Places to eat in Connecticut

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The Texas Roadhouse is our favorite place to eat in West Haven. The restaurant itself is rather large with multiple seating areas and well as a bar. The theme of course is Texas and you can see the Texas signs and accents all over the place. As soon as you enter there is a meat counter on the left hand side. You are able to choose your particular piece of meat or just order off the menu. The waitress escorts you to your table and leaves a bucket of salted peanuts in their shells and some delicious warm buns with honey butter on the table while you look over the menu.

The menu is full of great meat, BBQ and chicken dishes. It can take forever to decide what to eat from all the menu choices. The service here has always been good and the meals are incredibly delicious and large portioned. We've been here for lunch as well as dinner and always have a wonderful experience.

**On the weekend(nights) it can be a wait for a table but they keep you supplied with drinks and as much peanuts as you want to eat. Even on a busy night we didn't wait more than 20 minutes. We try to come here for lunch when there are no crowds especially if we are headed North on a roadtrip.**

Favorite Dish: The burgers here are incredible. The seasoned steak fries are unbelievable. The steak is outrageous and so are the ribs. Liz's favorite is the Dallas Filet which is tender and juicy. My favorite is the Texas Ribs; which are a huge portion and incredibly good. The side dishes are so good and it's hard to choose what side dishes you want with your meal. The drinks here are also very good and Liz loved their strawberry Dacquiris and jumbo Margaritas.

**Our favorite is definitely the warm buns with the honey butter. They are so soft and delicious...we go through a basket before we get our meal.**

Our most recent trip to the Roadhouse; we were in the mood for meat and were in the area shopping. As always those fresh warm rolls with honey butter were delicious. Liz had a Margarita with salt and I had an iced tea. The Margaritas here are huge...and Liz just adores them especially when the weather is warm outside. I had an iced tea...I was driving. Liz had the Dallas Filet with steak fries and baked beans. I had the 1/2 rack of ribs with applesauce and steak fries. The meat here is always good and I can honestly say I have never been dissapointed by the food quality of taste.

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Chips is hands down our favorite place to have a good pancake meal at any time of the day (they serve brekfast all day long). The restaurant is located right on Boston Post Road so it is an easy on off of I-95 to stop for a tasty meal;especially on one of our many roadtrips.

The menu here has a large selection of breakfast, lunch and dinner items but their main focus is their pancakes. The pancakes have been voted the Best of Connecticut for the past three years;so that has to tell you something plus the place is always jamming. We come here for the pancakes; we have never deviated from the pancake selection onto the other menu items.

The pancakes here are very light and fluffy; I could eat heaps. They have a variety of toppings,flavor and types of batter (whole wheat, sweat potato and buttermilk). Personally I enjoy the German Apple Pancakes and the Strawberry Pancakes. My wife on the other hand is more of a purist when it comes to her pancakes; prefering the simple stack of buttermilk pancakes or the Cinnamon Chip Pancakes. As for sides; there is hardly room for eating any hash browns, bacon and sausage after you've had pancakes but we have on occasion split an order of their tasty bacon.

My wife does not like the fake maple syrup that is prevalent in most pancake restaurants and thankfully their have real maple syrup available here for a charge of course. If the fake stuff is okay with you they have an assortment of flavors such as blueberry and strawberry syrups.

Basically, if you are a pancake fan...this is the place for you. Excellent pancakes and good service. I love this place!

**They have another location in Fairfield, CT as well.**

Favorite Dish: I've loved every pancake I have tried here. I would have to say the German Apple takes the top slot with the sliced apples cooked inside the pancakes, topped with cinnamon & powdered sugar, served with a raspberry puree sauce. The raspberry sauce is so good.

Pancakes here are a good price with a stack ranging between $6-$10 depending on toppings.

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The Steak Loft is a restaurant located right off og I-95 near the Mystik Village Shops. We were on a roadtrip headed North and growing quite hubgry for diner when we decided to stop off in Mystic. I had never been here before but my wife has eaten here previously; so I decided to try it out.

It was a Friday night and the parking lot looked jammed but we manged to find a spot right in front. Surprisingly the restaurant had no wait and is quite spacious with several dining areas as well as a huge bar. Our waitress seated us at a nice table for two in the second dining room.

