Recently, I got hit with one of those “you always” sentences. You know the ones I’m talking about?
“You only always never do that!”
In English 101, these are the kinds of sentences we’re taught to avoid. Does he, she, or it really only, always, never? Is this even possible? In my case, though, it was rather too close to being accurate: “You always eat the same thing obsessively every day for a year until you’re totally sick of it. Why don’t you diversify?”
Despite an abundance of good eating spots, I do tend to hit up the same joints over and over. My familiar trio, mostly because they’re all within walking distance of my office: Sherwood Diner, Subway, Starbucks. Diversify? An ingenious idea and, in this town, totally doable.
Though I do love Sherwood Diner for their yummy tuna salad and the all day breakfast menu (it takes the edge off the work day because I can tell myself I’m having brunch, a very week-end-y kind of meal) a girl’s gotta have some variety in her life.
So on a sunny workday around noon, I decided to get in my car and drive, with no end in mind. It would be kinda, sorta a mini adventure, destination unknown, right within the borders of town. I would just drive and see which parking lot my car steered me into.
I headed up the Post Rd. toward Fairfield. Yup, there goes Sherwood Diner. There go Subway and Starbucks (in the morning, I’d been thinking about the Bistro Box with the apple slices and almond butter … but nevermind).
Honestly, I’ve been holding back a little. I’d actually been thinking about hitting up SoNo Baking Company—not definitively, but their flaky, gooey chocolate croissants and savory quiches were on my mind and the reason I headed toward Fairfield on the Post Rd. instead of toward Norwalk.
But then I passed Swanky Frank’s. I’d forgotten all about Swanky Frank’s. It might be years since I’ve eaten there, which is especially strange when we consider that I love hot dogs. I mean, they are seriously one of my favorite foods. How could I have forgotten about Swanky Frank’s?!
The menu briefly distracted me because they offer a lot more than hot dogs, including an assortment of burgers (even salmon, veggie, and turkey) and chicken sandwiches, pulled pork, five seafood options plus a variety of salads. I was especially tempted to try the Philly Cheese Steak, which earned the top spot in Connecticut Magazine. But in the end, I decided to stick with my mission and ordered a Kosher all-beef hot dog, liberally doused with relish, onions, and spicy mustard, and I was glad I did.
It was sliced in half and grilled, so there was a nice mix of textures when I bit into it, first crispy then tender. And the roll was grilled just right too, just enough to be warm and toasty but not overly crunchy. I ordered the regular fries, though they also offer sweet potato, and onion rings, both of which were just like I like them—crispy on the outside but soft on the inside fries and a good batter to onion ratio on the rings.
I’ll be heading back there again for sure to try some of the other options—the Philly Cheese Steak and the salads are at the top of my list. And maybe next time, I’ll save room for dessert since their homemade brownies looked very tempting. But hopefully not so often that I exhaust myself on it. Really, there’s no excuse for that in this town, and besides, I think SoNo Baking Company’s quiches are calling my name…