Restaurants in Freeport

At Brooklyn Deli, owners Mark Anderson and Don Bothem slice premium meats and julienne subway passes for authentic New York-style sandwiches. Along with their menu of Brooklyn classics, the duo and their staff whip up custom creations, layering breads with meats, toppings, dressings, and cheeses. Meanwhile, freshly cut potatoes simmer in the fryer, and Otis Spunkmeyer cookies rise in the ovens. Out in the dining area, cheerful red booths and stools line up beneath photographs of New York.

Flickering candles and a grand chandelier fill Sam's Ristorante's high-ceilinged dining room with a romantic glow. Graceful arches and painted landscapes foster a classic ambiance that carries through to the menu of traditional Italian cuisine. The kitchen crafts its own marinara sauce in house to add rich flavor to orders of veal parmigiana. Pasta varieties, including angel hair, ravioli, and fettuccine, tangle with morsels of seafood, veggies, and housemade italian sausage in specialty dishes. Sauces made with marsala wine and portobello mushrooms coat chicken breasts and center-cut fillets with more flavor than a spice-rubbed quilt.

Originally opened as the Top Hat Drive-In in 1953, Sonic has grown into a burger-franchise mecca that today operates out of 3,500 locations across the country, making it the nation’s largest chain of drive-in restaurants. Sonic specializes in made-to-order American classics—including burgers, hot dogs, milk shakes, and marshmallow Ford Thunderbolts—which customers order and receive without ever having to leave their cars. Unique menu items include toaster sandwiches stacked on thick slices of texas toast, as well as the brand’s signature tots and fresh limeades.

Sonic’s numerous awards include a 2011 Zagat survey ranking it among the top five fast-food restaurants in three categories: Best Value Menu, Best Milk Shake, and Best Drive-Thru. The benevolent eatery has also donated more than $2 million to public schools throughout the country through their program Limeades for Learning, which helps to fund educational projects and retirement plans for classroom guinea pigs.

Open since 1998, Hawk's View Restaurant serves classic diner fare in a space that underwent major renovations in 2006, adding a lounge and 350-seat banquet area. The brightly lit dining room offers a mix of booth and table seating for guests to feast on a Black Russian deluxe sandwich—which piles corned beef and roast beef onto dark rye bread—that a Rockford Register Star dining columnist called both “tender and tasty.” With a variety of sandwiches, homestyle dinners, and egg dishes, the eight-page menu appeals to picky eaters as well as those looking to streamline the dining process by cramming breakfast, lunch, and dinner into a single meal.

Beneath a ceiling painted with a cloud-speckled sky, bistro-style chairs, faux-stone walls, and French signage evoke an outdoor Parisian café. After passing through an arched doorway, low light illuminates a sea mural on the wall, vines interwoven in a latticed ceiling, and a painting of the Eiffel Tower. American Culinary Federation–certified chef Erich Weber’s take on traditional French and Mediterranean dishes further transports guests to a European cityscape.

He folds meat, cheese, and sweets into delicate crepes, crowns juicy steaks with rich bordelaise or compound garlic butter, and tosses pastas with herb-studded sauces—all easily paired with wine by the glass or bottle. On the weekends, guests chew to the rhythm of live music, then take the advice of Caza’s wall signs, which suggest "Bon Appetit" and "Le Bathroom This Way."

Ornately wooden screens with curlicues of carved vines and leaves free the aromas of spices, sweet basil, and coconut milk to drift between booths. Beneath lavender walls and intricate woodcarvings, diners slip chopsticks into noodle-tangled bowls of chicken, shrimp, stir-fried vegetables, and curry. As the clatter of plates and conversation gives way to happy sighs, Thai Hut's dessert roster parades out thai custard and fried bananas, which work well as punishment for children who do too much homework.