I have lived in Connecticut for
over a little over a year. Before that, I split time between Connecticut and
Delaware. I liked Connecticut better in every way, except for the food. Any
decent restaurant, apart from Willington Pizza required, at minimum, a fifteen
minute drive on I-84. Manchester, the nearest city of any notable size, is a
haven of chain restaurant dreck. Over
the past few years, my wife, Casey, and I have found some really good restaurants
in the area, but this has required significant trial and error. So in the past
year, we expanded our range of restaurants to the communities south and west of
Hartford. Our view of the Connecticut restaurant scene has improved immeasurably.
In our culinary travels, we discovered one of the things that the Greater
Hartford restaurant scene does really well: burgers. There are a number of high
quality burger bars that offer a range of delicious options.
1. Plan B Burger Bar: http://www.planbburger.com/
Plan B is a small Connecticut area
burger chain with five locations in Connecticut and one in Massachusetts. Plan
B keeps its focus on the burgers, offering twenty-two different varieties. They
include a range of proteins including lobster (Casey’s favorite) Salmon, Portobello
mushrooms, chicken, turkey, and pork. Plan B also offers salads and a few other
entrees, but the burgers shine through. I am especially fond of the Pretzel
Burger, with spicy mustard, lettuce, pickles, and cheddar cheese. Plan B steak fries are especially delicious,
thick cut and with a crunchy exterior. Casey eschews the fries altogether and
orders their Tater Tots. They also have an impressive list of beers and
bourbons available. The B Cup dessert, a flourless double chocolate cake filled
with white chocolate mousse dipped in chocolate ganache, made me laugh when it
came to the table as it looks exactly like a Hostess Cupcake and tastes like a
grown-up version of it. The service at Plan B is organized, friendly, and
efficient. Plan B earns the top spot
because if you told me I could only go to one of these places ever again, I would
chose Plan B without any hesitation.
2. Max Burger Bar: http://www.maxrestaurantgroup.com/burger/
Max Burger is the burger outpost of
the Hartford area Max Restaurant Group. We have only eaten at Max Fish
(although Casey and I are planning to visit Max Oyster Bar soon) and enjoyed it
greatly. Max Burger serves as a quality entry in the Connecticut burger scene. It
has a lively atmosphere and friendly and attentive service. Burgers are not quite
the center of focus like at Plan B. Instead Max Burger offers a broader menu of
sandwiches, starters, salads, and entrees. I was especially pleased with my
Miss Daisy burger featuring brie cheese, applewood smoked bacon, apple honey
Dijonaise, lettuce, tomato, on toasted brioche bread. I also enjoyed the French
fries at Max Burger (I stole some of Casey’s—I do that often). The homemade
whoopie pies were delightful. The filling was fluffy and the cookie part was
crispy on the outside and flaky and cake-like on the inside. It was one of the
best whoopie pies I have eaten in a long time. I would readily drive through
Hartford again and again to eat at Max Burger.
3. Corey’s Catsup and Mustard: http://catsupandmustard.com/
Corey’s is one of the few places
worth eating at in Manchester. Located in downtown Manchester, Corey’s features
a menu of burgers, sandwiches, apps, and salads. Its burger menu offers an
inventive takes on classic dishes. My personal favorite is the Auntie Laurie’s
Burger featuring house made mustard, horseradish cheddar, a pretzel bun (I like
burgers on pretzel buns), bacon, lettuce, and tomato. The burger combines three
classic pairings: a BLT, pretzels and mustard, and a burger and cheese. The
combination results in a juicy, flavorful, and filling burger. Corey’s offers a
variety of crunchy and delicious French fries wonderfully showered in salt.
While Corey’s is the closest to
where Casey and I live, we have two issues with it: first it was featured on
Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives,
a nearly unforgivable sin. Second the restaurant itself is much too small. This
results in a minimum wait of 45 minutes at any normal dining hour (unless you
want to cram into the bar) and the front of the house seems unable to turn the
tables over quickly. Casey and I have watched on numerous occasions, including
once with friends whom we had promised a delicious meal, as empty tables
remained un-cleared or empty for ten minutes or more. For a small burger bar,
it would seem that turning over tables quickly would be essential to business.
Next time, I will list some of
local restaurants that Casey and I have uncovered.
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