AGAWAM – The Hangar Pub and Grill, known for their wings and atmosphere, has expanded to a new town and opened its doors in Agawam.

Area manager Caleb Ritter told Reminder Publishing the Agawam location marks the fifth Hangar restaurant in Western Massachusetts. Ritter described The Hangar as “a pub–style menu.”

“We opened in 1999 in Amherst, our original location,” he explained. “We specialize in wings and pub food. We also specialize in craft brewing.” He noted The Hangar owner, Harold Tramazzo, also owns Amherst Brewing.

Ritter said Agawam was chosen as the location for the newest Hangar for a variety of reasons, including its “proximity from amusement parks and proximity to Springfield.” Additionally, he said, “We found out the building was available and thought it was something that could become a home.”

Getting ready to open the restaurant took about six months total, Ritter said. To prepare for the opening of the Agawam location, he said, “We trained our staff out of the Westfield store, we redid a lot of things people have noticed in the building structurally and cosmetically, made it look like one of ours.”

Inside, Ritter said there is a gaming area, complete with “a couple of pool tables.” He added there is also a variety of TVs where local and national sporting events are featured.

The restaurant began hosting “neighborhood soft openings” for abutters of the restaurant, police and fire departments on Feb. 11 and 12, and officially opened its doors to the public on Feb. 13, Ritter said.

He noted during the soft openings, “We purposefully didn’t invite a ton of people.” This, he said was to ensure, “we were able to run the systems without overwhelming them.”

During the soft openings, Ritter noted, “We found a few things we needed to do a quick correction on,” but added “it happens” when a new location is opened.

He noted while the restaurant “hadn’t done any official announcement” about opening their doors yet because they “want to get things right,” they were open and serving customers.

“We’re excited to bring our business and our atmosphere to Agawam,” he said. “We’re excited to be here and hope people come visit us.”

The Hangar Pub and Grill is located at 395 River Rd. in Agawam. The Hangar is open from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays and 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesdays to Sundays.