Greenwich and Port Chester Restaurant Week | 10/16 - 10/21/2011

Greenwich and Port Chester Restaurant Week starts today!  Cheers!

Stamford Restaurant Weeks Winter 2011

Sunday, February 27th to Sunday, March 13th

Two weeks of Prixe Fixe meals (usually app, entree, and dessert) at the restaurants listed below.  We're still wondering why these things don't come with beer...

$10.11 Lunch and $15.11 Dinner

Black Bear Saloon

Bobby Valentine's Sports Gallery Café

Butterfield 8 Restaurant and Lounge

Capriccia Café

Kujaku Japanese Restaurant

Lola's Mexican Kitchen

Remo's Pizza Company (Mon-Thurs)

SBC Downtown Restaurant and Brewery

$15.11 Lunch and $25.11 Dinner

Chez Jean-Pierra (excludes Sat)

Kotobuki Japanese Restaurant

Quattro Pazzi (Sun-Thurs)

Riviera Maya Mexican Restaurant

Tengda Asian Bistro

$20.11 Lunch and $30.11 Dinner

Aria Restaurant (excludes Sat)

Barcelona Restaurant and Wine Bar

Capital Grille, The

Columbus Park Trattoria

Emme of Capri

EOS Greek Cuising (Sun-Thurs)

Napa and Co. (Lunch only)

Market Restaurant

Mitchell's Fish Market

Morton's The Steakhouse (Dinner only)

Telluride

Cheers!

Westport Restaurant Week Winter 2011

Sunday, February 27th - Sunday, March 5th

We can't find any links to the restaurant week menus posted online, so we've linked to the restaurants' websites for you.  Our top pick?  Bobby Q's!  Review to come soon...

$10.11 Lunch and $20.11 Dinner

Bobby Q’s Bodacious BBQ and Grill

Bombay Club Mansion Clam House

$15.11 Lunch and $30.11 Dinner

Acqua Ristorante (Dinner only) Blue Lemon (20.11 Lunch) Coromandel  DaPietro’s La Villa Trattoria Manolo Matsu Sushi River House Tavern Rizzuto’s  Splash (Dinner only)  Tarantino’s (Dinner only) Tavern on Main

Thali

IHOP Free Pancake Day 2010

Who doesn't love pancakes? Even better, who doesn't love FREE pancakes? Get your free short stack tomorrow (2/23/1010) at IHOP! It's National Pancake Day!

All that IHOP asks is that you make a donation to the Children's Miracle Network.

http://www.ihoppancakeday.com/

Brickhouse Bar and Grill

Brickhouse Bar and Grill
Stamford, CT
Menu

Taps: Anchor Steam, Bass Ale, Blue Moon, Bud Lite, Miller Lite, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Palm, Samuel Adams Boston Lager, Samuel Adams Seasonal, Stella Artois, Stone IPA.

Have you ever taken a step back and looked at Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s acting career? What a crap sandwich pu-pu platter of movies; “Gridiron Gang.” “The Scorpion King.” “The Tooth Fairy.” “Race to Witch Mountain.” you get the drift.

I mean, this guy is THE ROCK! The creator and sole proprietor of the People’s Elbow. The man who encourages you to shove it up your roodie-poo candy ass. He obviously wanted to be the next Stallone or Schwarzenegger; but with all the corny kids movie’s he’s done, he may as well join the Wiggles. So why would the People’s Champ keep signing up for these abominations?

Money. The same thing that keeps us going back to Brickhouse.

What can you say about Brickhouse? It’s always overcrowded. The music is about 50% higher than it ever should be. You’re ALWAYS in somebody’s way. Cigarette smoke whips through the corridors like a wind tunnel. They serve shots in those little plastic lids that you use to drink your Robitussin. But who the hell are we to pass up $5 Miller Lite pitchers and 25 cent wings on Wednesdays? Much like The Rock, we’ll all take a bit of crap if the money’s right. And on Brickhouse Wednesdays, the money is right.

This past Wednesday marked the latest chapter in our storied relationship with Brickhouse. I hadn’t been since October, and I was ready to step back in the ring. I got to the bar before anybody else, so I grabbed the biggest table available…a table for four.

Now, Brickhouse features a bizarre barrier between the bar and the tables, meaning that on either side of the barrier [EDIT: This barrier is required by law for bars], you have approximately 2 feet of room to walk. There are only so many seats at the bar, and no table can accommodate more than 4 people, so what you get is a ton of spillover into the aforementioned 2-foot walkway. You can’t possibly not be in the way. The wait staff hates you, and you can tell. If you want to go to the bathroom, you have to ask a dozen or so people to move, which means screaming in their ear due to “Tik Tok” blaring at an unnecessary volume from the speakers above.

