The doldrums of winter are behind us, and spring is starting to show some signs of life around Connecticut. In addition to milder temperatures and the first flowers starting to pop up, restaurants around the state are preparing their specials for St. Patrick’s Day! Don’t be fooled by March 17 falling on a Monday this year, as these restaurants are ready to party. If you prefer to stick to the weekend, there are plenty of events and menu specials leading up to the holiday, too.
Whether you are looking for a green beer, a corned beef dinner out with friends, or a catering menu to bring St. Patrick’s Day to your home, the following businesses are ready to celebrate. This guide is organized by county so you can quickly locate a restaurant near you that’s taking part in the St. Patrick’s Day festivities.
Get those stretchy pants out of the deep, dark depths of your closet…don’t worry, we all have a pair! Once a year, these pants are necessary, as holiday excitement overtakes the part of the brain that tells us we’re full. We fight that voice that tells us to stop, that third and even fourth helpings of mashed potatoes and red wine aren’t going to help us cope with that obnoxious uncle your mom sat you next to out of spite. You know what will help? Pie and pie only. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, as you can eat as much as you want without being judged, though they’ll still try. But keep your head held high, as this year you can brag about the wonderful pies you’ve spent hours upon hours picking out. You even preheated the oven and scooped out perfect balls of vanilla ice cream. So don’t let anyone tell you that you did nothing, because ice cream is not easy to scoop.
All throughout Connecticut you can find plenty of delicious pie options, whether you want your pies fruity, custardy, creamy, or gluten free. As they say, Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful, and while we celebrate our family, friends, furbabies, and crazy uncles we’ve never met, it is important to recognize the true Thanksgiving savior: pie. Lucky for you, this guide is organized by county, so scroll down to find yours! Gobble, gobble.
It’s time to get spooky! Halloween is right around the corner, and restaurants across Connecticut are preparing to throw festive parties and host seasonal gatherings with plenty of decorations, costumes, and ghoulish menu specials.
Whether your vibe on Halloween is to order from your favorite pizza place as you hand out candy or you want to go all-out and attend a lavish costume party until the wee hours of the morning, there’s an event for you happening in late October! There are events for all ages as well, with the littlest trick-or-treaters to the young at heart having plenty of options this month to celebrate the season. You’ll also find businesses across Connecticut featuring Día de Muertos celebrations in early November.
We’ve broken this guide up by county so you can easily find a Halloween event nearest you!
As the holiday season approaches, finding the perfect venue for your corporate holiday party in Norwalk, CT is key to setting the right tone for celebration. From classic restaurants to modern event spaces, Norwalk offers a range of venues designed to accommodate every style of corporate gathering. Join us as we discover seven standout locations known for their charm, amenities, and ability to create memorable experiences for your team.
Winter is quickly coming to a close, and things are starting to look a little more GREEN around the state of Connecticut. That can only mean one thing…St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner! Whether you celebrate for the corned beef, the Guinness, or simply to enjoy the company of family and friends, there are plenty of restaurants around the state offering menu specials and events. This guide is broken up by county so you know exactly where to go to find the perfect St. Patrick’s Day festivities.
Little Riggs sits on the edge of the Stuart, McKinney National Wildlife refuge on the Long Island Sound. Riggs opened 6 months ago from Chef John Kronfeld, who operated the very successful breakfast truck, The Chef Truck, until he opened Little Riggs, transitioning his uniquely delicious breakfast menu into a sit down experience. To call this place a hidden gem isn’t wrong, but this clichéd term is a tad overused these days… It’s like a half buried treasure. Among the locals it isn’t buried at all, and they have taken it by storm.
This little outpost that seats just 30 in the wintertime, is slightly larger than a hole in the wall and certainly significantly more elevated. It’s the type of place you want to go to for a leisurely comforting breakfast on a Sunday morning, but it’s not just a breakfast joint, offering significantly more than just morning fare, and lucky for those of us who do love breakfast food, we can now enjoy it beyond traditional breakfast hours. Kronfeld will be launching dinner service this week, and we will be the first in line.
We don’t have to explain how big of a deal Thanksgiving dinner is. Arguably, it is one of the most highly anticipated meals of the year – not just for the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pie, but for the time spent with loved ones.
Some years, you want to go all out and embrace your inner Martha Stewart. There are businesses in Connecticut ready to supply you with the highest quality fresh turkey. Other years, you want to kick back and let someone else do the cooking. There are countless restaurants and catering companies across the state ready to take your order for a fully prepared meal. Or, maybe, you want to switch things up and take the family gathering on the road – as you might imagine, there are tons of excellent Connecticut restaurants open on Thanksgiving with special menus just for the holiday.
For your convenience, the guide is organized by county – simply find yours to see what local options are available! We have also made note of which locations are providing Vegan options this year. And, finally, if you want to pick up a fresh turkey to cook at home, there is a section devoted entirely to Connecticut farms at the bottom of the guide. The time is now to make your Thanksgiving dinner plans, and either place your orders for a catered meal or book those reservations at your favorite restaurant!
There’s a chill in the air, the leaves are turning, and the sun is setting earlier and earlier each day. That can only mean one thing – Halloween is right around the corner! Restaurants across Connecticut are celebrating the season with an array of special events to take part in. Whether you want to find something for the family or for a fun date night the weekend before, there are plenty of parties to choose from (many of which include costume contests, so be sure to dress up!). And on the night of Halloween (don’t forget it’s on a Tuesday this year), there are even more special events in case you want to take this year off from passing out candy to trick-or-treaters.
It won’t take too long to find a spot in the state to dance the night away this Halloween while you enjoy a bite to eat with a specialty-themed spooky beverage. Check out what the restaurants below are offering, and be sure to check ahead of time if they recommend making a reservation.
