Restaurants in Guilford

Owners Aura Showah and Douglas Waterbury attribute the success of Widow Brown's Cafe, which has been in business for more than 35 years, to culinary consistency, a family-friendly ambiance, and an eclectic menu that has earned the eatery a feature in the News-Times. While two-handing a burger or steaming sandwich, patrons can peruse the chalkboard around the fully stocked bar for a list of weekly events, such as trivia, karaoke, and raucous tax-preparation luaus. Wooden wall panels glow in the light of wall-mounted TVs as forks venture south for American comfort fare or globetrot with Asian-, Irish-, and Italian-inspired dishes. As frozen drinks or draft beers chill boothside, diners can bust billiards at one of the café's pool tables or surf the café's free WiFi for instructional videos on how to correctly execute robot dance moves.

Within the stately Litchfield Inn, Bantam Bistro's executive chef Jonathan Gyles lends Italian flair to gourmet American dishes crafted from local and organic ingredients, such as mushrooms from Mountaintop Mushrooms and cheese from Cato Corner Farm. The expansive menu includes dazzling charcuterie platters, fillets of Atlantic salmon and tails of Maine lobster, and pastas such as bucatini and agnolotti. Barkeeps pour sips of more than 118 wines and muddle peaches into Bantam's signature take on the classic old fashioned, whose amber tones glow in the flickering light of tabletop candles in leaf-etched votives. The dining room’s brick-lined fireplace gives chefs a cozy place to store canapés shaped like Christmas stockings, and sparkling chandeliers twinkle above Sunday brunch dishes nestled inside pristine silver chafing dishes.

Stone River Grille's rustic décor and all-American fare honors the building's historic roots as a 19th century general store. In keeping with its past, the establishment delivers goods that locals crave, including fire-grilled filet mignon, lobster scampi, and word-of-mouth news about the latest blacksmithing techniques. Of the avocado chicken bruschetta, M.B. Tuccio of the Connecticut Post said, "The plate was so colorful…. its flavor matched its looks; the avocado didn't overpower the rest of the dish, but kept the tongue interested."

During warm months, guests sit on a deck overlooking the Pootatuck River enjoying Sunday brunch or fresh fruit margaritas. The restaurant occasionally hosts dinner-theater events to enliven Newton's cultural scene and develop actors' abilities to project their voices louder than their growling stomachs.