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Originally posted on Sunday Diners:
Thanksgiving is all about family, traditions and… FOOD! The dinner is usually Turkey, Cranberry Sauce, Carrots, Yams, Gravy and for dessert… PIE! But you cannot not forget… the Stuffing. There’s all different types of…
The Corner Restaurant
105 River Street, Milford CT
Today, we kept our promise to come back to The Corner Restaurant to try their incredible “Alligator Jambalaya”! For those of you who don’t know The Corner, here’s our review from a few months ago.
What can I say about Alligator Jambalaya?
It keeps your taste buds JUMPIN’ from taste to taste.
The Alligator Jambalaya
The Alligator Jambalaya is made of layers of egg, tortilla, shrimp, peppers, onions and andouille sausage, which is a type of Cajun sausage that’s a little spicy… and it’s topped off with delicious chunks of Alligator!
So what does Alligator taste like?
…. It tastes just like CHICKEN!!!!
Only kidding! it’s tender and moist and doesn’t taste weird or fishy. It went very well with the other flavors.
It was nice to see our friend Michelle Lebel and everyone at The Corner, check them out here, on the G. Garvin Road Trip on the Cooking Channel!!! Our friends from Mama’a Boy are also on the same episode!
Thanks Michelle!!!
The Smith
1900 Broadway, New York, New York
This weekend, my dad and I went to New York City. While we were there we visited the The Intrepid Museum, stopped at my dad’s office and saw our friend Kendah, who was visiting from Paris. But first, we were hungry and needed somewhere close by and good to try, so we decided to eat at The Smith. My dad had eaten there before and said it was good.
The Smith serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and it’s very hip!
It was 11:30 and I was pretty hungry so I decided instead of the brunch menu, it was time to order from the lunch menu. Here’s what I had:
THE BURGER DELUXE
A Burger with Bacon, Cheddar, Special Sauce and the Works with Fries
It was delicious and it was BIG! I was amazed that I could finish it. The Fries were golden and crispy.
Thanks Tina for being our server, and for being SO nice… we’ll be back soon!
The Sunday Diner Rating (out of 5)
FOOD * * * * * (5)
SERVICE * * * * * (5)
LOOKS: * * * * * (5)
BATHROOM: * * * * * (5)
PS: At the Intrepid Museum we took a tour of The USS Growler Submarine. It was really cool to see what life was like under the sea. But, if the Growler was a Sunday Diners restaurant, I’d give the bathroom zero stars! Luckily, it’s just part of the exhibit. 🙂
Java Coffee & Café
44 Church Lane, Westport, Connecticut 06880
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All the way from Idaho, Java Coffee & Café is the new cool place for breakfast in Westport, and it’s more than just coffee. The first thing that you notice when you walk into Java is how fun it looks. The place is decorated with lots of cool things like old toy robots and art. There is an open kitchen and lots of seating. If you want to sit outside, you can even bring your dog! It’s a very rock and roll kind of place, the bathroom has rock posters for concerts and they play cool music.
… And of course, the food is REALLY good!
Here’s what we had…
I started off with…
A slice of Paleo Banana Bread and a Mexican Hot Cocoa
Paleo is a type of diet that has no grain or sugar. The Banana Bread was made from Eggs, Coconut, Banana and Chocolate. It was really chewy and good. But the Mexican Hot Cocoa was Muy Delicioso! It was almost as good as what I had in Mexico. It was topped off with a spoonful of their homemade whipped cream.
Java Benedict
The Java Benedict is Poached Eggs over an Everything Bagel with Smoked Ham and Hollandaise Sauce. I had mine with a side of bacon… ’cause that’s just who I am 🙂 I loved it and the eggs were totally fresh… which we found out all about later.
Dad had… Scrambled Eggs and Bacon on an Everything Bagel
I spoke with the owner, Brad Berk and the manager Breanna Brandon (who is from Boise, Idaho where she managed Java Coffee and Café there) and asked…
What’s your favorite thing on the menu?
