Former Hartford restaurant still owes on a seven year tab.
The Savannah Restaurant used to be Hartford’s premier African-American restaurant, snug at the corner of Main and Capitol. But the place couldn’t make it, shuttering its doors in the fall of 2001. Owners Winnie Johnson and Cyril Burke took out several loans from area economic development funds, and when it closed, Hartford Courant gadfly Pat Semeret quoted those lenders praising Johnson, testifying to how much effort and sweat she pored into the place.Fast forward three and a half years. The Savannah Group LLC and Burke still owe the Hartford Economic Development Corporation over $28,000 on a $30,000 note. Apparently no longer content with platitudes, HEDCO filed a collection action in Superior Court yesterday.