2012 Roadfood Eating Tour - Connecticut

Posted from http://www.roadfood.com/merchandise/connecticuteatingtour/
 
September 29-30, 2012
 
Connecticut gave birth to the hot lobster roll and the white clam pizza. It also is home of world-class donuts, hot dogs, cheeseburgers, and ice cream.
 
We will be staying both nights at the Sheraton Bradley Airport hotel in Hartford, where Stephen is arranging special rates ($99/night). The bus will arrive and depart from this location.
 
Having lived in Connecticut for over 30 years, Jane and Michael know the state well, and their good relationships with many of its foremost Roadfood chefs guarantee that a ticket on this bus will provide a once-in-a-lifetime weekend eating adventure. We'll plan to start each day with superior donuts from around the state. From there, we visit bakeries, shoreline lobster shacks, burger stands, and ice cream parlors, ending each day with a feast at one of the state's legendary pizzerias.
 
The ticket price of $229 includes a place on the bus and a couple of the special meals, but most food will be pay as you go.

Looking forward to this one!

Thanks for the update Stephen.  What I am like best about this tour is the variety of foods we will be eating. 

I was just talking to Chi Town Diner about this last night
 
I'm looking forward to it. The last bus tour I went on was Buffalo back in 09.

Very exciting! We are fortunate to live less than 10 miles from Bradley so can spend each night at home ;-) We'd love to do some pre- and post- dining with folks if interested and have some great local ideas if needed .....Terri & Tim

Will an itinerary be available soon?  

Will paypal be the payment of choice?

Just curious: Any price difference if I were to follow on my motorcycle? I'm avid rider. Probably led to my food adventures or vice versa but I digress......

May we guess at the itinerary?    For what it's worth...
Donuts: Neil's
Lobster Rolls: Lobster Landing, Lenny & Joe's
Ice Cream: Ashley's, Big Dipper
Pizza: Pepe's, Modern
Hot Dogs: Doogie's, Blackie's, Super Duper Weenie
I know I've gotta be at least somewhat close!    Chris

TRAK9F - I'm local, and also plan on just following along.  Hopefully that works out ok.

ayersian


May we guess at the itinerary?    For what it's worth...
Donuts: Neil's
Lobster Rolls: Lobster Landing, Lenny & Joe's
Ice Cream: Ashley's, Big Dipper
Pizza: Pepe's, Modern
Hot Dogs: Doogie's, Blackie's, Super Duper Weenie
I know I've gotta be at least somewhat close!    Chris

Doogie's for sure. Pepe's: is there space? Will they give the whole Spot next door to us? I get the feeling that Sue's and my enthusiasm for Abbott's isn't shared by the rest of the Roadfood crew, but it would definitely have the space, the setting is terrific, and they are used to crowds. Or maybe we'll get to the new Kitchen Little; they do hot lobster rolls, don't they? S-D-W will, I think, be on the tour. I'm pretty sure one of the pizza meals will NOT be in New Haven; I'm betting Roseland. Ice cream: Dr. Mike's. Fried clams: Sea Swirl, especially if we're doing Abbott's or Kitchen Little. Burgers: Shady Glen. We'll see.

Chris is pretty close to the proposed trip.  We are still ironing out the details and the surprises.
 
The price is the same with or without the motorcycle.  It is much better if you join us in the bus.  Besides, you can enjoy the foliage better.
 
PayPal will be the payment of choice.

Okay, I got my four!

Whooo Hooo!!!  Can't wait for this one...got my ticket! 

All set and ready to go!
 
Oh and Chi Town Diner, you won't need a pay pal account to go Roadfooding with me in Rhode Island!

ChiTownDiner

 
.......Visa,Mastercard, or American Express will do! 

Karilyn and I are in; they did not have the special rate at the hotel yet?????

2 seats purchased! Very excited! Tim and Terri

Hotel usually follows in the next few weeks!

Will there be one bus or two??
I hope there is a restroom on the bus!
This is something I always hoped would happen and now it is!!
Very exciting!
 

Only one bus.  I wouldn't recommend the restroom on the bus, especially since we are going to be making lots of stops at restaurants with more stable facilities.

Looking forward to it! What a lovely time of the year to be in New England :-)

Well heck. I'm gonna miss this 1 too. Can't blame it on PP though. I'll be on my own 8K mile roadtrip. I'll be in Pahrump, Nevada that weekend.
 
Y'all have fun w/o me. Maybe next year.

Paul went off-topic with my Pahrump mention. Nothing wrong, just threw this important topic way off base. I deleted all of those OT comments.
 
MikeS.

I bought two extra tickets with specific people in mind and have since learned that neither one will be able to go.  If anyone is interested in the tickets, let me know.

Oh TTM...you're being paged!

Working on planning my fall work travel, as we speak. The trip to Denver that I thought I had is the following weekend. I need to see if I have other conflicts.