Brad likes the Poached Eggs and Avocado Toast. For lunch he likes the Kale and Quinoa Salad.
Breanna likes… guess what? The Poached Eggs and Avocado Toast.
I asked Brad about their eggs and why they taste so good…
“They are local Connecticut farm-fresh eggs that we buy from The Farmer’s Cow the chickens are fed a good diet and aren’t given any hormones and the eggs are really fresh.
When we first started, because we make a lot of eggs, our supplier told us to buy these other eggs that were not local. They were a little cheaper… but they tasted terrible. These taste really great”.
I also asked Mr. Berk about why there’s Cap’n Crunch on the menu…
“That’s really for the kids, but it’a also kind of an inside joke for us… it’s fun!”
We’ll have to come back and find out more about that!
Breanna also let me try more of their fresh whipped cream… It was SO good!
The Sunday Diner Rating (out of 5)
FOOD * * * * * (5)
SERVICE * * * * * (5)
LOOKS: * * * * * (5)
BATHROOM: * * * * * (5)
Thanks Breanna and Mr. Berk — you guys rock!
The Corner Restaurant
105 River Street, Milford CT
I had heard that The Corner Restaurant in Milford was named The Best French Toast in Connecticut by Connecticut Magazine, and since most of you regular readers know that I LOVE French Toast — we HAD to try it and good thing we got there early!
The Corner is in Milford, close to the train station, and across from the Wepawaug River. It’s a pretty part of town. The Corner is a cute and cozy place that is decorated to make you feel at home.
We sat down and checked out the menu, which had a lot of exotic choices, but today I was hungry for their award-winning Stuffed French Toast.
I had “The Trio” (which won the award) and is…
Everything was delicious, but I liked the Tres Leches cake the best – I have to be honest – it was as good, maybe even better than what I had in Mexico. It was really an award winner with me, and like the French Toast I was STUFFED!
Dad had the Eggs Benedict… I tried them and they were… Eggcellent! 🙂
The restaurant was really busy, but we were lucky to get there early and got a table. Soon, there was a line of hungry people out the door. Even though it was busy, I was able to speak with Michelle Lebel who has owned The Corner with her husband, Amer for 17 years, and was super nice to me!
Of course, I asked her what her favorite was…
“I love spicy things, my favorite dish is the South Indian Spiced Pulled Duck”.
Why do you use so many exotic things on your menu?
“I think that food that might be weird to us, might be normal somewhere else in the world. I like new tastes, so we try to make our menu somewhat different from most places.”
“This Mother’s Day, The Corner will have a special menu with some great new things like Alligator Jambalaya, South African Hash, and lots of Crab dishes… It’s our most popular day of the year… so get here early!”
Michelle’s Favorite
The South Indian Spiced Pulled Duck Wrapped In A Bacon Layered Tortilla With Scrambled Eggs and A Mild Cheese
Thanks Michelle for an awesome breakfast and taking the time to speak with us. I also want to thank our server Jill who was great!
The Sunday Diner Rating (out of 5)
FOOD * * * * * (5)
SERVICE * * * * * (5)
LOOKS: * * * * (4)
BATHROOM: * * * * (4)
The Original Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana
New Haven: 157 Wooster Street, New Haven, CT
The Original Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana has been making delicious pizza pies for almost a hundred years.
Frank Pepe
Started in New Haven, by Frank Pepe, an Italian immigrant, who sold pizza from a cart on the streets. His cart did so well, that he opened his first pizzeria in New Haven in 1925. Now they have eight locations in New York and CT. I heard that they will be expanding into Boston. I was lucky to visit the first location in New Haven.
New Haven-Style pizza is crispier and thinner crust than most other styles and Pepe’s pizzas are so good because they are made in a coal-fired oven the same way they were made by Mr. Pepe himself. The pizzeria has been in the family since then!
I got to try three of their best pizzas:
“The Original”Tomato Pie:
This is the pizza that started it all, a Fresh Tomato Sauce on thin crust… that’s al! I liked it and it really brought out the flavor of the sauce, because there was no cheese.
