Zeeburger

Yesterday we went to the much anticipated Zeeburger in Woodbury.  This is Carole Pecks new restaurant and it is in the same shopping center as her Good News Cafe.  This replaces the Sandwich Construction company which went out of business during the recent downturn.  The Zeeburger is nice, but I prefer the old place.

We ordered:
1. A hamburger with house ketchup, lettuce, tomato, asian pickle.
2. A chedder burger with ketchup, lettuce, tomato, bacon.
3. Grilled cheese.
4. Regular fries, sweet potato fries, cole slaw.
5. Chocolate milkshake.

Good things:
1. Liquor license will drive a lot fo traffic.
2. Grilled cheese was excellent.
3. Very short menu.

OK Things:
1. Everything fresh.
2. Burgers tasty.
3. Place was packed.

Ehhh?
1. Small orders.  Burger doesnt even fit bun.  Fry orders small.
2. $6.50 for a milkshake?
3. Overwhelmingly smoky.
4. One bin for garbage?

Full Harvest

The Full Harvest Bar and Grill in Beacon Falls is a non-nonsense, simple place that serves a dependable meal. The menu has all of your standard bar food but with a bit of a twist. The sweet potato fries are excellent.

The place has two rooms. A more formal dining room and a casual bar. The dining room can be a little noisy from the bar. This is a nice place to bring the family, its very friendly.

Black Eyed Sally's

This weekend I ate at Black Eyed Sally's for the first time. I wish I had gone with more people so I could have sampled more. I had a Burnt Ends sandwich and sweet potato fries. It was great. The bread was the best part, actually.

This is a pretty funky place (and larger than I expected). Parking can be a bit of an issue ($7) but overall I would love to head back there.

Good News

I always enjoy going to the Good News Cafe in Woodbury. We went last night. It wasn't as spectacular as normal.

The service, room, ambiance is fantastic, although sometimes a bit slow between courses.

I had the Gemelli pasta with gorgonzola and asparagus. It was a bit strong with the cheese. Usually it is a bit lighter. I also had an excellent Thai Chicken Soup. For dessert I had a piece of Pistachio Cheesecake which was a bit smaller than I expected.

The Flash-Fired Beef seems to be the hit of the night as an appetizer.

Update

Obviously, I haven't written for awhile. Some notes:

• Ate at Kitchen Zinc in New Haven. Pizza was really good. A great room, but got crowded. The bar is really the room and people stand and crowd the tables. Staff was nice and moved us to a booth. Pretty loud. They went next door to Zinc for a chocolate dessert we wanted. Appreciated that.
• Still waiting for a really comfortable restaurant in Southbury where you can just eat and hang out. Could a funky spot survive here?

Zinc

Last night we had a fabulous meal at Zinc in New Haven. A beautiful place (though a bit dark) with great service. We were surprised it wasn't full on a Saturday night, but that might be an issue with the restaurant economy.

We had the pork dumplings to start which was a big hit. They sit in a peanut sauce and are very light and just the right size. Chicken and steak were for the main meals. The steak came with a great sweet potato mash that had a good amount of spicy in it.

The desserts were good as well. The cheesecake had a lemon cream with it that was just about perfect.

Great Deal

You really can't beat buying pizza dough from your local pizzeria.  We spent $1.50 for a large pizza dough at Julio's.  It tasted great, you know the ingredients, and it supports local business.  

We hope to go to the farmers market in New Haven tomorrow.

Maggie McFly's

Sunday night we headed over to Maggie McFly's in Middlebury. Readers of this blog will notice that we have had repeated visits to Maggies in Southbury, all uninspired.

Maggies in Middlebury is a nice place. The service is much smoother and friendlier than Southbury. But...the food really is pretty average to poor. I had the Blackened Chicken Sandwich. it was almost inedible as it was soooo salty. The "pizza" was bland and mushy. The quesadilla had a fairly odd taste and worse texture. All in all---why did we go there again?

One highlight was the ice cream dessert. Tasty, perfect size. This place caters to families and the bar crowd. If they upped their food game just a bit it would be a regular stop for us.

Quick Hits

1. We had a good pizza at Southford Pizza.  Semi-deep dish pizza.  This is mainly a take-out place.

2. The kids can't get enough of Senor Panchos when the musicians play.  I wish more restaurants would have live music.

3. Pizza at DiPalmas seems to continue to be the family favorite.

Inn at Newtown

Last night we had an excellent meal at the Inn at Newtown.  The ambience of this place is great.  I'm not sure if people actually stay here, but it feels like an Inn or a home.  They have comfortable chairs in the lobby where families were sitting and chatting, the floors squeek and bow like an old house and the lighting is set up like a home.

We had excellent service!  Responsive, great with our kids, and went the extra mile.  That makes all the difference.

We started with the Kobe Burger Sliders.  They come in a set of two which we shared.  Excellent start.  I'd love to see perhaps a special ketchup the chef makes as an option.  

I had the Cubano sandwich.  This sandwich had a unique twist with the sauce they used.  The sandwich was exceptional.  I also tasted the macaroni and cheese my daughter got which was very creamy and rich.  It wasn't baked, just pasta with the cheese sauce.

The highlight of the meal was the chocolate cake which we shared.  No way we could have eaten a whole slice our selves it was so rich.  I was told the cakes are not made in-house.  They certainly picked the right vendor.

Great spot.

