2012 Roadfood Eating Tour - Connecticut

I am in Harford early Friday night and would love to join in. I am up for anything. Just ping me the details. Brad

I arrive early evening so if there is a group outing of any sort I am in. Just ping me here with any details. I am at the assigned Sheraton hotel. Brad

Mom and I are on our way!

ChiTownDiner


TTMd at White Hut...good donuts at Donut Dip....jamming at LaSalle Market and Deli in Colinsville....

  AH - it's Big E time (Eastern States Exposition) - White Hut has a space at the Big E for their burgers, and the traffic is bad so they shut down their regular location during fair days.

I am at thr Bradley Hotel.  Any plans for a get togather?
 
Paul

Paul and I are heading to Pho 75 for some dinner. Anyone else in town please drop bye and join us. Cheers!

Just rolled in from Pepe's in New Haven. Had to experience the original & get a preview of Saturday.
 
Had the clam pie of course, a medium. Unbelievable. 
 
A lady asked if I was going to eat all that. She certainly didn't know me!

A standing room only crowd enjoyed donuts al fresco from both vNeil's Donut and Bake Shop and Coffee An'...great seeing old friends and meeting new! 
Let's get this party rolling and off we went heading to The Lunch Box.  steamed chesseburgers, a regional delicacy were the order of the day.  Lots of combinations including the massive steamed cheeseburger omelet...wow!
Off to Sup[er Duper Wienie where our CIA trained owner displayed a wide range of toppings on a solid griddled dog.  We enjoyed ours with saukraut and sauce, chili, cheese and onions and threw in a solid cheesburger deluxe, fries and a B&W shake...all really good!
Wave Hill Bakery was next with oddles of bread and sandwich samples.  Throw in a triple nut brownie, an almond croissant, a GREAT club sandwich and French Toast on house made bread....so good!
The highlight - Frank Pepe's grandson describing his love for Pepe's Pizza and then showcasing a pizza buffet with over 10 different topping combinations!!!  Tal about luving your work!
The audible...Libby's Italian Bakery for cookies...so sweet, so soft, so damn good!
Blackies was up next fro deep fried dogs.  Tried em regular and well done with the spicey relish sauce they are known for!
Finally...love in a cup or cone as mother and son described their love affair with ice cream and the business they've built at Big dipper Ice Cream.
All are reviewed on Roadfood for additional info and I am sure folks will throwe in their comments as well. 
Day 1 - I'm luving it!
 
 

Had such a great time on the tour  . . . wonderful food but even more fabulous people!
 
Can't eat for days . . . 

karilyn


Had such a great time on the tour  . . . wonderful food but even more fabulous people!

Can't eat for days . . . 

Ditto that. Had a blast. Fun hanging out with the Sterns and fellow foodies. Now what's for dinner?
Brad

From the Mayor of West Haven to the Roadfood Tour:
 

Sunday began much like Saturday...only this time, it was Dottie's  Diner Donuts for everyone as we prepared to depart.
Breakfast was at Doogies where many folks partook in the monster 24 inch hot dog, available with many different topping combinations!
Next up, Lenny & Joe's Fish Time restaurant for HOT lobster rolls (as opposed to the cold lobster rolls found northwards), fried whole belly clams, shrimp and scallops (many other combinations were available) and shrimp chowder.  Great to get a fried seafood fix in. 
We finished the Tour at Zuppardi's Apizza in West Haven were the 3rd generation of the family told their story and we got to meet them all along with a good many of the 4th generation!  The fresh shucked white clam pizza (described on the today's Roadfood cover) was fantastic.
A great 2 days with a lot of really neat Roadfooders!
Thanks to Michael Stern and Stephen Rushmore for coordinating and planning this event.
And a special shout out to buffetbuster and Cousin Johnny who have made all 8 tours! 
Can't wait to start planning for next year...

We flew back from Hartford this morning and I was back at work by 9:00AM. 
 
Speaking for myself, my girlfriend and cousin Johnny, we had a fantastic time!  There was a great group of people who really enjoyed participating.  The variety of foods this year made this one of the best tours yet.
 
I can't seem to find my cable to download photos off of the camera.  May have to go buy a card reader tonight.  Hopefully, I will be able to post some photos in the next few days.

It was a short 1 hour and 45 minute drive back home for me yesterday afternoon.
 