Pepperoni and Cheese:
The original, with Pepperoni and Mozzarella cheese. The cheese and pepperoni made it even better.
The White Clam Pie:
This is the one that won the award for “Best Pizza In America”: Fresh Clams, Grated Cheese, Olive Oil, Oregano, and Garlic… Lots of Garlic! It was my favorite and probably one of the best pizzas I ever tasted.
I spoke with the founder’s grandson, Gary Bimonte, and asked him, “What is the most popular pie at Frank Pepe”?
He told me that, “The white clam pizza is the most popular.”
I asked him, how did Frank Pepe come up with the White Clam Pie?
“In the 1940’s there was a man who sold clams on a pushcart to the pizzeria and he suggested to Frank Pepe that he put them on a pie”.
He also showed me the coal ovens where the magic happens!
Thank you Mr. Bimonte for the fun pizza tasting and for the really cool t-shirt!
The Sunday Diner Rating (out of 5)
FOOD * * * * * (5)
SERVICE * * * * * (5)
LOOKS: * * * * * (5)
BATHROOM: * * * * (4)
LOUIS’ LUNCH • 261-263 CROWN STREET • NEW HAVEN, CT
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Hi everyone, we’re back with something really special. We have been wanting to visit Louis’ Lunch, The Birthplace of the Hamburger Sandwich, in New Haven for a long time, and this weekend, we did!
Louis’s Lunch has been in New Haven since 1895, and the story goes, in 1900 a man walked into the luncheonette and asked “For a quick meal he could eat on the run.” Louis Lassen, who was the founder, took a broiled beef patty, put it between two slices of toast and sent him running… and with that, the first hamburger was born!
Louis’ is famous not only for being the first hamburger but for still making burgers just the way that man had it back then and they are excellent! The restaurant is really small, and there is not a lot of room to sit, but that didn’t matter… there was tons of people eating outside, standing, and making new friends by sharing at a big table. There was also a lot of people in line which went all the way out the door. You’ve got to wait patiently because burgers this good take a while.
First… they prep the burgers which are
hand rolled from five different kinds of meat:
Then, they are broiled in the original cast iron grills from 1898:
Then… it’s toast time:
At Louis’ they only make one thing and that’s burgers. And there are a few things that you need to know about burgers at Louis’:
So how was it?
Dad and I had:
“Two cheese works, a salad and a birch”, which means two burgers with cheese, tomato and onions, a potato salad and a birch beer.
It was delicious and one of the best burgers I ever had. It’s definitely different because you really get the flavor of the meat, it’s very juicy and the toast made it a little crunchy. It was SO good, that I wanted to have a second, but, we needed to leave room for…
PIE!!!
Louis’ also makes great pies!
We had
Cherry
and
Blueberry
Louis’ is SO busy, we didn’t really get to have that much of a talk with the cooks and servers, but we did get to meet John who takes your order and Paul who works the grills.
They asked us how we liked it and we joked… “It was terrible”
Paul said, “Then, when you do your article, If you think the food is bad, make sure you call me John… if it’s good, my name is Paul…”
We thought the food was AMAZING… SO, John is on the left
AND Paul is on the right!
There’s a lot of great history at Louis’ Lunch, so check out their website and you can learn all about how much of an important place it is…
The Sunday Diner Rating (out of 5)
FOOD * * * * * (5)
SERVICE * * * * * (5)
LOOKS: * * * * * (5)
BATHROOM: Did Not Go… but it looked clean!
I loved Louis’ Lunch and we’re definitely coming back…
Thanks so much John for the awesome T-shirt!
Reddi Rooster
877 High Ridge Road, Stamford
Hi everyone, we are starting to run out of new places to go to in the area. If you want to recommend a place you love, please leave a comment.
Today, we found a place called Reddi Rooster online, but it is not your ordinary place for breakfast. It is all take out, and it is mainly known for its fried chicken, but unless you want to have that for breakfast, you might want to try one of their breakfast sandwiches or burritos which is what we did!