As the name implies; the Steak Loft has a large selection of steak as well as seafood, chicken and other items. I was feeling like meat so I went with the filet with stuffed shrimp and a side of red mashed potato. Liz chose the Maryland Crabcakes and steak fries for her entree. We chose unsweetened ice teas as our beveregaes. All meals come with the unlimited salad bar; which to me was the best part of the meal. The sald bar has large iceberg wedges; quite nice along with assorted cold salads, breads and the usual salad fixings. I loved my iceberg wedge pilled with blue cheese, cucumbers, broccoli, bacon and croutons (which were rather good).

Our food arrived quickly and we dug in. My meat was very good; cooked perfectly to a medium rare. I wasn't overly thrilled by the exterior charring but it was good regardless. The shrimp stuffing was good but the shrimp itself were hard to eat due to they were still attached to their shell. My potatos were okay but I liked my wife's steak fries better and managed to steal a bunch from her plate. Liz enjoyed here crab cakes and upon tasting a bite I discovered how good they were for myself.

We manged to still have room for dessert and ordered a strawberry shortcake for me and an apple crisp for my wife. I loved my strawberry shortcake. The cake was moist, the strawberries were sweet and I loved the ice cream. Liz wasn't thriled with her crisp. It was overly sweet and had tons of rasins in it (what are raisins doing in a crisp?). She made due and just enjoyed the vanilla ice cream on top.

I must admit for a place smack in the middle of tourist central it had good food and service for a price that doesn't break the bank. I would definitely return here; probably not have the shrimp again but that salad bar was excellent.

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The Saybrook Fish House was a place that was recomended to us through various entities: our friend Carrie eats here with her family, Trip Advisor, and the hotel has listed this restuarant as a dining option. We came here for dinner after checking in to the Hampton In down the road. The restaurant looked rather small from the outside but inside it was quite large. There was a large bar area to the right upon entering. To the left were two large dining rooms. the restaurant looks like it has seen betetr days decor wise but it didn't matter to me as long as the food was good.

The hostess sat us proptly at a nice table for two in the corner by the window; got to love the people watching factor. There were several diners already enjoying dinner when we were seated. Our waiter Jim came over with water, bread and menus. He explained the specials and that all entrees come with salad,choice of fries, rice or baked potato and fruit bowl for dessert. The bread bowl was filled with rye, pumpernickel, whole wheat, white and bread sticks with buter. The bread was toasty warm and very fresh. hile we perused the menu, Jim brought us ver two carafes of unsweetened iced tea. That made my day; since we always drink plenty of tea with our dinner.

The menu has a nice selction of seafood, fish, salad, appetizers, pasta and even chcicken and meat dishes. We decided to start with the crab stuffed mushrooms as an appetizer. For my main dish I selected the fish and chips. Liz selected the shrimp and scallops scampi over linguine. After our order was placed a large salad bowl was brough to the table with lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, mushrooms and cheese. Two dressings a creamy garlic and a champagne Vinaigrette were put on the table. I chose the champagne vinaigrette on my salad which was delicious. Liz went with the creamy garlic which she loved.

Our mushroom appetizer arrived piping hot in a bowl along with two small plates. The mushrooms were stuffed with a tasty crab meat stuffing and simmered in a buttery sauce. They were delicious and we finished every one. This is when we noticed that the place went from having six tables full to being jam packed with people waiting for tables. rom the conversations around us we gathered this was a big place with the locals and we could see why.

Our entrees arived about ten minutes after our appetizer was cleared by Jim. My plate of fish and chips was a huge portion. I knew just by looking at it I would need a doggie bag. Liz's plate was piled high with pasta, shrimp and scallops. I have to say my fish & chips are the best I have had in the US. The fish was flakey and the breading was perfect. Liz loved her shrimp and scallops; raving about their sweetness.

We left more than half of our meals on the plates and asked Jim to wrap them for us. We saved room to have some cheescake for me and creme brulee for Liz. My cheese cake was ok; nothing to rave about but Liz's creme brulee was too runny that she left it alone. After asking for the check Jim brought our doggie bags and our fruit baskets wrapped up to go.

This was an excellent meal except for the dessert. I will definitely return here for another meal when we are visiting Carie. I can understand why her parents are so fond of the place. We also found the music in the place amusing...they played "light" versions of The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, AC/DC and other bands which we found hysterically funny in a place filled with an older crowd.

Favorite Dish: The fish and chips were insanely good. The fish was tender and sweet. The breading was crisp and not too heavy. I will definitely order them again.