By bus seat is always open for you big boy!

ChiTownDiner


By bus seat is always open for you big boy!

I thought I was sitting next to you

You're on my lap....

ChiTownDiner


You're on my lap....

 

 

Administrators:
 
I'm really looking forward to this.  But I can't afford the ticket price.  I live in CT and would be following behind the bus.  Is there a problem with that?

I was contacted by someone interested in attending, so my extra tickets are no longer available.

Will there be an announcement when the block of rooms is open at the hotel? I'm wanting to make plans :-)

I am so excited to catch up with familiar faces  . . . . and put a face to some familiar names!

karilyn


I am so excited to catch up with familiar faces  . . . . and put a face to some familiar names!

 
Me too!!! 

icecreamchick


Will there be an announcement when the block of rooms is open at the hotel? I'm wanting to make plans :-)

Look for info in the next week...I'm guessing!

I am supposed to get the hotel booking URL tomorrow.  Will post and email everyone once it comes through.

Greetings Connecticut Roadfood Eating Tour participants!

We are only a couple of months away from what is sure to be one of the best sold-out eating tours ever.  For those of you looking to spend the night at the Sheraton Bradley hotel, we have secured a special rate of $99/night and that includes internet and parking. Since the bus will be arriving and departing from the hotel, everyone is encouraged to stay at that property.  Plus, the unofficial eating tour (pre/post), as veterans know, will originate from the host hotel.  You can book a room at the following URL - https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/StarGroupsWeb/res?id=1208067110&key=67603

Logistically speaking, the bus will be departing promptly at 8:30 AM on Saturday, so please arrive a few minutes early.  We should be back by 6:45 PM.  Sunday will depart at 9 AM and return by 3 PM so those of you can catch flights that evening.

Start saving your appetite!

The Roadfood Team 

Got Fri & Sat...system works well.  Is not avaialbe earlier nights including Thursday.

Greg, it should be available on the earlier nights, let me follow-up with my contact.

Stephen, I don't know if you intended it to be available Sunday night, but it's not.

Hi Stephen,
 
I just added Thursday and Sunday nights.  It should link over in about 15 minutes.
 
If you know of anyone who has already made a reservation and would like to add either Thursday or Sunday please let me know and I can take care of this for them.
 
Thank you Stephen.
 

Peter M Terpos

Director of Sales & Marketing
t — 860.386.7804 c — 413.478.3532  f — 860.623.5284

SHERATON HARTFORD HOTEL AT BRADLEY AIRPORT
1 Bradley Int’l Airport, Windsor Locks, CT 06096

 

Mine is all taken care of...Pete on duty right now.  Thanks Stephen!

Stephen,
Can you add to the reservations page the ability to reserve a room with two double beds vs. a king?
 

Michael, call the hotel if you want a specific room type.

Hello all ,
For those interested in a double dip of tours . Hot Dog Nation will be presenting the 9th Annual Jersey Hot Dog Tour on Sat Sept 22nd . Go to Facebook - Hot Dog Nation or email benzee95@hotmail.com  . John Fox has posted the intinerary here on meets and greets and FB as well
Benzee
 
NOTE: The 9th Annual Hot Dog Tour has no affiliation with Roadfood.com
But many of us enjoy the site (:

Since there hasn't been any guessing at the itinerary for a while, I thought I'd share the results of my Best Unified Roadfood Predictor (BURP). By plotting various high rated locations from the website, I've come to several conclusions:
 
1. Most of the good Roadfood in the state is west of a line from Hartford to West Haven. This does not include the Clinton Seafood Shack Cluster (Clam Castle, Lobster Landing, Lenny & Joe's and Johnny Ad's Drive-In).
2. The Sterns will want to take us to Belgique Chocolatier in Kent before it closes in October (according to Chowhound). This would lead the tour deep into the western part of the state.
3. Since Saturday is the longer day, that trip will have a longer sweep of the state and will be concentrated on the western side.
4. I don't have enough to do.
 
With this in mind, this is my prediction using BURP:

Saturday:
Bantam Bread Co.
Belgique Chocolatier 
Clamps Hamburger Stand
Bridgewater Chocolate
Amiogs Deli & Groceries
Dr. Mike's Ice Cream
Burgerrittoville
Botsford Drive-In
Blackie's Hot Dog Stand
Clamdigger
The Big Dipper
K. LaMay's Steamed Cheeseburgers and/or Ted's
Glenwood Drive-In
and the using the Bilmes-Boyle Theory that one pizza dinner will not be in New Haven -
Either Roseland or First Street Apizza
 
Sunday, BURP isn't quite so helpful but here it goes:
 
Bush Meadow Farm
Shady Glen
The New Britain Hot Dog Pound (Doggie's, The Dawg House, Capitol Lunch)
The Clinton Seafood Shack Cluster
a possible side trip to hit Kamp Dog, Abbott's and Kitchen Little
Bishop's Orchards
and then New Haven (Which would avoid Saturday night crowds)
 
Any feedback you could give me on BURP would be appreciated.