Flowers are blooming and temperatures are rising, which can mean only one thing – Mother’s Day is right around the corner! Flowers and hand-written cards aside, Mother’s Day is a great opportunity to treat that special person in your life to a memorable outing. Restaurants around Connecticut are preparing for the big day with special brunch and dinner menus that any mom would enjoy.
Show that special mother, grandmother, aunt, wife, sister, cousin, friend, or any important “mom” figure in your life just how much you appreciate them by treating them to a special meal at any of the restaurants listed below. Just like our other dining guides, this one is organized into county so you can easily look up which local restaurants are offering a specialty Mother’s Day menu.
“In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it, you’ll be the grandest lady (or fella) in the Easter Parade..”, or so the song goes. The bonnets and parades may have gone by the wayside since that song was a hit, but Easter dinner, with its traditional ham, springtime vegetables, and pastel-colored desserts, remains something to look forward to. Gather your family and friends (and fellow jelly-bean lovers), and enjoy a beautiful day with good food and celebration of a new season.
It might be hard to believe, but we are just days away from bidding adieu to 2022. With a new year right around the corner, restaurants all around Connecticut are preparing to ring in 2023 with specialty a la carte menus, prix fixe dining experiences, live music, and plenty of champagne to toast with at midnight. Whether you are looking for a special dinner earlier in the evening or a full-blown party to midnight and beyond, there is something happening on December 31 for just about everyone.
If something on this list strikes your fancy, make sure you call ahead to book a reservation. Have a happy and healthy new year!
Sparkles and decorations, music and merriment, parties and gift-giving and of course, holiday dining. New traditions to begin or a revisiting of favorites from year’s past. We all have those special dishes or holiday sweets that make us pause as nostalgia fills our hearts. For those reasons and more, it is one of the most wonderful times of the year. We would like for you to be able to create new memories with those you love, so we have compiled a list of Connecticut eateries that are going above and beyond for the holiday season. They are categorized by county-Fairfield, Hartford, Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven, New London, Windham-so you don’t have to waste time researching, you can just swan dive into celebrating the season. From our plates to yours, Happy Holidays. May it be delicious!
It’s Nantucket meets the Mediterranean. Arden’s, Rowayton’s newest eatery, is a community cafe offering up simple seasonal fare that’s as beautiful as it is delicious.
Inside the beachy décor is minimalist with hints of flea-market vintage finds. You’ll find antiquated oyster tins, vases filled with vibrant fresh flowers, beechwood furniture, a curated marketplace with specialty gourmet food items, locally fabricated linens alongside local honey, assorted spices, hot chili oil in beautiful glass jars, ceramics and other wonderful finds. Wonderful, whimsical floppy rattan shades resembling oversized straw hats hang from light fixtures overhead. Arden’s welcomes you in immediately with a warm embrace that doesn’t want to let you go.
Stay a while and linger over a simple menu of salads, sandwiches and toasts. While the concept is simple the recipes are elevated using ingredients from several local purveyors including Wilton’s Millstone Farm and Darien-based Flour Water Salt Bread, Nit Noi Provisions and Ilse coffee. Ingredients matter at this health-forward café. At the helm of the kitchen is Moises Aguilar formerly with Southend Backend. Here he is tasked with delivering the ultimate flavor profile from the simplest of ingredients which he has clearly mastered.
In an endless sea of Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks, it’s always refreshing to stop by a local cafe for breakfast and a cup of coffee. Combine with that a charming spot on Main Street and you have a recipe for a quintessential Connecticut morning – and that’s exactly what we found at Toasted OAT Cafe on Main Street in Newington.
If you’re fond of Toasted OAT Cafe in Canton which first opened its doors in 2018, then you’re in for a treat: a second location in Newington has opened in 2022, bringing their popular Packed Bowl among many other breakfast and lunch favorites to a second location in Connecticut. Just like Canton, the vibes are relaxed and welcoming.
The Country Table recently opened its doors in the Glennville area of Greenwich, but the story behind this new popular eatery started roughly 25 years ago. Greenwich residents, Geoff Lazlo and Greg Oshins have known each other since childhood, and this concept has been in the works since the age of 10, when the highlight of their day was scouting the best deli sandwiches in the Greenwich area (shout out to their beloved Rinaldi Country Deli, still in business today). The search for the best sandwich was a strong part of their culture, deeply nostalgic, and the driving force behind this new brick-and-mortar extension of Geoff Lazlo Foods.
If you live in Fairfield County, you most likely already have a favorite Tasty Yolk menu item. Their breakfast sandwiches are the stuff of legends, and if you don’t know about The Tasty Yolk, well now ya know. The Tasty Yolk started as a single food truck in 2016, quickly added two more trucks to the lineup, and then opened their first storefront location in Bridgeport in 2019. And now…drumroll please…they are opening a NEW location in STRATFORD at 3530 Main Street, on Wednesday, October 20th.
It’s always exciting to hear about a new concept opening from one of your favorite CT chefs, but it is even more exciting when that chef partners with a groundbreaking philanthropic organization on a mission to educate young adults and celebrate local artists while creating a free destination for fine art and music in the city of Norwalk.
Chef Bill Taibe and his team (Andrea Dinan, Caitlin McGowan and Kelly Clement) have officially opened the doors to their brand new Art Space Cafe,located inside the breathtakingly beautiful Norwalk Art Space. The Cafe will be open for breakfast and lunch, 9am-4pm, just steps away from Norwalk’s Waypointe and downtown SoNo. The Art Space Cafe is an order-at-the-counter, casual affair, and will likely become a go-to spot for breakfast meetings, grabbing a quick latte, or a lunch hang in the serene sundrenched dining space.
