Beyond The Sea: Rehearsal Dinner

Em for Marvelous’ Emily Taylor blogs on her seaside rehearsal dinner: We knew more than a year in advance that we wanted to host our rehearsal dinner at Abbott’s, a glorified lobster shack in a tiny coastal town near our hometown. It is QUITE the local landmark. It’s also a favorite with John’s family, and definitely delivers an authentic New England experience. Continue reading the full blog post here.

WFSB Covers Abbott’s Opening Day

Check out WFSB – Channel 3 Eyewitness News Coverage of Abbott’s Opening Day

NOANK, CT (WFSB) – Abbott’s Lobster in Noank section of Groton opened on Friday for the first time this season.

The restaurant on Pearl Street is famous for its hot lobster rolls. They are fresh lobster meat with butter on a hamburger-style roll.

The sandwich has been voted one of the top 10 lobster rolls in the country.

“You have to want to get off the beaten path and find us. Once you find us we’re impossible to forget,” Abbott’s owner Deirdre Mears said.

Mears has been running the restaurant for the past 15 years. It opened in 1947 before her parents bought the restaurant in 1981.

Mears said customers have started a tradition to see who could be first in line.

On Friday, Pat Keegan drove up from northern New Jersey. Keegan and her husband arrived at 7:30 a.m., four hours before the restaurant opened.

“To be part of this it’s just fun, it’s just fun,” Keegan said.

Keegan said she usually gets the traditional roll, but on Friday she tried the “o-m-g” roll, which is twice the size.

“Oh my goodness, that’s a lot of lobster,” Keegan said when she received her lunch.

No matter what size roll you order everyone that talked with Eyewitness News agreed it’s the perfect kickoff to spring.

“This is really the beginning of spring on the Connecticut shoreline, it sort of kicks it all off,” Mike Urban said.

If you want to try one of Abbot’s famous lobster rolls, the restaurant will be open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Their summer hours start May 22. For more information, click here. 

Copyright 2015 WFSB (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.

50 States, 50 Sandwiches: Connecticut-Style Hot Lobster Roll

While many consider the cold, mayonnaise-driven Maine lobster roll to be the quintessential version of the sandwich, the first lobster roll was actually a hot, buttered one served at a restaurant called Perry’s in Milford, Connecticut, in the 1920s. This version is usually simpler, featuring just lobster meat, butter, and maybe some black pepper or lemon juice on a grilled, split-top hot dog bun, and served with potato chips or French fries. However, at Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough in Noank, they take the simplicity of the Connecticut-style hot lobster roll and turn it into an art form. Their award-winning sandwich is made with a full quarter-pound of lobster meat (more than is found in the average small lobster) drenched in melted creamery butter and heaped onto a bun. It’s a sandwich so opulent, it’s well worth the trip to this far-off-the-beaten-path lobster pound to get one (not to mention the crowds you have to battle to order).

Read More: http://www.zagat.com/b/50-states-50-sandwiches#7

Esteemed Travel Writer Discusses Great Restaurants in Connecticut

“In this state it is warm lobster meat in a hot, buttery bun — a nearly lascivious sandwich you can find in all its glory at eat-in-the-rough seafood restaurants all along the shoreline, from Westfair Fish & Chips in Westport to Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough in Noank.”  – Michael Stern, Hartford Courant, 8/7/2014

Michael Stern and his wife Jane live in Bethel, CT. They are co-authors of “Roadfood,” first published in 1977 and now in its ninth edition. Its first chapter is on Connecticut.

Read the full article here: Why Connecticut? It’s The State Of The Food

Abbott’s Named Winner in State Tourism Award

Abbott’s Lobster in Noank received the top award in eastern Connecticut for Excellence in Tourism Image during the annual Connecticut Pineapple Awards in Hartford, state tourism officials announced today.

Meeting Thursday evening during the Connecticut Conference on Tourism at the Connecticut Convention Center, officials also recognized Theresa Thesier of Olde Mistick Village for Excellence in Tourism Service & Hospitality as well as WINY Radio in Putnam as the region’s Tourism Ambassador.

Karen Gilbransen of Willimantic was named Volunteer of the Year in eastern Connecticut.

Connecticut’s tourism industry, in partnership with the State Office of Tourism, holds the annual ceremony to recognize exemplary achievement in the state travel industry.

Source: http://www.theday.com/article/20140425/nws01/140429731/1047