TnTinCT


Very exciting! We are fortunate to live less than 10 miles from Bradley so can spend each night at home ;-) We'd love to do some pre- and post- dining with folks if interested and have some great local ideas if needed .....Terri & Tim

Kerry and I will be there Thursday and leaving Monday, and would love to take you and others up on the offer.  Best of all, Kerry will have her tarheel blue vw convertible, also known as the heelmobile.  Me, I'm flying, but she is on extended vacation.

y'all should know, that one of my favorite near-an-airport/hot-grinder/red-spaghetti/eggplant/Thursday-and-Friday-happy-hour-buffet places in the US is on route 75, maybe the closest restaurant to the airport is the Skyline Restaurant

 
Second Poquonock Giant Grinder has one of the best cold Italian combo giant grinders I've ever had ... perfect bring-back-to-the-room food.

@wheregregeats.com Thank you! Can't wait. Looked up the Skyline Restaurant on www.maps.google.com/ & it's within super easy walking distance of the Sheraton. 
 
The menu portion of its website www.skylinerestaurantct.com/ isn't working, but it looks as if its open for both lunch and dinner each day, if its website is up to date. That's great as I plan to arrive Thursday and leave Monday afternoon.

There is also a really great hot dog truck on 75, just about a mile and a half from the hotel.  http://www.millsieshotdogs.com/  They are only open Mon - Fri for lunch.  They use a nice big Mucke's dog.  The dog is griddled, the bun is steamed, and all of the toppings are free.  I would suggest their meat sauce, grilled onions and brown mustard.  I go here from work on my lunch break every couple weeks and down a couple dogs.

wheregreggeats.com - I go to Second Poquonock Giant Grinder almost every Friday for lunch.  I'm actually not a fan of their deli meat sandwiches.  I stick with the chicken mostly.  The fried chicken is good, and its very inexpensive.  Their chicken cutlets are ridiculously crispy and make for fantastic versions of Chicken Parm and Buffalo Chicken grinders.  They also have a very good Gyro.  Perhaps the main reason to go is for their vision of the Philly Cheese Steak.  It's not very authentic, but I have never seen a bigger version ANYWHERE!

I know this is a longshot, but does anyone have an extra ticket they would like to sell?

I have one ticket available and have sent you a PM.

Have a free day Friday in Hartford (you're very welcome to join me) and can't wait to enjoy some places in New Haven.
Know we will probably visit at least one pizza place there, but which one depends on the owner willing to keep enough seats free for our bus. There's no way I want to miss Pepe's, which has been at the very top of my bucket list for a longtime. If get to eat there twice, all the better!
It's easy to reach New Haven without a car. An airport express taking about 30 minutes leaves the terminals adjacent to the Sheraton approximately every hour and costs $1.30 each way, with a stop at Union Station. Details: http://www.cttransit.com/...dules/BradleyFlyer.asp
Amtrak costs $18 roundtrip and must be reserved at Amtrak.com. This rate costs less than the AAA and senior one and I believe it must be booked 14 days in advance. Details: http://amtrak.com
Once in New Haven, the top choices on my list are within fairly easy walking distance of the station, except Modern Apizza, 1.4 miles away. I will walk, but you may wish to take a taxi.
Yale and the famous Green are also close by.

A head's up to folks - although not know as a CT roadfood spot - it certainly is a NYC one with a new outpost - the Shake Shack is opening this week in New Haven right across from the New Haven green.  Simply one of the best burgers that I have ever had the pleasure of eating.
 

Our plans have gelled a bit. We probably won't be available much before dinnertime, but we'd be delighted to join folks for dinner on Friday night.

For those coming in early for the trip - the "Big E" is underway through September 30 - and is about an 18 mile drive from the airport. The Eastern States Exposition is a large state fair - but since our New England states are relatively small, the Big E combines them all into one large event. The fair is open every night until 9p - my advice? Skip most of the food vendors and head to the back side of the fair where you can find dedicated buildings to each individual state - there is great food to be found here, along with unique gifts and crafts. Have a NY System wiener with that lovely sauce, onions, and celery seed or clam cakes in Rhode Island, a Maine lobster roll, stuffed baked potato and blueberry pie in Maine, great Granville cheddar cheese, more lobster rolls, and clam chowder in Massachusetts, or visit the largest Pez "store" you've ever seen in Connecticut. Vermont and New Hampshire are represented with Ben & Jerry's ice cream, lots of maple products and yet more cheddar cheese. It's apple season now, too - so lots of cider, donuts, and fritters. A great way to get a little taste of a lot of New England in one place. More info here - http://www.thebige.com/fair/