Our Favorite Connecticut Restaurants (in no particular order... click on the underlined restaurants for their website.  Those without websites, we have provided their address and phone number.) SoNo & Norwalk / Stamford / Greenwich: Giordano's: Our friend's restaurant in Stamford.  Italian family-style restaurant with fine dining caliber food.  Kazu: Incredible Japanese Fusion restaurant - love their main courses, but their extensive appetizers are to die for. SoNo Brewhouse: They have the BEST Sunday all you can eat buffet brunches that include bottomless glass of mimosa, raw bar, dumplings, salmon, caviar & dessert table... all for 30 bucks / person. SoNo Seafood: Love their outdoor seating and ocean view. Casual dining. Harbor Lights: Has amazing lobster bisque - a higher end alternative to SoNo Seafood... they have a dining room that has windows all around so you can still take in the ocean view without having to weather the elements. Tuscan Oven: IJO's frequent outing because it's just right down the street. I had my first glass of Montepucciano (Villa Puccini Vino Nobile di Montepulciano) there - I don't drink at the time, but I fell in love with it at first taste.  The nudging from my then-co-workers also attributed to my Tuscany wine appreciation process. Val Bella: IJO's Chairman takes his company & their spouses to celebrate Christmas every year... this indulgence was our first year there.  Incredible wine cellar.  It's one of the Jackets required places. Burger Bar:  The fanciest burger joint we've ever been to.  They inspired us to make our burgers with truffle oil and gorgonzola... their Disco Fries is a MUST HAVE.  They also have an impressive & surprising list of international beer & microbrews. Chocopologie: Everyone recommended this place to us, but we didn't go until much later on with our friends who knew the owner.  We love the place so much that we held Todd's graduation party there.  They also hold various chocolate / dessert making classes. Winfield's @ Greenwich Hyatt: The place is gorgeous.  We've only eaten there when we stayed there a couple of times, but it's great food and fancy atmosphere nonetheless.  We were introduced to the place by IJO - they put all of us up there after the Christmas party at Val Bella's. Ridgefield: Bailey's Backyard: Our rainy night place. We go there whenever we have a bad weather day - stuck in traffic for hours in the snow... their food and wine always perk us right back up. (They also donated wraps for our little sister's blood drive.) Dimitri's Diner: 16 Prospect St. Ridgefield 06877 203-438-5338 - Usually besides breakfast food, we'd be scare to eat diner food for anything else - but this diner has great food any time of the day - opens 7 days a week and 25 hours a day (that's what it says on their window.) Mannen: They had us at Treasure Island Salad. Their fish is always fresh and customer service is always good. Better still - they do Take out's! Cafe Svago: 408 Main St Ridgefield, CT 06877 203-431-7824 - Best Gelato - many flavored, healthy wraps and they generously donated delicious scones to our little sister's blood drive. Hartford: Max's Oyster Bar: We had their shellfish sampler as an appetizer... we vowed to go back one day and just make a meal of their Skyscraper. We love seafood & shellfish and just can't get enough! We have, many times, bought clams by the busshel... that's how much we love shellfish. On that note: USS Chowder Pot: they have 2 locations that we know of: one in Branford & one in Hartford. Old Saybrook: Liv's Oyster Bar: It's decor is really cute - centered around the owner's daughter Liv.  The quality is as good as Max's Oyster Bar. Fairfield/Westport: Saint Tropez Bistro: IJO's CEO took the group there for his birthday (he took all of us out every day of the week of his birthday and this is his first stop.) The risotto was great and the memorable part was that I asked the waiter to serve the CEO first who was sitting by me but they made it a point to me to tell me that they serve all the Ladies first :) Blue Lemon: Todd and I found this place through our Wine Tasting Meetup group.  They served this decadent melt-in-your-mouth Chillean Sea Bass dish that is to die for.