3/7/09-Liuzzi Cheese, North Haven, CT

Needed to pick up a few things to make our famous pizzas tonight for dinner so we went out here for lunch. I ordered an Italian combo on a hard roll--nice good bread and store made sopressatta with ham, salami, lettuce and tomato. When we got up to the counter to order (this place was busy!! we waited 10 min in line!) there was a HUGE sandwich on display that had fresh mozz, sopressatta, ham, prociutto, tomato, lettuce on a nice big ciabatta bread--Tom says to the girl behind the counter, "I want whatever that is." "All of it?" "Yep, all of it." "Can I cut it in half and wrap the halves seperately?" That's how big this damn thing was. I am glad to say he only ate half and it was very good.

This Italian market has a great selection of premade foods, prepared foods, deli meats and lots of cheeses. I want to come back here another day when its not so busy so I can just poke around.

www.liuzzicheese.com

2/28/09-Rustic Oak, North Haven, CT

Nice hometown restaurant with the greatest fireplace! For me, it only feels appropriate to come here in the winter when they have the fire going. Eating here is like eating with your family on holidays--a menu filled with your average comfort food. With every entree, you have access to their salad bar which is complete with bread and two soups (we had their chicken noodle, which was filled with vegetables). For Tom's entree, he had the "Hunter's Steak" which was wrapped in bacon and served with a demi glace over it and a baked potato on the side. I had the Apple Cinnamon Pork Chops with a baked potato. We both enjoyed our dinners. The fireplace really does make this place feel very comfortable.

www.rusticoakrestaurant.com

2/21/09-Cafe Ra, Wallingford, CT

After Tom got out of work, we went out to do errands and stopped here for a quick lunch. Really cute place with a nice comfortable feel. Tom has been here a bunch of times and got his usual--#16 Turkey Club Wrap…Turkey, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato and Mayo--he describes this wrap as being refreshing with crisp lettuce and bacon. I ordered #15 Philly Steak and Cheese with Lettuce, Tomato and Mayo--this came nice and warm with the cheese melted into the meat. Both came with good pickle spears and we also had chips.

www.cafera.com

2/20/09-T.G.I. Friday's, Hamden, CT

If you don't know, there is a coupon on TGI Friday's website for buy one entree, get one free--only good till March, so hurry! It is a good deal and the only reason we went here for dinner. Actually, an experience at Friday's a few years back is what got me on this path of trying non-chain restaurants and it was the best thing for me. Tom was one of the electricians on the job when Friday's was renovating and I couldn't believe it when he told me most of the food they serve is microwaved. Not long after, we were out to dinner for my sisters birthday and I had ordered a double-decker quesadilla but had asked that they go easy on the peppers--that's when the waitress told me that it came frozen and premade so they would be unable to do that--I was horrified. Has this what American has come down to? Frozen, prepared food? From then on, I decided that whenever possible, I was going to avoid the chain restaurants and give my hard-earned money to those who cook great meals using their ingenuity, skills, fresh ingredients, not already prepared dishes. This is not to say that I will never go to these places--on occasion I will go (and yes, the coupons do help) but there are so many other amazing places to try and different foods to experience.

I digress.

For our entrees, I was told that the ribs were not available because they had to cook (what?!) so I had the Jack Daniel's sirloin with a side of french fries--steak was glazed with the Jack sauce which is nice and tangy--no veggies on my plate though--seems as if the portions were scaled back a bit. Tom had the Bruchetta Chicken Pasta, which he enjoyed. For dessert, we ordered the Brownie Explosion, which was good, but not as good as i remember. The brownie was not warmed and there was a bit of a lack of presentation, but maybe I expect too much. In all, a good deal, but we wouldn't even had gone if it wasn't for the coupon.

www.fridays.com