4 Of America's Best Casual Restaurants Are In CT: Daily Meal

CONNECTICUT — With world-famous pizzerias and award-winning world class dining experiences available all over the state, Connecticut is certainly is not hurting when it comes to places with great food. If you're looking to get your meal in a casual and comfortable environment, you may want to give one of these places a try.

The Daily Meal has released a list of the 101 Best Casual Restaurants in America, and four of them are in Connecticut. Abbott's Lobster in the Rough in Noank, Louis Lunch in New Haven, Sally’s Apizza in New Haven and the world-famous Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana all earned a spot on the list of restaurants "where price is no barrier to entry, and you'll feel right at home in jeans."

The inclusion of Louis Lunch, which ranked at no. 11 on the list, shouldn't be too surprising, given that it has been recognized by the Library of Congress as the "Birthplace of the Hamburger Sandwich." Family-owned and operated since 1895, Louis Lunch is currently run by its 4th generation of owners and is one of the oldest family-run businesses in the country, according to their website.

"You can practically taste the nostalgia at the diminutive Louis' Lunch," Daily Meal editor Dan Myers writes. "The burger is indeed delicious, but this tiny restaurant, with its handful of well-worn tables and huge dose of history, is worth the visit alone."

The New Haven favorite is widely known for serving its burgers on slices of bread as opposed to buns, and for it's original cast-iron grills, dating back to 1898, on which those burgers are cooked.

"The Lassen family hold firm on their desire not to offer any condiments. The Louis Lunch experience is about the taste and simplicity of a fresh burger grilled to perfection. Cheese, tomato, and onion are the only acceptable garnish," the restaurant's website reads.

Equally unsurprising is the inclusion of Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana in New Haven, which ranked at no. 3 on the list. Frankly, anyone who knows pizza knows Pepe's, as the famed Connecticut pizzeria has been named the best pizza in the country by a number of publications.

Pepe's opened in New Haven in 1925 and specializes in thin crust pizza pies. According to the pizzeria's website, each pizza is cooked in a coal fire oven to give these "tomato pies" their famous crisp, charred, chewy crust.

While the original location is still located in New Haven, Pepe's has since opened locations in Fairfield, Danbury, Manchester, West Hartford, Waterbury and Uncasville, as well as a few other locations outside of Connecticut.

Most who know Pepe's also know of Sally's Apizza in New Haven, mainly because it is located right down the street on Wooster Street and was opened in the late 1930's by Frank Pepe's nephew, Salvatore Consiglio. Sally's ranked at no. 14 on the Daily Meal's list, which praises their pies for their "traditionally thin crust, topped with tomato sauce, garlic, and 'mozz.'"

According to their website, each pie at Sally's is individually hand-made and carefully baked in a coal-fired oven. Many dignitaries, athletes and stars have dined at Sally's over the years, including Frank Sinatra, Bill Clinton, Kathleen Turner, Don Rickles and Jimmy Durante among others.

Also earning a spot on the list at no. 36 is Abbott's Lobster in the Rough in Noank. The Daily Meal highlights the casual waterfront restaurant's "legendary, BYOB, counter-service" and its location on the Mystic River.

"Their lobster rolls come in a few varieties," Myers writes. "First, there's the Maine-style lobster salad roll, cold lobster tossed with celery and a mayo-based dressing in a toasted split top bun. Then there’s the piece de resistance: their famous Connecticut-style hot lobster roll, a full quarter-pound of lobster meat (a little more than what you'd get out of one whole small lobster), drenched in butter and heaped on a toasted, sesame seed-topped hamburger bun."

See also: 4 CT 'Hole In The Wall' Restaurants Best In Country: Daily Meal

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6 CT Pizza Places Among Nation's Top 100, Daily Meal Says

See the full Daily Meal list here.