The Lodge

We returned to The Lodge in Southbury last night.  This is always a decent meal.  I had the special which was Chicken Pot Pie soup.  The puff pastry topping and creamy soup was excellent.  The chicken sandwich that followed was adequate at best.  The sandwiches are typical bar food.  Decent fries, good onion curly things.  We also had a roast beef sandwich (a bit rare) and a quesadilla.

The service is friendly and it is pretty kid friendly.  And they have a fancy website!

Red Robin

We were in the Hartford area yesterday so we ate at the Red Robin.  There are three Red Robins in Connecticut, but many more in the Mid-Atlantic states.

The restaurant was about 1/2 full at 4pm, which was a surprise.  There is a lot of mall traffic which I am sure drives there business.  The food is actually quite good, although it is the same in each outlet of course.  They have over a dozen varieties of hamburger toppings.  I had the avacado which came with onion, bacon, letuce and mayonaise.  Each meal comes with "bottomless" fries and drinks.

Overall, a high value establishment.

Quick Notes

1. The Woodbury Farmer's market seems to be a success in its first year. We have been impressed by the meat, bread, and jams.
2. Would Southbury allow a real cafe to survive? Or does it have to be a chain? I think a small place that served 8-10 plates on the menu would be a great thing. Simple, quick food.
3. Are there new places on the horizon? What is going into the KMart plaza? They built a new place where Jordan's used to be.

Hot Tamale

I returned to Hot Tamale in Seymour again this week. This restaurant tries to go a little away from traditional Tex-Mex that we are familiar with. It is definitely more a bar than anything else.

The food is tasty. I had a soft chicken taco. The corn tortillas are rather thick and the chicken may be a bit spicy. There are a lot of flavors competing. But overall a good experience.

Service can be friendly, but a bit harried. They seem to be one waitress short.

Good News

Last night we ate at the Good News Cafe in Woodbury. Very good meal all around. The service is first class, the room is great, and you feel like you are the only one in the restaurant.

We had the lamb sausage appetizer and the beef appetizer. The beef is pretty amazing, cooked perfectly and almost melts in your mouth. The accompanying sauce sparkles with flavor. For entrees we had steak and chicken, both excellent. The mashed potatoes have a lot of garlic and butter and are big hits.

Of course, dessert can't be beat. Peach tart and a chocolate cupcake. Great meal, great time all around.

Quick Notes

Some quick notes:

1. Had pizza from DiPalma's tonight. Pretty decent. This isnt my favorite pizza in Southbury but it is consistently excellent.
2. Senor Panchos has been a little down lately. The food seems to be sitting under the heat lamps for awhile before it heads out.
3. I had a great sub from Mikee's Place the other day. #6.
4. "The Bakery" continues to impress. Everything tastes good in this place.
5. If you go to Quassy have the barbecue chicken meal. Quite tasty. Otherwise, bring a picnic (except on Friday night --25 cent hot dogs!).

Maggie's

I dont know why we return to Maggie McFly's in Southbury. Everytime I go I seem to be a little disapointed. Last night the place was busy, but service was very harried. I think a manager stepped in at one point. Drinks didnt arrive, orders were late. Its tough to keep a two year old happy and waiting 40 minutes for a grilled cheese.

And the food really isn't that great. Good, not great. Why is it so popular?

Senor Panchos

Last night we ate at Senor Panchos in Southbury. It was certainly kids hour when we were there with several birthday parties. This place caters to two crowds very well; the young families, and the "night out crowd".

Our daughter is enthralled by the musicians who are very good. The food is usually very good and comes very fast. There is plenty of commotion in this place with a lot of workers so there is plenty to watch. Our food almost always comes with ten minutes.

I ordered the fajitas (chicken and beef). I was not too happy with the meet but the tortillas and extras (guacamole, etc..) were excellent. I could usually pass on the beans and rice as I think they sit out for awhile before service. My wife ordered tacos which were very good. They are "make your own" as the meat comes in a bowl. They could avoid putting the cheese on a hot plate as it ends up melting together.

Overall, a high value establishment.

Julio's

Julio's of Southbury is the subject of our last visit. We visited this restaurant on a Saturday night. The restaurant was full.

We find the pizza here to be excellent. We had the four cheese pizza. This is a wood fired oven and the crust definitely takes on that character. Everything about the pizza tastes fresh. We would prefer if the ricotta was spread out a bit more so we get a taste of each cheese in every bite.

We also had two salads. The regular salad with beef was a hit. The Romano salad was very fresh but the dressing is very tart. Beware.

Service was friendly, but largely absent. It took awhile to get our check and several small mistakes were made. The manager deducted $3 from our bill without us asking for it.

The Lodge

Tonight we ate at The Lodge in Southbury. This is mainly a bar that usually serves quality sandwiches. The place is split in half. One side is the bar and one side is the tables and booths.

This was a rough night for service. We sat ourselves, found menus, and waited for awhile. They were all pleasant but we seemed to have three different waitresses. We also waited a long time for the dinners to come out. They served our daughter first, which was great, but we didn't get our food until she was done, 20 minutes later.

The food is good. The salads taste fresh, the sandwiches are on quality bread, and the meat is tender. Some food is a great deal. I had a salad and 1/2 sandwich for $5.95. However, 5 pieces of fried mozzarella out of a box is $6.95. A tossed salad with three pieces of beef rises from $6.95 to $11.95.

Usually the service is much better. So we recommend you check the menu for some deals and enjoy the food.