Good meal stops on Boston-to-DC road trip

[Anonymous]

Hoping to break up a Sunday Boston-to-DC drive with a couple of good, quick, casual meals: diners, burger places, tacos, pizza, seafood shacks, etc. Lunch and dinner, and we don’t want to be taken more than a few miles out of the way. (Google seems to suggest the western route (90-91-84-15) is much faster than 95 all the way, although I’m happy to hear other suggestions!)

Any recommendations?

[Anonymous]

What colleges are you visiting? MIT? Harvard?

[Anonymous]

You can't really plan this one. You need to use Google maps and see where the traffic is. We almost always take 90-91-84-15.

There are some really nice towns in CT that probably have great food. Westport, Greenwich. I have never focused on the food since I am trying to navigate to avoid traffic! If you find anything good, please post it.

[Anonymous]

I have family near Hartford. Here’s what we usually do.

Leave DC. before 8am. Really helps with traffic.

Take 95 through NJTP but at exit 11, take Garden state to 287 to Tappen Zee/Gov Cuomo Bridge to 684N to 84N, through Hartford and to Boston. Avoids the GW bridge and NY/CT 95 traffic.

The Delaware rest area on 95 has a Pret a Manger, which is a welcome change from rest stop fast food along 95.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What colleges are you visiting? MIT? Harvard?

Are college visits the only reason to go to Boston? What a strange assumption.

[Anonymous]

There are a couple of good diners in NY and CT that we have gone to,the ones I can remember offhand are the Tarrytown Diner, and the Watermill in Danbury.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can't really plan this one. You need to use Google maps and see where the traffic is. We almost always take 90-91-84-15.

There are some really nice towns in CT that probably have great food. Westport, Greenwich. I have never focused on the food since I am trying to navigate to avoid traffic! If you find anything good, please post it.

Avoid Greenwich. The downtown is very congested, not that easy to get in and out of quickly.

[Anonymous]

Pepe's pizza in New Haven, CT. Incredible! We do this trip a lot and always so happy when the timing works out so we can get pizza there.

[Anonymous]

We do this trip a lot, weekly during the pandemic. From Boston down, here are some of the stops on our list:

Rein's Deli (Hartford) - great sandwiches

Sally's Pizza (New Haven) - order as early as possible for to go; 6 hours early isn't abnormal, totally worth it (Pepe's is good if you miss the Sally's window)

Merritt Canteen (Bridgeport) - only in a crunch, but fast and easy

NY/NJ is awful for this; try to plan accordingly, but if you need to stop, the Club Diner in Bellmawr (Turnpike Exit 3) isn't bad; I've only ordered to go on the way and eaten in the car

Woody's Crab House (North East, MD) - decent stop if you really just need a break

Supemercado Campos (Aberdeen) - great hole in the wall Salvdoran

G&M Crabcakes (Linthicum) - Great for getting home fed; we often order uncooked and air fry

[Anonymous]

We try to stop here: https://www.the9wmarket.com/

We typically take Tappan Zee and this is just a few miles south on Palisades Parkway. All outdoor tables and there is a pop up burger stand there now too— best onion rings. Tons of bicyclists on weekends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We do this trip a lot, weekly during the pandemic. From Boston down, here are some of the stops on our list:

Rein's Deli (Hartford) - great sandwiches

Sally's Pizza (New Haven) - order as early as possible for to go; 6 hours early isn't abnormal, totally worth it (Pepe's is good if you miss the Sally's window)

Merritt Canteen (Bridgeport) - only in a crunch, but fast and easy

NY/NJ is awful for this; try to plan accordingly, but if you need to stop, the Club Diner in Bellmawr (Turnpike Exit 3) isn't bad; I've only ordered to go on the way and eaten in the car

Woody's Crab House (North East, MD) - decent stop if you really just need a break

Supemercado Campos (Aberdeen) - great hole in the wall Salvdoran

G&M Crabcakes (Linthicum) - Great for getting home fed; we often order uncooked and air fry

Fantastic! Thank you so much. This is so helpful. (And I agree—G&M is great!)

[Anonymous]

Colony Grill in Stamford, CT. It’s just along 1-95. Amazing pizza, original neighborhood Irish bar that’s been there since the 1930’s. Has a cult following for good reason, and now open in Clarendon (it’s first location outside CT/NY). The original in Stamford sets the bar.

[Anonymous]

+2 for Pepes Pizza. Look it up, it is some of the best pizza in the country.

[Anonymous]

For Sally’s or Pepe’s, if we want to pick up a pizza for lunch (1ish), how early do we need to get the order in?

[Anonymous]

Give yourself an hour for the line at Sally’s or Pepe’s.

Also, at Pepe’s, the real authentic pie is the white clam with no tomato sauce