Camila Perez, Contributing Photographer

New signs at 290 York Street signal the opening of “Glaze and Grind” in the storefront formerly occupied by Donut Crazy, which closed in the spring after its license was suspended for violating sales tax regulations.

The Donut Crazy storefront in New Haven was opened in 2016 by owner Jason Wojnarowski and shuttered this past March by the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services. The company has also closed its four other locations across Connecticut after a series of evictions. 

Despite similarities between Donut Crazy and the new company, Glaze and Grind — including two shared locations and similar menus — managers at Glaze and Grind stressed that the new shop is an entirely separate venture. Donut Crazy owner Wojnarowski was present at the location, helping set up Glaze and Grind, on at least two days last week.

Jimmy Lyons, one of Glaze and Grind’s main operators, described the company as a newly established Connecticut-based business created by a team of six professionals in the restaurant industry.

“We’re pretty much just joining forces, putting a team of Avengers together in the industry and trying to come up with something interesting and unique,” Lyons said. “It’s a totally new company comprised of existing owners and operators of other companies.”

Lyons and several of his partners, including Mauro Tropeano, Marc Goldberg, Jason Garelick, Joe Grosso and Howard Saffan, each bring experience from their respective business ventures. Lyons is the owner of North Fork Doughnut Company on Long Island and co-founded Grounds Donut House in Danbury with Tropeano.

After the closure of Donut Crazy, Lyons and Tropeano saw the vacated storefronts as well-suited for Glaze and Grind.

“We saw the opportunity with the old Donut Crazy spaces and we thought this would be a perfect fit for us to launch our brand where we wouldn’t have too much overhead,” Lyons said.

Lyons emphasized that there would be no crossover between the Donut Crazy and Glaze and Grind staff. Yet some of the current staff have connections to the previous business.

“As far as any sort of leadership that was at the helm of Donut Crazy, there’s no throughline there whatsoever,” he said. “Anybody that’s in an equity or ownership or partnership position in Glaze and Grind has nothing to do with Donut Crazy.”

Saffan, one of the operators of Glaze and Grind, also owns the Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater, which has partnered with and promoted Donut Crazy. Additionally, Saffan’s real estate company, Bishop Development III, LLC, served as the landlord for Donut Crazy’s Shelton, Conn., location. A 2025 lawsuit filed by Bishop against Donut Crazy owner Wojnarowski alleges the tenant’s failure to pay rent.

Grosso, one of the owners of Glaze and Grind who oversees construction, told the News that he joined the project through Saffan.

The News spoke with Wojnarowski at the York Street site last week. He identified himself as “Jason Wojo,” and said he was assisting Glaze and Grind with construction and design. Wojnarowski added that no one working at Glaze and Grind had worked for Donut Crazy in the past. He did not comment on the closure of Donut Crazy.

“We are just starting to put the finishing touches on. We kept the layout, but it’s all new art and paint,” Wojnarowski said of the construction process.

Both Grosso and Lyons said Wojnarowski’s involvement would be limited to transitional and consulting responsibilities.

“Jason has no equity or stake or partnership in the new company at all,” Lyons said. “It was more just involvement on the end of taking over the leases and transitioning us into the new spaces. He helped with a little bit of design because he had a creative background.”

Lyons added that Glaze and Grind has taken some of Wojnarowski’s guidance during the process.

“We took a couple pages from his book on what worked for Donut Crazy and what we think would work moving forward.”

Lyons emphasized that Glaze and Grind is beginning with a clean slate.