Guide To Connecticut Vegetarian & Vegan Restaurants & Bakeries Features Vegan Vegetarian Highlight Juice Bar Farm To Table Health & Wellness Healthy Eats Guide Homepage Carly Terzigni January 16, 2026 Connecticut has many wonderful plant-forward restaurants to check out this year. Whether you are looking to eat less meat in 2026 (don’t worry, you can have more than just a salad) or you already follow a vegetarian or vegan diet and want to explore restaurant and catering options in the state, this guide is for you! In addition to restaurants, we included a second section dedicated to plant-forward bakeries. Keep these places in mind the next time you need to order a cake for a special occasion or you’re simply in the market for a plant-based bakery in your area. Read More
Breaking News: Valencia Luncheria in Norwalk Announces New Concept + Renovations Features Interview Restaurant Valencia Luncheria Venezuelan Latin American Norwalk Interview Homepage Andrew Dominick January 08, 2026 Valencia Luncheria as you know it is closing. Maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but it made you sit straight up, didn’t it? In a social media post on January 7, 2026, Valencia announced that after service on January 18, they’ll be closing for renovations. But those first four words in the caption on their Instagram reel is what you should be focused on… Read More
Craft Beer + Music: Twelvenote Brew Co. Opens in Black Rock Brewery Interview Features Brewery Twelvenote Brew Co Black Rock Bridgeport Music Craft Beer Beer Opening Interview Brewer Homepage Andrew Dominick January 08, 2026 Brian Pietrzak has had some “pinch me” moments lately. As the brewer and co-owner of Twelvenote Brew Co. in the former Aspetuck Brew Lab space in Black Rock, he’ll tell you candidly that it’s all a bit surreal. “I wake up sometimes at 3 a.m. and I can’t believe I own a fuckin’ brewery, like, I can’t believe this is my job now,” he says. Originally from Erie, PA, Pietrzak’s brewing story started as you might expect it to, with a home brewing kit he received as a gift from his brother-in-law, who’s his now partner at Twelvenote. Read More
Bangkok Republic in Wilton: Top Notch Thai Food Hidden in Plain Sight on Route 7 Features Ingredients Interview Restaurant Thai Wilton Asian Interview Andrew Dominick January 07, 2026 Raise your hand if you’ve driven past a strip mall, plaza, a couple of storefronts clustered together, or whatever you call it, countless times without giving it any thought. We’re all guilty of this. In this case, we’re talking about a Thai restaurant that’s located on Route 7 that so many of us drive up and down so many times per week. And unless you’re a Wilton local who has obviously been gatekeeping this hidden-in-plain-sight gem, you may not even know it’s there, despite the fact that Bangkok Republic has been open for almost a decade. Read More
CTbites Staff Picks For Top Eats of 2025 (+Guest Eaters) Features Restaurant Top Eats Best of CT Roundup Homepage CTbites Team January 04, 2026 It’s that time of year, when the CTbites staff temporarily puts down our forks, and contemplates our most memorable annual eats. 2024 saw an explosion of restaurateurs and chefs entering the Connecticut culinary scene, and the CTBites team, alongside some special guest reviewers below, did our best to eat it all. There were some clear standouts, restaurants that you’ll find repeated in the “top eats” lists below, and some hidden gems you should add to your dining dance card.Here are CTbites’ TOP EATS for 2025. Read More
Wire Mill Saloon & Barbecue in Georgetown: On CT's Best BBQ List for 12 Years Features Interview Restaurant BBQ Wire Mill BBQ Redding Georgetown Interview Pitmaster Homepage Andrew Dominick January 04, 2026 In January 2014, when Gino Marsili opened the doors to Wire Mill Saloon & Barbecue, his recollection is, “There were maybe only a few of us doing BBQ; me, Bobby (Bobby Q’s), and Wilson’s in Fairfield.” Approaching his twelfth year running the pits in Redding’s Georgetown section, Marsili still has a smile on his face doing what he loves, serving the community his brand of BBQ that locals love—including a few of my personal friends who say it’s their favorite ‘cue in Connecticut. Read More