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Bella Napoli is a local pizza parlour/restaurant in Milford. Several of our friends who live locally rave about the food and pizza. The place is a nice size with a deli area to the right, pizza shop and then the restaurant. This place is always hopping when we come here and the phone rings constantly for orders. The pizzas here are excellent as are their calzones, garlic knots, meat ball heros and pasta. You basically can't go wrong eating here.

Our last visit to Milford was after a long drive from a roadtrip (we were staying at the Hampton Inn); we were in need of something to eat. We decided to grab a small pie and an order of garlic knots to take back to the hotel. The prices here are very inexpensive with both the pizza and order of garlic knots being under $8. The pizza sauce here is very flavorful and I like their cheese; it's not greasy. The garlic knots are quite large and very good. It was a perfect meal for the weary traveller.

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This place is right across the street from the water with outdoor seating available. We stopped at Cancun Charlie's for a bite to eat after visiting a friend in the hospital. When we entered we were seated immediately. The restaurant was busy but not packed considering it was a Friday night. Our waiter handed us menus and brought over some chips and salsa for the table. I decided to have the tacos and Liz ordered a Quesadilla. Our entrees arrived rather quickly and were a nice sized portion. Neither of us could finish our entire meal, there was just too much. The service here was very good and much needed since we were starving. The food here is pretty good but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat here. we have better Mexican food in Port Chester(close to home)but if you're in Milford and feel like Mexican then by all means come here.

Favorite Dish: The drinks here aren't bad.
My tacos were quite good and Liz enjoyed her quesadilla. The tortilla chips and salsa were very good as well.

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The Black Bear is a nice bar/restaurant right in the Westfield Shopping Center in Milford (there are other locations in Stamford, Norwalk, White Plains that we have visited). We are often in Milford visiting friends, cathching a movie or passing through on a roadtrip and the Black Bear is a nice place to grab a snack, meal, dessert or just a drink. The place itself is a nice size and I prefer to sit and the bar and relax or one of the tables in tha vicinity of the bar. The menu has the usual pub grub food and I really enjoy the sliders, wings and their spinach and artichoke dip. The crowd here is pretty tame unless it's a Yankee/Redsox game or a Patriot/Giants game...then get ready for the rowdy people to get going.

The service here can vary depending on the crowd level and where you are seated. When we sit at the bar, the service is spot on. If we sit at a table or booth in the vicinity of the bar, the service is good. When we have been seated in the back of the restaurant furthest from the main entrance; the service has been so so. So we try to request a table in the front or have a seat at the bar if there are seats available.

Favorite Dish: The Spinach & Artichoke dip is quite nice and both Liz and I look forward to it when we come here. It's a large crock full of dip with chips, pita bread and garlic bread for dipping. The sliders here are very good as well with a nice side of onion rings. The BBQ wings are very good and I like them with some extra bleu cheese when I order the spicy ones. Liz enjoys their mozzarella sticks as well.

Desserts here are good and I really enjoy their Lava cake. Warm and gooey chocolate center makes it an awesome treat. Liz enjoys their apple crisp and I must admit it is rather good but I prefer my lava cake.

Mixed drinks here are nice potions and the Margaritas are good (not as good as Margaritaville or Poco's in Portsmouth) but good.

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This is a place I've been a couple of times. Some just for drinks. Some for food. The place is right by the river so if you are sitting at a booth you can look down into the river and the foliage. SBC is more of a hangout/sportsbar type of place that has outdoor seating in the summer. SBC also makes their own beer here too and have a wide variety of drinks and bar food available.

Our last visit to SBC was on a friday night in June 2010. We were headed north to Massachusettes and decided to stop off for a bite to eat. The outside of the restaurant was jam packed with diners enjoying the nice weather. We were fortunate enough to be seated at a nice booth in the sun. After perusing the menu we both decided on burgers. A regular cheeseburger for Liz and a Bacon burger for me along with an ice tea and diet pepsi.

I found my burger to be very good and i enjoyed the fries. My wife on the other hand found hers to be a bit on the greasy side. She instead picked at the fries and pickle on her plate. We even had some entertainment while eating; a motorcycle and a car collided right in front of our window. We gt to enjoy the driver of the car fleeing on foot, the biker errupting at the passengers who then relatiated and the melee of motorcycle cops that arrived on the scene. We watched the action as we ate some dessert; chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches.

The chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches made the meal in my opinion. Two soft cookies with heaps of vanilla ice ceram in the center served with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. They were incredibly good and glad I saw them on the specials menu.

SBC is a decent place for pub grub type food but I don't go out of my way for it.