Restaurants in Connecticut Coast
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Frank Pepe's
New Haven's most famous eatery takes its name from the Italian immigrant who tossed America's first pizza a century ago. You'd best believe they've got the recipe down pat. For the ultimate, order Pepe's signature white pizza topped with garlicky fresh clams.
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Modern Apizza
Lots of locals believe that this place serves up pies as good as, if not better than, Frank Pepe’s and Sally’s – and without the throngs. Despite the name, it’s been tossing dough since 1934.
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Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough
Lobster lovers should check out Abbott’s, on the waterfront in neighboring Noank. Order your lobster (or other seafood) at the window, get a number, pick out a table by the water and, when your number is called, pay and dig in. New England doesn’t get much better than this on a warm summer night. Just down the road is Abbott’s sister business, Costello’s Clam Shack, open similar hours. To reach both from Mystic, take Water St/Rte 215 southwest. When you reach a stop sign take a left (Mosher Ave) and stay right when it divides. Turn left onto Main St and right onto Pearl. BYOB beer or wine.
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Union League Café
Here’s an upscale French bistro in the historic Union League building. Expect a menu featuring continental classics like cocotte de joues de veau (organic veal cheeks with sautéed wild mushrooms, $25) along with those of nouvelle cuisine. If your budget won’t stretch to dinner, slip in for a sinful dessert like crêpe soufflé au citron (lemon crepes) washed down with a glass from the exquisite wine list. Date place par excellence.
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Miya's Sushi
Tokyo meets Yale at this fun restaurant serving superb sushi, an amazing sake selection and tasty vegetarian offerings. Miya's menu focuses on sustainable species, earning it a top award from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The menu is broad and inventive – start with the pumpkin miso soup.
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Restaurant Jean-Louis
Head to Restaurant Jean-Louis for a meal that neither your tastebuds nor your wallet will forget soon. Jean-Louis and Linda Gerin – chef and manager, respectively – have garnered accolades for their ‘nouvelle classique, ’ with dishes like pan-seared ostrich thigh fillet with polenta and cognac sauce. The five-course tasting menu is the ideal way to taste a variety of offerings, and the prix-fixe lunch menu is a bargain at $29.
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Yankee Doodle Sandwich & Coffee Shop
The family-run Doodle is a classic ’50s hole-in-the-wall American lunch counter – Formica countertop, chrome and plastic stools, real fountain soda – with prices to match. Despite the name, burgers and breakfast are the draws here. The defunct cigarette machine in the corner is kept around for purely nostalgic reasons – it was installed on the day JFK was shot. When Yale’s not in session, Doodle’s hours are sharply curtailed.
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Scoozzi Trattoria
At York St, next to the Yale Repertory Theatre, this basement trattoria serves trendy Italian fare with strong New American cuisine accents. The little pizzettes and other appetizers like mussels and calamari sautéed with red grapes are favorites with the before- and after-theater crowd, who combine them with wine by the glass to make a light supper. Weather permitting, there’s outdoor dining in an intimate courtyard. Reservations recommended.
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ZINC
Whenever possible, this trendy bistro’s ingredients hail from local organic sources, but the chef draws inspiration from all over, notably Asia and the Southwest. There’s a constantly changing ‘market menu, ’ but for the most rewarding experience, share several of the small plates for dinner, like the smoked duck nachos or the prosciutto Americano crostini. Reservations recommended.
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Timothy’s
Blessed with a stunning view of the Sound and decorated with hand-carved chandeliers, this dining room at the Lighthouse Inn Resort promises gracious food in equally gracious surroundings, and excellently named chef Timothy Grills delivers. The menu is seasonal with a focus on seafood, starring such dishes as lobster at dinner. Try the sautéed salmon medallions with roasted onions served on jasmine rice ($20).
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Meli-Melo
For a quick and delicious bite, you can’t do better than Meli-Melo. Meaning ‘hodge-podge’ in French, Meli-Melo serves salads, soups and sandwiches, but its specialty is undoubtedly buckwheat crepes. Try a wild combination like smoked salmon, chive sauce, lemon and daikon ($9.50). The French onion and French lentil soups are, appropriately, superb.