Farm to People Online Farmers Market Delivery Service Expands To Connecticut Features Farm To Table Local Farm Delivery Service Grocery CTbites Team December 24, 2025 Farm to People, New York City’s premier online farmers market delivery service, is expanding its reach in Southern Connecticut — while continuing to bring seasonal and sustainably sourced produce and products from over 150 local farms and makers.Customers in the new delivery areas will enjoy the same curated selection of local produce, pasture-raised meats, small-batch pantry goods, and chef-crafted prepared foods that New York City residents have loved since Farm to People’s launch in 2013. Offerings include products from Ronnybrook Dairy, Hudson Valley Fisheries, She Wolf Bakery’s fresh-baked sourdough breads, Snowdance Farm Heritage Chicken, Halal Pastures Produce, Autumn’s Harvest Beef and Pork, Knead Love Gluten-Free Bakery, Black Seed Bagels, Jasper Hill Farm Cheeses, and many other local farms throughout the region. The selection also includes an array of heat-and-serve meals, for parents and kids alike, prepared by the FtP culinary team using these ethically sourced products. Read More
70+ CT Restaurants To Celebrate New Year’s Eve & New Year’s Day (2025 Edition) Features New Years Holiday Homepage Hannah Goodman December 19, 2025 Well folks, we are another year older and dare I say, wiser? Every year has its ups, its downs, its dead plants (sorry I forgot to water you for six months), and its lasting impressions, however big or small. I like to say that every year is the best year that ever was because with each passing one, we live, learn, and grow – hopefully for the better! The holidays are a time in which we reflect on the past and present, while New Year’s Eve helps us look toward the future, what may lie ahead for us in the next 12 months, even if it’s a fresh start, which we all need sometimes. While nothing in life stays the same and sometimes there are more downs than ups, one thing is always true (for me at least): food is the greatest thing in the world and a day without being able to recognize this self-proclaimed fact is truly a day wasted. Sharing that food with friends, family, and other loved ones makes it all the more special – the creation of shared memories through eating, as we are no one without each other. Get out your party hats, glitter, champagne flutes, and any other supplies needed to celebrate New Year’s Eve. This list contains restaurants, bars, caterers, and dance clubs all over the state of Connecticut that are looking forward to hosting you, your friends, and family for the holiday. Some places require reservations or ticket purchasing ahead of time while others are walk-in friendly. Goodbye 2025 and cheers to 2026 – let’s make it a good one! Read More
tacobarn Opens in Newtown From Restaurateur David Boyajian Features Interview Restaurant Tacos Newtown Sandy Hook Cocktails Tequila Interview Opening Homepage Andrew Dominick December 17, 2025 “I don’t know what got me looking, but I saw this building roughly 27 months ago for the first time, and I just fell in love with it.” Once filled with random storage, a barn on Glen Road in Sandy Hook has new life as a taqueria thanks to Newtown local and restaurateur David Boyajian. At the appropriately named tacobarn, Boyajian isn’t calling it traditional Mexican and he’s not even remotely pretending it’s that. And this particular nontraditional taco space is something he’s quite familiar with from his past as bartaco’s director of operations and part of that microchain’s expansion. Read More
75+ Connecticut Restaurants & Caterers for Christmas (2025 Edition) Features Holiday Christmas Christmas Restaurant Guide Homepage Carly Terzigni December 12, 2025 Christmas is a time to gather with loved ones around the table and enjoy a festive feast. That feast can come in many forms, whether it's home-cooked, catered, or at your favorite restaurant. No matter how you choose to spend the holiday, restaurants and businesses around Connecticut are ready to make sure this Christmas is as tasty as it is memorable. In this guide, you’ll find everything from catering options to local markets supplying all of the holiday fixings to restaurants featuring limited-time specials on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. To help you find a business nearest you, we’ve broken this guide up by county so you can easily scroll to your local area and find places to help cook up a delicious Christmas dinner. Read More