The wings are nice and flavorful, with a bunch of different sauce options (not that I ever get anything other than Buffalo), and you find yourself ordering round after round of pitchers because they’re so beautifully affordable. But once you’ve reached your fill, you just want to go. Nothing more to see here. On this night, we stayed a while.

After I lost my voice an hour into our stay at Brickhouse, I just stopped talking to people. I literally ignored my friends and watched some lopsided college hoops game. Having a conversation takes too much effort in Brickhouse. You know when you tell a joke, and someone says “what?” so you repeat it, they say “what?” again, and you say nevermind, because now the joke has been overanticipated and is destined to fail? That’s Brickhouse.

But again. $5 Miller Lite pitchers. 25 cent wings. It’s just too good to pass up.

If anyone from Brickhouse ever reads this, please: Turn down the music. Take down the barrier. It will improve the bar ten-fold. Until then, you simply can’t justify going unless it’s a Wednesday.

But even then, you don’t feel great about yourself. You feel like you’re better than this. You’re only in it for the money. But really: who could pass up such a good deal?

Suddenly, it dawns on you. You can smell what the Rock is cookin’.

-Ryan

Go to Restaurant.com to get a $10 dollar gift certificate for 80 cents using coupon code INDULGE (expired - but search google for one).

Connecticut Beer and Food Happenings

You might have noticed some recent changes to our blog. For starters, we added that nifty menu to the left. You're probably looking at it thinking its just useless advertisements. WRONG! Although we write this because its fun, and a good amount of you seem to enjoy it, everyone likes to make a little beer money.

All we ask is that if you're going to buy something from Amazon, click that little box over there to access the Amazon site. That way we earn some coin (4% of the amount you spend) and you don't spend anything extra.

Next, the button above that, Restaurant.com, is actually very useful to you and also has the ability to earn us some money. Go to restaurant.com (through our link), put in your zip code, and voila! There's a listing of restaurants near you with the option to purchase $25 gift certificates to that chosen restaurant for $10. Not bad eh? But wait! There's MORE! (had to do it). Don't ever buy anything from that site full priced. There's always a coupon code (use the code "ENJOY" for 60% off through 9/21). The sites legit, I've been using it for a bout two years now and haven't had any problems. I'll try my best to update you with current coupon codes and provide links when we review restaurants or bars listed there.

Enough of the infomercial - on to bigger and better news.

Stone Brewing Company is probably my favorite brewing company. They have great beers in their line up, and a really cool gargoyle on each bottle. Can't go wrong with that. Unfortunately, they haven't distributed to Connecticut until now.

Welcome them to Connecticut by joining them in some kick-off events across the state. They'll have several of their delicious beers available and probably some giveaways. I recommend that you check them out. Here's the schedule:

Tuesday, September 22
6:00pm - Stone CT Kick-off at Prime 16 (New Haven)
9:00pm - Stone CT kick-off at Delaney's (New Haven)

Wednesday, September 23
6:00pm - Stone CT Kick-off at Plan B Burger Bar (Glastonbury)

Thursday, September 24
6:00pm - Stone CT Kick-off at Tigin Irish Pub (Stamford)
9:00pm - Stone CT Kick-off at Monster B's Bar & Grill (Stamford)

Friday, September 25
6:00pm - Stone CT Kick-off at The Ginger Man (Norwalk)

There's a very good chance you'll find us at Monster's on Thursday and possibly at Tigin before. If that doesn't do it for you, here are some more events in Connecticut this month:

9/21
Craft Brewers Oktoberfest Beer Tasting, Willimantic Brewery (Willimantic)

9/26
Pipes in the Valley Celtic Music Festival (Hartford)
Go there for bagpipes, falconry, highland games, and of course food and beer.

Brewers Fest, Ski Sundown (New Hartford)

9/26-27
Blues, Views & BBQ Festival, Levitt Pavilion (Westport)

Enjoy!

-Kyle

Black Bear Saloon @ Stamford

Stamford, CT
http://www.blackbearstamford.com/

Menu

Happy Hour: M-F 4-7pm
$3 drafts & wells, other daily food specials

In nature, a brown bear is more likely to attack you for territorial reasons. They think you’re messing with their babies; and they don’t like that kind of thing. Play dead and start praying. On the other hand, if a black bear attacks you, you’d better try to fight it off - it’s more than likely trying to eat you.

Exactly one week ago, however, it was we that were eating the Black Bear, in Stamford’s Columbus Circle. While I was much chagrined to learn that seared bear loin was not available on the menu, I found solace in a huge cheeseburger, which I proceeded to rip from limb to limb like a black bear (Ursus americanus) might a wayward hiker.

We went on a Tuesday, which was 2 for 1 burger night. There are two ways to go about this deal:

1. Maximum Gluttony. Be a man and order two burgers for yourself for the price of one.
2. Gentlemanly Restraint. Eat one burger and pretend to be full afterwards.