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Captain Scott’s Lobster Dock
The Coast Guard knows a thing or two about the sea, and you’d be remiss if you didn’t follow students of its academy to the place for seafood in the summer. The setting’s just a series of picnic tables by the water, but you can feast on succulent (hot or cold) lobster rolls, followed by steamers, fried whole-belly clams, scallops or lobsters.
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Bangkok Gardens
Just off Chapel St, this large, white-linen establishment is the center’s most popular Thai eatery. The Golden Bay appetizer, fried tofu pouches stuffed with shrimp and veggies, is exquisite. At lunch, big plates of pork, beef and chicken with vegetables are inexpensive and best topped off with an order of fried ice cream. Try to get a seat on the sun porch.
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Captain Daniel Packer Inne
This friendly place occupies a 1754 historic house on the west side of the bridge, complete with low-beam ceiling and creaky floorboards. Locals rave about the ocean views as well as the restaurant’s imaginative American cuisine; favorites include the petite filet mignon with Gorgonzola sauce and walnut demi-glace and the shrimp and scallops Provençale.
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Bistro du Soleil
It’s difficult to pigeonhole family-run Soleil’s cuisine, and really, there’s no need. Stylish yet warm, this bistro deftly executes everything from langoustine (shellfish) quesadillas to free-range New Zealand petite lamb chops to fillet of ostrich. The rotating art exhibits ensure a feast for the eyes to rival the one on your plate.
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Flood Tide
Reserve a window table with a view overlooking the grounds of the inn at Mystic or grab a seat by the wood-fired oven for the upscale yet informally presented fare here. The house pâté is exquisite, the seafood fresh and steaks attentively prepared. The Sunday brunch is a sumptuous affair worth the trip even if you’re not staying at the Inn.
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Caffé Adulis
This jewel of a place offers Eritrean-Ethiopian cuisine in a sophisticated but unerringly friendly package. One of the many house specialties is the shrimp barka (pan-seared jumbo shrimp with coconut, tomato and dates over basmati rice, $19). The wine list is reason enough to linger late into the evening – the bar is open until 1am.
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Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream
Strolling through town is best done with an ice-cream cone in your hand. In addition to cool flavors of homemade ice cream, this perpetually buzzing parlor also serves sandwiches, salads and baked goods.
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Wasabi Chi
In a sleek, dark-lit setting suggesting a club lounge, Wasabi Chi conjures up creative and elegantly presented Japanese food. Try a lobster martini (lobster, avocado and caviar in a martini glass) or savor the pan-seared duck in a sweet chili sauce with deep-fried yam slices. The inside-out rolls are exceptionally good.
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Kitchen Little
- Mystic, USA
- Restaurants › Café
Join various staff of Mystic Seaport Museum for breakfast and grab a seat at one of the tables on the back patio overlooking the water to trawl through the lengthy, egg-heavy menu. Try the Mystic Melt, featuring crabmeat and cream cheese scrambled with eggs on raisin toast. No credit cards accepted.
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Bang Kok City
The amiable servers here can guide you through the large menu, and the spice level is under your control. Use it. Try their memorable tom yam kong (spicy shrimp soup) and leave space for custard dessert. Under the same roof is Little Tokyo where a filling yakitori bento lunch is $8.
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Recovery Room
The family-run Recovery Room has New London’s best pizza – thin crusted and one-sized – with a variety of topping options some of which (barbecue chicken or sour cream) you might want to pass on. Makes for a good stop en route from a day at Ocean Beach Park.
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Restaurant Bravo Bravo
This low-lit eatery with a lively bar scene serves up nouvelle Italian food – flavorsome and inventive pastas, seafood and beef – in a sleek, modern setting. The wine selection is wide, and the champagne risotto with lobster and asparagus is truly wonderful.
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Pasta Nostra
You can feel the love at this black-and-white-tiled restaurant, where chef Joe Bruno has been wowing diners since 1984 with his handmade pastas and exquisite attention to detail. Freshness being paramount, even the meat is butchered on site. Reservations required.
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Louis' Lunch
New Haven's classic hamburger joint invented America's iconic fast food in 1900 and it still broils burgers in the original cast-iron vertical grills. Some things have changed over the century – but you won't find them here. Don't even think of asking for ketchup.
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