Hasna’s Grill/Basil Restaurant

The building located at 140-142 Howe St. pulls together the long history of urban development that characterizes New Haven, Connecticut. The building, although appearing barren and heavy with respect to modern tastes, tells an important story about New Haven’s evolution, both in terms of architectural style and diversity. 

           The late Italianate architecture has been updated with modern additions to its front façade and a colorful mirror along its south exterior that undulates over the first story windows. Its three stories of apartment style housing tell an important story of urban housing development and the conversion of its first floor into two restaurants both serving a variety of Asian cuisines over the years speak to the growing diversity of this New England City.

1916

-      140: Sehl Henry W

-      140: Smith Bessie

-      142: Beaumont Alice

-      142: Smith Walter J

1918

-      140: Eberlein John B

-      140: Sehl Henry W

-      140: Smith Bessie

-      142: Beaumont Alice M

-      142: Fay Eva Mrs

-      142: Smith Walter J

1923-1924

-      140: Rubano James M

-      140: Sweeney Robert E

-      142: Beaumont Alice V Mrs

-      142: Murnane Margaret Mrs

-      142: Smith Walter J

-      142: Walsh John J

1924-1925

-      140: Rubano James M

-      140: Sehl Henry W

-      142: Beaumont Alice V Mrs

-      142: Murnane Margaret Mrs

-      142: Smith Walter J

-      142: Walsh John J

1927

-      140: Bartlett Herbert H

-      140: Rubano James M

-      142: Keich George

-      142: Wood Marjorie Mrs

1976

-      140: The New China Restaurant

-      142: Lee Yin Hai Mrs Furn RMS

1980

-      140: The New China Restaurant

-      142: Lee Yin Hai Mrs Furn RMS

1989

-      140: Lee Kai

-      142: Lee Moon Fon

-      142: Rusconi Jane

-      142: Villaneda Jaime

1997

-      140: Lee Sik Fong

-      140: Royal India

-      140: Shrestha Ram N

-      142: Chen Yuanqiang

-      142: Lee Moon Fon

-      142: Liu Xiuming

-      142: Wang Xiaojing

-      142: Yang Liyan

The lot at 140-142 Howe Street has remained been relatively consistent over the years. A map of New Haven published by Collins and Clark in 1851 shows that that block of Howe Street was largely undeveloped at the time, despite a few small structures. The roads that outline the block however are in the same locations as they are today. The Sanborn Fire Maps show indicate that the block was slowly developed an that the structure that sits at this address today was the first to be built on this lot.

           140-142 Howe Street sits on the far end of the street, just before it runs into Whalley Avenue. Whalley Ave. is one of the main roads that radiate off from the original nine squares of downtown New Haven and connects the city to neighboring towns. Whalley juts off to the Northwest towards West Haven. As the city expanded beyond those original nine squares, the architectural and demographic diversity followed closely behind.  

Although the original owner(s) of the building are unknown, its structure and residential purpose have remained constant since its construction in 1885. The Sanborn Maps of 1886 suggests that the building has always been divided and that it served as an apartment building as early as 1930, if not before. The New Haven Online Assessment Database approximates that the Lee family purchased the property at 142 Howe St in 1985 and that at 140 Howe St in 1991. After immigrating to the U.S. from China, the Lee family opened and operated The New China Restaurant Until 2017. At this time, ownership of 140 Howe St changed from the Lee Family to 140 Howe Street LLC. The location has since seen a number of Asian restaurants including Royal India and Kamal Indian Cuisine. Today 140 Howe St hosts Hasna’s Grill, and at 142 Howe St sits Basil Restaurant.

The location has also seen a number of renters in its second and third floor apartments. The New Haven Directories have document residents of 140 and 142 Howe St since 1916, however ownership was not properly documented until the tax assessor’s records identified the Lee family as having purchased both units.

The identity that 140-142 Howe Street has adopted as the location of restaurants serving ethnic cuisine evidences the city’s evolution from its puritanical, New England origins to what is now a diverse and modernized urban space. 

The building located at140-142 Howe Street is estimated to have been built in 1885. The Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps indicate that the original structure, with its brick exterior and wood-frame porch, have remained consistent for more than a century of New Haven’s history. What have changed, however, are the surrounding buildings. This block of Howe Street used to be primarily residential but many of its buildings have since been converted to commercial structures. 140-142 Howe Street itself seems to have been converted from primarily flats, to a split residential/commercial structure with two restaurants occupying each side of its first floor since the mid 1900s.

Today, the split-purpose building provides a transition between the more commercial Whalley Ave and Broadway Shopping areas and the more residential section of central Howe Street.