I’d like to tell you we fought the good fight and chose option 1. I’d like to tell you that. But prison is no fairy tale world.

Whoops, got caught up in Shawshank Redemption.

Yes, dear friends, myself and my 3 companions each enjoyed one of Black Bear’s fine burgers. I went with the Bleu Cheese Bacon Burger. The beef was tasty and tender, high-fiving the bacon and seesawing back and forth over my palette with its good friend, Bleu cheese. I also decided to have sweet potato fries as opposed to its more traditional counterpart because hey: I’m crazy like that. They were quite good.

All I ask is 3 beers apiece for each of my coworkers. Damn it, Shawshank. Black Bear had the dubious task of being the next Restaurant/Bar review following Monster B’s and their bevy of beer, and the difference in selection is obviously huge. But really, as long as they have one beer you really like, it’s not so bad, huh? So the four of us went with the always satisfying Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. And pints were just $3 all night. Score.

Here’s the beers that were on tap:
Bass, Bud light, Budweiser, Guinness, Magic Hat Circus Boy, Miller Lite, Sam Adams Winter Lager, Shocktop, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Stella Artois,

A few other things:

Every one of their booths running across the back wall has its own TV. We watched the Yankee game and laughed gregariously at the miserable job the closed caption guy was doing. “Alex Rodriguez is dalkgdan 2 gor 4 tonihgty.” That kind of thing. Good comedy.

Also, we were able to knock 10% off the bill with the iShop Stamford Downtown card (http://www.ishopstamforddowntown/). How’s a huge burger with fries and two Sierra Nevadas for about $12 plus tip sound?

Black Bear has deals Sun-Wed every week, and that’s a great time to check the place out. Good food, good beer, what more could you want? Maybe the opportunity to lasso a bear, but now I’m splitting hairs.

In the battle of Food vs. Beer, it is hereby decreed that Black Bear is…

A food place! Go around 6-7 and enjoy it before it gets annoyingly clubby.

-Ryan

Stamford Restaurant Week Summer 2009

I'm a day late in posting this, but I'm sure you'll manage. Yesterday, Monday, August 17th, was the first day of Stamford's Restaurant Weeks, which will continue for the next two weeks until Sunday, August 30th. Restaurant Week gives you the opportunity to get a full 3 course meal (most restaurants offer an appetizer, entrée, and dessert) for a fixed price with choices from a special prix-fixe menu. Although you may be able to find some deals, beware, not everything is worth it.

Here's the chart of participating restaurants (click for menus):

$10.09 Lunch and $15.09 Dinner

Black Bear Saloon Kujaku Japanese Restaurant SBC Restaurant & Brewery Tigin Irish Pub & Restaurant*

$10.09 Lunch and $20.09 Dinner

Remo’s Brick Oven Pizza Company Republic Grill Asian Bistro

$19.09 Lunch and $30.09 Dinner

BUtterfield 8 Chez Jean-Pierre Columbus Park Trattoria Emme of Capri Ferrante Market Restaurant** Mitchell’s Fish Market Mona Lisa Ristorante Telluride The Capital Grille

*Call 203-353-8444 for details
**Dinner Only

Stamford Downtown Restaurant Week '09 Site

I've taken a brief look at most of the menus and in general most of the lunches to me seem like pretty awesome deals. The majority of lunch menus are nearly the same as the dinner menus and are significantly cheaper. But who goes out for a big lunch? As far as dinner goes, I think your best bet is to try the restaurants that are generally more expensive to begin with. Although $30.09 per person may seem like a lot, some of the restaurants on the list are serving entrees that usually cost more than that.

Take The Capital Grille for example – If I were to go there I'd order:

Clam Chowder: $8
Kona Crusted Dry Aged Sirloin with Shallot Butter: $42
Creamed Spinach: $9
Flourless Chocolate Expresso Cake: $7

Total Normal Cost: $66

There are other menu options that you could choose, but they all come out to about the same total cost. With restaurant week you can eat at a great steak house with 50% off. However, some deals suck. Black Bear thought it was a great idea to offer only an entrée, say their Southwestern Burger, for $15.09 when it usually costs only $9.99 – go figure!

Anyway, check out the menus and decide what you like best. Post some comments and share your thoughts on any of these restaurants or deals!

OTHER NEWS:

While you're doing Stamford restaurant stuff, make sure you sign up for the free iShop Stamford Downtown Card for 10% off selected restaurants and stores.

New York City Restaurant Week has been extended through Labor Day (weekdays only).

Boston Restaurant Week continues through Friday, August 21st.

And although unrelated to food and beer, everyone hates taxes, so I thought I'd remind you that it's Tax Free Week in Connecticut this week until August 22nd, for all clothing, shoes, and accessories under $300.

-Kyle