La Cave in Darien: Restaurant L'Ostal's Sexy Wine Bar Features Ingredients Interview Events Wine Wine Bar Darien Restaurant L'Ostal L'Ostal Darien La Cave Darien Interview Bar Menu Bar Homepage Andrew Dominick December 09, 2025 Last April, Restaurant L’Ostal and chef-owner Jared Sippel, quietly added what he calls “a layer” to his four-plus-year-old Darien hotspot. La Cave—the French word for cellar—is Sippel’s homage to European wine bars. It’s small, cozy, intimate. No, they won’t mix you a cocktail. You certainly can’t order a cheeseburger. “Can you bring me the escargot from the L’Ostal menu?” Also…no. Read More
CRAzies Awards Winners 2025: Celebrating Excellence in CT's Culinary Community Features CRAZIES Awards Stephanie Webster December 09, 2025
Belden House & Mews Receives Michelin Key, but Here's What Chef Tyler Heckman is Doing in the Kitchen Features Ingredients Interview Restaurant Interview Ingredients Litchfield Homepage Belden House Tyler Heckman Andrew Dominick December 03, 2025 Belden House & Mews, Winvian, Lost Fox Inn, The Litchfield Inn, Mayflower Inn. All in Litchfield County. All boutique hotels. And they all have something in common…if you aren’t staying there (or even if you are), don’t overlook them for dinner—or for breakfast or lunch for that matter. Getting a lot of attention since it opened in the first half of 2025 is the first one listed in the bunch, Belden House. And if you pay attention to happenings in Litchfield, Belden’s charming and restored Queen Anne style Victorian and its 10 rooms, plus, its 21 additional modernist rooms, called The Mews, was recently awarded a Michelin Key, a high honor that recognizes outstanding hospitality. But this is a food publication. And I’m here to tell you what’s happening inside of the mansion’s dining room, what’s going down in their kitchen, and introduce you to executive chef Tyler Heckman. Read More
HOLIDAY GIFTING: 50+ CT Gift Baskets, Curated Gift Boxes, and Subscriptions Features Holiday Guide Gift Baskets Gift Subscription Box Homepage Kendall Arkay November 29, 2025 It’s almost December, which means Secret Santas, corporate parties, endless family time, friend gatherings, and holiday cards from relatives you swear you’ve never met. And while the Grinch likes to pretend gifts "aren't the point,” we all know picking out presents is a major reason holiday stress levels hit an annual high.To make this holiday season easier, we compiled 50+ local gift baskets, curated boxes, and subscriptions for everyone on your list: the friend who has everything, the mother-in-law who insists you "just bring yourself," the dad who treats grilling as a personality trait, and the coworker you only see coming and going.Consider your holiday shopping handled — and without further ado, here’s the lineup of Connecticut goodies, with truly something for everyone. Read More
Day Trip: Head Up to Klocke Estate in Hudson for Brandy, Vermouth, Craft Cocktails, + Seasonal, Local Fare Ingredients Interview Restaurant Road Trip Road Trip Distillery Hudson Valley Hudson Vermouth Brandy Cocktails New York Andrew Dominick November 25, 2025 Early in 2025, I started doing a ton of research on vermouth for an article in The Valley Table. You can read it HERE, but if you choose not to, no worries, it was general; what vermouth is, the guidelines for classifying vermouth in Europe versus the U.S., and who’s making it in the Hudson Valley. But if you do read it, there’s a cool, funny Winston Churchill bit in there. Just saying! One of the places that helped significantly with my vermouth knowledge was Klocke Estate in the Hudson-Claverack area where they make their own wine for vermouth, from their own grapes, that’s fortified with their own apple brandy, that’s made from apples grown on the grounds. The botanicals? Also grown right at Klocke Estate, well…with the exception of cinnamon. Read More