Reddi Rooster used to be an old Garden Catering before it became Reddi Rooster, a terrific place for food on the go. Plus the food is basically prepared right in front of you, so you know it is fresh.
And now what I had today.
Today I had the Rooster Burrito Wrap which is: Eggs, Bacon, Pepper Jack Cheese, Chili and Onions. Probably one of the best and spiciest things I ever tasted. I also had a chocolate milk.
I asked Carlos what his favorite thing for breakfast is.
He said, “What you had… The Rooster Burrito.”
The Sunday Diner Rating (out of 5)
FOOD * * * * * (5)
SERVICE * * * * * (5)
LOOKS: * * * (3)
BATHROOM: Did Not Go!
The Granola Bar of Westport
275 Post Road East, Westport, CT
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When we think of breakfast at Sunday Diners, we usually think of eggs… pancakes… and oatmeal… but now we can add granola to that list, and The Granola Bar of Westport is THE place for that and much much more! Started by Julie Levitt and Dana Noorily, who own OATS Granola, The Granola Bar, is a really fun and different place to have breakfast… and…did I mention that it’s REALLY Good?
The Granola Bar is in Westport’s Playhouse Square, and has a really open feeling with very high ceilings and book shelves that have their own granola as well as chocolates, caramels, teas and other fun things for sale. There are statues of Buddha and really cool books on the shelves as well. I noticed one called “Concrete” which looked really interesting.
The menu has a wide variety of brunch and breakfast items, like paninis, eggs, fresh-baked goods, wraps and salads… but what I was here for was the granola… and one of their awesome smoothies. Here’s what I had…
THE TASTING
It’s Four shots of their Homemade Granola with a side of Greek or Regular Yogurt (I had the Greek Yogurt) and a side of Fresh Fruit (Strawberries and Blueberries).
Clockwise (start at 1:00)
Cinnamon Honey…Toasted Coconut…Dark Chocolate…Vanilla Almond
PB&J SMOOTHIE
Strawberries, Peanut Butter, Banana, Vanilla & Milk… in a VERY tall glass! It tasted exactly like having a Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich… without the bread!
Dad had…
THE HALF BUBBY
The Granola Bar’s House-Smoked Salmon on half of a Bagel with Chive Cream Cheese and Onions and Capers. Dad loved it, but wished it was a Full Bubby!
He also had a…
NUTELLA LATTE
Made with REAL NUTELLA! I got to try it… it was delicious!
I spoke with both of the owners, Julie (l.) and Dana (r.), who were very nice to me even though they were really busy (which is great sign because it means the place is really popular) and asked…
How did you become partners and friends?
Julie said:
“We both have daughters that are six-years old. We met at a birthday party and started talking. Dana used to work in finance, and I told her about my idea to start a granola company… so we decided to work together, and became partners first… and now we’re also really good friends”
I also asked what their favorite flavor of Granola is… and they both love theToasted Coconut..
“It’s really unique, but also really simple”.
Finally, I asked about the Buddha’s…
“The Granola Bar was designed by Lisa Friedman , we wanted the place to have a warm and cozy and positive feeling, so that’s part of that”
Well, I really felt warm and cozy there, in fact, we could have stayed ALL day… but before we left… we had to definitely try out… what else?
A Granola Bar… Granola Bar!
Freshly made with their own granola and Chia seeds — VERY GOOD, Sweet & Crunchy!
Thanks so much Julie and Dana and the staff at The Granola Bar of Westport especially Victoria!
The Sunday Diner Rating (out of 5)
FOOD * * * * * (5)
SERVICE * * * * * (5)
LOOKS: * * * * * (5)
BATHROOM: * * * * * (6)
(PS… The Bathroom is also REALLY Cool)
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Dear Readers,
Thanks so much for reading!
We wish you all a very Happy, Healthy and Safe New Year!
CHEERS!
XOXO
Alex
(and his dad)
Sunday Diners 
