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Looking for Real New England Food?
Inns and diners with great regional treats
by Johnette Rodriguez
Eateries that offer old-fashioned New England foods can be as modest as a roadside diner or as fancy as a historic inn. The following are tried-and-true consumer-pleasing spots, whether the main attraction is boiled lobster, a thick bowl of fish chowder, a lobster pot pie, a blueberry pie, or Indian pudding.
Connecticut
The Silvermine Tavern
194 Perry Ave.
Norwalk
888-693-9967, 203-847-4558
silverminetavern.com
Eating deep-dish chicken pot pie in a 200-year-old building next to a waterfall is almost heaven. Add Silvermine's signature honey-pecan buns, and it's downright celestial.
Maine
Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound
1237 Bar Harbor Rd. (Route 3)
Trenton
207-667-2977
trentonbridgelobster.com
Most Mainiacs swear by the summer tradition of lobster boiled in pots of seawater on outdoor wood-fire pits. Is it the super-freshness of the seafood or the minerals in the water? You be the judge.
Massachusetts
Longfellow's Wayside Inn
72 Wayside Inn Rd. (off Rte. 20 West)
Sudbury
800-339-1776; 978-443-1776
wayside.org
You can almost smell the history of this 18th-century inn, along with the aromas of pot roast and Indian pudding. Wayside is the first recipient of an NEA/Poetry Foundation grant to celebrate the country's historic poetry sites, and its grounds include other historic buildings to explore as well.
New Hampshire
Geno's Chowder & Sandwich Shop
177 Mechanic St.
Portsmouth
603-427-2070
Plenty of seafood in the chowders, plenty of homemade taste in the pies and puddings, and lots of politicos on the walls. Chat with owner Evelyn Marconi about her days on the City Council.
Rhode Island
Shelter Harbor Inn
10 Wagner Rd. (off Rte. 1 North)
Westerly
800-468-8883; 401-322-8883
shelterharborinn.com
With a history as an early 19th-century farmhouse and an early 20th-century "music colony," this inn is all about broad fireplaces, wide floorboards, and gentle candlelight. Not to mention chowder, jonnycakes, seafood pot pie, finnan haddie, and Indian pudding.
Vermont
Putney Diner
82 Main St.
Putney
802-387-5433
putney.net/diner
From buckwheat pancakes (breakfast all day) to meatloaf with mashed spuds, this friendly diner is nostalgia personified. The mac-and-cheese uses local cheddar, and the homemade pies (including Vermont maple walnut) can't be beat.
Reader Comments
Comment from CAROLYN HARLOW on February 27, 2008
I found a place in Kittery,Me. It is on Clancy Creek[more like a river], they serve two kinds of chowdah--the thick kind that your spoon would stand up in[lately it seems favored] and the kind my mother made[we are a long standing new england family] which is thickened by the potatoes and filled with clam juice and made by her Newburyport Mother. Clancy Creek is a lobster pound in the rough. Pick out the size of your lobster and sit out on a deck right on the river. Bring your own wine or champagne and if you are having a party, decorations. My husband+I were celebrating our 49th anniversary and the staff actually found crystal glasses for us. The lobsters are GREAT!!! We had a wonderful time.
Comment from Kathy Corbett-Welch on February 29, 2008
The best kept secret in Boston is FLORIAN HALL on Halett St in Dorchester, at Neponset Circle. This is the union hall for Boston FireFighters. Lunch is served until 3:00 mon-fri. The food is fresh, basic and a belly full! Yesterday my mother had roast pork with dressing, roasted potatoes and baby corn. I had fried fish,fries and onion rings. OK, the rings were pedestrian but the fish had the clean, sweet flavor that only fresh fish can have. The Lobster Bisque was full of lobster pieces. 2 dinners with salad/soup, meal and endless soft drinks cost less than $25.00. Go!
Comment from Sharon Todd on March 4, 2008
I love going to Moody's Diner in Waldoboro, Maine. The freshly made corned beef hash at breakfast is the best I have ever had. They have great food all day long and the prices are excellent.
Comment from Sarah Tiberi on April 8, 2008
The first Reader Comment must be referring to Chauncey Creek Lobster Pier (www.chaunceycreek.com). It is indeed a wonderful place, and I wanted to be sure readers got the name right so they could find it. I also agree with her about clam chowder. This thick version (which they like to call "rich" or "creamy") is just over-thickened with flour. Unfortunately, this seems to be what the tourists expect nowadays, but it's not like what my mother and grandmother made either.
Comment from Roy Jacques on April 14, 2008
Does anyone know where you can get RI style clam chowder anywhere near Newburyport Ma. ? I just love it and can't ever seem to find any. Thanks
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