Join Us On The Apizza Bus To Celebrate CT's NEW Top 100 Pizza Trail Features Pizza CT Pizza Trail New Haven Pizza Homepage Gina Zammit November 19, 2025 Connecticut, like the rest of the country was buzzing with excitement this week as election day loomed. But last month, there was a very different kind of election with sauce, crust, and plenty of cheese. After more than 13,000 votes from pizza and apizza fans were tallied, Connecticut launched its first-ever Pizza Trail, a culinary map celebrating 100 of the Nutmeg State’s most beloved pizzerias.I, along with CT Bites Editor in Chief, Stephanie Syrop Webster, were there for the unveiling of the trail and boarded the couldn’t-miss-it-you-tried giant DATTCO bus wrapped in apizza pies. Read More
Chef Ian Vest Opens Modern Italian Restaurant, Talia, in Port Chester Features Ingredients Interview Restaurant Modern Italian Ian Vest Port Chester Opening Homepage Interview Pasta Pizza Greenwich Andrew Dominick November 19, 2025 One could argue, that before Greenwich Avenue’s current restaurant boom, one of the hottest spots on the block from 2015 until it closed in 2020 was Back 40 Kitchen. Now, just a touch over the Byram neighborhood’s border in Port Chester, frequenters of Back 40 will see a familiar face in Ian Vest at his newly opened Talia. Vest, originally a St. Louis native, who got his start in the industry at 13 years old and never left it, has seen his fair share of stints working at delis, burrito places, and “everywhere you can imagine.” But hard work pays off, as it landed him an executive chef position at The Crossing, a French-Italian fine dining restaurant in Clayton, Missouri, then, to The Culinary Institute of America. Read More
Smash Bay Burgers: A CT "Must Eat" Burger Features Ingredients Interview Smash Burgers Burgers Homepage Interview Food Truck Andrew Dominick November 14, 2025 Bussing tables, washing dishes, prep work, and something like flipping burgers are most people’s foot-in-the-door in the hospitality industry. Austen Bass isn’t most people. In fact, he did it backwards. After a long career in the technology field, and with no restaurant experience, you’ll now find him smashing, flipping, and assembling burgers inside of his Smash Bay food trailer, typically parked at a Connecticut brewery near you. Read More
140+ CT Restaurants, Caterers & Farms for Thanksgiving (2025 Edition) Ingredients Features Events Restaurant Seasonal Thanksgiving Dining Guide Guide Thanksgiving Guide Homepage Carly Terzigni November 10, 2025 As the holiday season approaches, there are restaurants and catering companies ready to make this Thanksgiving memorable. While there are plenty of businesses open for seating on Thanksgiving, there are even more offering holiday catering with all of the classic fixings to take the work out of your Thanksgiving Day hosting. To help you find the restaurant nearest you to order from or dine at on Thanksgiving, we’ve organized the guide by county. At the end, you’ll find a list of local businesses including farms, markets, and butcher shops where you can purchase turkey to prepare at home. We also noted which businesses specialize in vegan options. Happy Thanksgiving! Read More
50+ Places For Great Holiday Pies in Connecticut (2025 Edition) Features Holiday Holiday Guide Pies Thanksgiving Bakery Homepage Hannah Goodman November 05, 2025 Pumpkins have been slowly disappearing from all the stoops and porches in Connecticut, which means that some were lucky enough to be turned into golden carriages on Halloween while the rest – lucky for us – are being turned into pies, cheesecakes, and other sweet treats for the upcoming holidays. With Thanksgiving and various religious holidays approaching quickly, it is easy to stress about every little thing, including arguments with the in-laws, the one gift you didn’t get your child even though they swore it was on the wishlist (it wasn’t), and the “homemade” cranberry sauce you forgot on top of the car before you drove down 95 at an alarmingly fast rate because you were late to Thanksgiving dinner. Apparently dinner on holidays must start at 1pm (I don’t make the rules), which means we’re up at 4am eating breakfast and lunch is eaten on the drive to grandma’s house. Despite these apparently oh-so-necessary stresses, it all works out in the end. And frankly, it’s because of the good eats and even better desserts. This year, let’s eliminate the dessert-making anxieties that society forces upon us and get those pies, cakes, cookies, etc. from any of these wonderful, Connecticut-grown locations. They are arranged by county for your convenience because everyone could use a little extra ease this time of year. Read More
