All The Best Food In Connecticut You Need To Eat In 2019

CONNECTICUT — As 2018 came to a close and 2019 has begun, it's a good time to think back on the highlights. Especially when those highlights involve food.

The good folks at The Daily Meal website, who analyze all things related to dining and drinking, have been using their tastebuds all year to determine the best places to get everything from pretzels to pizza, and burritos to beer.

They've compiled their wisdom into the annual guide to the best food and drink across the country.

Many of these spots that offer up the tastiest eats across the United States are right here in Connecticut. The website's list of 30 must-visit establishments in Connecticut features those that are among the nation's very best. You can use it as your 2019 culinary bucket list.

But first, a note about Connecticut's current culinary scene. The state "actually has a lot going for it when it comes to food," the website says.

"To get specific, Connecticut stakes a claim to having been the birthplace of the hamburger, at the still-thriving Louis' Lunch in New Haven; New Haven is also pretty much the pizza capital of America, home to the ineffable Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (not to mention such standard-bearers as Modern Apizza, Sally's Apizza, Ernie's, Zuppardi's, the Brü Room at BAR, and Mike's Apizza); and with its 96-mile coastline, Connecticut is a great place for seafood, too," The Daily Meal writes in its analysis of Connecticut's culinary scene.

So whether it's fine dining or street food you crave, here are some highlights of the best food and drink in the state via The Daily Meal:

• Best All-You-Can-Eat Deal: Evergreens at the Simsbury Inn (Simsbury)
• Best Bar: The Griswold Inn Tap Room (Essex)
• Best Beer: Fuzzy Baby Ducks by New England Brewing Co. (Woodbridge)
• Best Brunch: Engine Room (Mystic)
• Best Burger: The Original Burger at Louis’ Lunch (New Haven)
• Best Chinese Restaurant: Peking Edo (New Haven)
• Best Cupcake: Sugar Cupcakery & Bakery (East Haven)
• Best Dive Bar: The Spigot (Hartford)
• Best Food Truck: The Mercado Food Truck (Glastonbury)
• Best Grocery Store: Stew Leonard’s
• Best Hot Dog: Super Duper Weenie (Fairfield)
• Best Ice Cream Stand: Ferris Acres Creamery (Newtown)
• Best Lasagna: Rossitto’s Ristorante (Branford)
• Best Mexican Restaurant: El Charrito (Riverside)
• Most Romantic Restaurant: Vue 24 (Mashantucket)
• Best Pancakes: Somewhere in Time (Mystic)
• Best Pasta Dish: Lasagna, Consiglio’s (New Haven
• Best Pizza: Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (New Haven)
• Best Restaurant for Breakfast: Dottie’s Diner (Woodbury)
• Best Restaurant: Oyster Club (Mystic)
• Best Sandwich: Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough (Noank)
• Best Seafood Shack: Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough (Noank)
• Best Steakhouse: David Burke Prime, Mashantucket

You can see the the full guide to the best food and drink in every state by clicking here.

MORE FOOD NEWS

• 9 CT Pizza Places Among Nation's Top 100: Daily Meal
• This Restaurant Named Best Breakfast In Connecticut: People Magazine
• Here's Connecticut's Best Burger: Report
• This Is The Best Burger Restaurant In Connecticut, New list Says - Patch
• America's Third Best Diner Is Right Here In Connecticut