoke, game nights and other activities that draw people for a night out.
Lynn Gundlach, a longtime employee who has worked for AJs for nearly 25 years, is the manager. She’s joined by staff members who have also been with the Wasdo family for many years.
“I started working here very young, and I was here for 22 years,” Gundlach said. “I left for a little while, and then I came back, and I’ve been the manager (for nearly three years).
“We have a close-knit community here in town,” she said. “And Mark won’t say it, but he gives back, tremendously. That’s what makes it so special; the community, and the family.”
The community, Mark Wasdo said, kept the business going during the COVID-19 pandemic, and returned in full force when the restrictions ended and doors opened again.
“It was tough,” said his daughter Alicia. “But we did crazy, family-style specials, whatever we could to get people in here.”
“Even when we reopened, we had all these restrictions,” Mark Wasdo remembered. “You had to come in one way and leave another way; you had to sit spaced apart. Some people complained, but most were happy to come and get takeout and keep supporting AJs. It was pretty incredible.”
Before the new restaurant building was constructed in 2016, the former AJs had a rough reputation.
“AJs was a biker bar, so it wasn’t always easy to get new customers to come in,” Gundlach said. “But Mark was passionate about giving back and worked hard to change that image. He donates to the schools, the PTO, the Boy and Girl Scouts, and the town recreation department. He does a lot for Goshen.”
Gundlach, who was 22 when she started out at AJs, has watched the restaurant grow and change.
“We still get a lot of bikers on the weekends,” she said. “But we have Mohawk Mountain (ski area) and Lime Rock… and all the venues that are around in surrounding towns. It’s a destination for people, or they drive by on the weekends and stop, maybe for the first time.”
What AJs also does is satisfy a lot of appetites, with a menu that’s always being scrutinized and updated, to ensure that customers are happy with what’s offered.
“Good food is hard to mess up, and Josh does a good job,” Mark Wasdo said. “We do a French dip sandwich, for example, but instead of plain au jus, we use French onion soup, and put the sandwich on a nice roll. And we use prime rib, which is just the best.”
Starters include nachos, loaded potato skins, wings and quesadillas, homemade soups and chips and other dishes. The lunch/dinner menu has steak, pork chops and chicken, soups, salads and big sandwiches with fries or onion rings.
Monday is burger night, followed by Tuesday steak night, with a variety of choices: ribeye, strip, steak tips or pork chops. Wednesday offers a seafood dinner, and Thursday is prime rib night. A regular menu of “mains” includes meatloaf, fish and chips, country fried steak and a fried clam strip platter.
“On Tuesdays lots of people come in for the steak special, and they’ve been coming for years,” Mark Wasdo said. “That’s always been very popular.”
The restaurant also offers a full pizza menu, with a variety of toppings and specialty pies, like the “Local Guy Pie” with sausage and caramelized onions, and the house special, with lots of meat and vegetables.
Mike and Donna, a couple from New Hartford, hadn’t been to AJs in a year. But they were hungry, and knew they were in the right place.
“We do love the atmosphere here,” said Mike. “We came to a karaoke night and we had a really good time.”
Tourism in the Litchfield Hills is great for business, said Josh Wasdo. At 33, he has worked in the kitchen for 17 years.
“Action Wildlife (animal park on Route 4 in Goshen) has brought in a lot of people,” he said. “We get a wide spectrum of people, because there’s something for everyone here, and everyone’s welcome. It’s pretty up here right now. The leaves are changing. We get families, bikers, kids, everybody.”
The outside of the restaurant resembles a big barn with a welcoming porch. Inside, the dining areas are spacious, with high ceilings, a wide bar with plenty of stools, multi-colored lighting and big screens to watch football and other sports, with tables for two or 12 or more.
Vaulted ceilings, pine-trimmed walls and other areas overlooking the dining rooms are filled with Mark Wasdo’s own belongings, reflecting his life, past and present.
His own Harley Davidson is perched high above the bar, a salute to his riding days. There are signs, old tools, hunting memorabilia and family heirlooms and knick-knacks.
“The collection is a good perspective on who Mark is,” said Gunlach, a U.S. Army veteran. “He’s one of the most creative people I’ve ever met. He designed the new restaurant himself.”
Daughter Alicia Hedden works at Mohawk Mountain, then heads to AJ’s for a shift. “I come from one great place and go to another, and I like it,” she said.
“I think people like AJs because of the place, the patio, the food, the fair prices,” Hedden said.
“Our fantastic specials bring people in, and in the wintertime, we get lots of skiers, because Mohawk Mountain doesn’t have a bar. They all come here,” she said.
“It’s the atmosphere,” said Josh Wasdo. “Customers like it, and the employees like it. They’re always happy.”
AJs Steak and Pizza is located at 171 Torrington Road/Route 4, Goshen. Visit
ajssteakandpizza.com/, or find them on Facebook or Instagram. To reach AJs, call 860- 491-4733.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct that Gundlach is the veteran.