The roadfood selections was fantastic, the company was even better, my girlfriend who lives about an hour from Hartford joined in for the Saturday evening festivities and she even had 3 slices of Pizza at 
Modern Pizza in New Haven and an ice cream cone (albeit child size) at Ashley's Ice Cream. 
 

Um, that's Modern Apizza.

Michael Hoffman


Um, that's Modern Apizza.

 
oops 

And don't you forget it!

WOW! What a fantastic time! Both Mom and I had a fabulous time, seeing old friends, making new friends and eating great food! Thanks for everyone's patience with my boot and wheelchair. I appreciate everyone's tolerance. Mom was excited about meeting with Jane again;   and Michael thank you for your graciousness. I know some were worried that I was not able to enjoy myself as much as others but I had 2 days of sitting next to Michael and picking his brain. What a rare treat!
 
My early vote for next year..Charleston!

WJ-you have a girlfriend? I am crushed..........lol! Glad you had a good time!

He broke my heart also....

Glad you ALL had a great time!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anybody naming their favorite tour stop and/or favorite non-tour stop?
 
I enjoyed Zuppardi's and Pepe's almost equally with a dead tie between zip's white clam pie and Pepe's heirloom tomato pie which slipped into the mix as the last pizza out of the oven!
 
Non tour stop favorites included Bob's Clam Hut, Rich Farm and Mamie's...all tops in their categories!
 
Most frustrating...the time spent locating Clamp's even after a local gave us directions (no sign, no phone) and indicated it was still open...and it wasn't!  TTM'd!!!
 

ann

After all the eating I did this weekend, I can truly say there is plenty of me to go around
 
Chi Town Diner
 
Don't fret, you had Cousin Johnny to console you the entire weekend
 
blizzardstormus

I think I speak for everyone that we were all so glad that you and your mom were there to join us in Connecticut over the weekend. 
 
 

ChiTownDiner

Most frustrating...the time spent locating Clamp's even after a local gave us directions (no sign, no phone) and indicated it was still open...and it wasn't!  TTM'd!!!

That what I get for listening to some surfer looking dude in the middle of Connecticut!
 
Zuppardi's probably ended up being my favorite tour spot, although there was plenty of great competition.  Favorite non tour stops would have been Mamie's, Modern Apizza and Dr. Mike's.
 
Cousin Johnny's favorite place from the weekend was Goulash Place, while Mariton especially loved Wave Hill Breads.   

buffetbuster

ChiTownDiner

Most frustrating...the time spent locating Clamp's even after a local gave us directions (no sign, no phone) and indicated it was still open...and it wasn't!  TTM'd!!!

That what I get for listening to some surfer looking dude in the middle of Connecticut!

Zuppardi's probably ended up being my favorite tour spot, although there was plenty of great competition.  Favorite non tour stops would have been Mamie's, Modern Apizza and Dr. Mike's.

Cousin Johnny's favorite place from the weekend was Goulash Place, while Mariton especially loved Wave Hill Breads.   

I've got to go with all tree Apizza Joints (on the official and unofficial tour) as my favorites- Pepe's Zuppardi's and Modern .
And then, Lenny and Joe's Lobster Roll would fall into second place...
 

WJ-
You must have received a much better lobster roll at Lenny & Joe's than we did, because ours was not good at all.  No worries, the wonderful fried clams more than made up for that!

buffetbuster


WJ-
You must have received a much better lobster roll at Lenny & Joe's than we did, because ours was not good at all.  No worries, the wonderful fried clams more than made up for that!

Just like I kept getting the better selection  of veggies in Atlanta
I liked it,  however that's probably because the last lobster roll I had  to compare it to in Manchester NH with Ayersian and Travelin Man was a complete fail
 
What were your thoughts on The Goulash Place? I thought it was just ok but doesn't even come close to Alex's place in Pittsburgh.
 

I thought the food at Goulash Place was good, but nothing special.  The fact that it was our 13th stop of the day probably didn't help.  But, I would agree with you, Jozsa Corner is significantly better.

Greg;
 
A few years ago I arrived at Clamp's at 2:05pm. They close at 2:00, on the dot, and despite my cajoling, would not make me a hamburger. Fortunately, someone at a table there recognized my dilemma and suggested I might want to drive over to Roxbury and a place called Mamie's: Travelin' Manned, but with a happy ending!

Michael-
So that is how you found Mamie's?  That is a happy ending.  We loved that place. 
 
What I don't get about Clamp's is that they have no phone and no street address, other than just U.S. 202 in New Milford.  It's as if they really want to be kept a secret.