My friends will tell you. I almost never use the phrase "Hidden Gem"to describe a restaurant. Most…read moreplaces aren't hidden enough, or gem-y enough. But I'm calling a New Haven Cafe a Hidden Gem -- The Farm Belly. The Farm Belly ("FB") is a farm-to-table cafe in the Fair Haven neighborhood of New Haven. I was recently researching New Haven breakfast spots, and FB came up with a 4.6 Star rating in Yelp, and a 4.8 Star rating on Google. Strong ratings! My sausage, egg and cheese biscuit was delicious. FB posts its Farm Partners right on the wall. My eggs were from @thefarmerscow and the chives were from @beckettfarm . The space is cute and the atmosphere is inviting. FB is adjacent to the Quinnipiac River and some tables have river views. Service was terrific. I spoke with the owners. Love them. For all these reasons, I'm calling The Farm Belly a gem. Since I spend a lot of time on the New Haven restaurant scene, I was surprised the FB name didn't ring a bell at first. There are two primary reasons for that. One, this section of Fair Haven is tucked away in one of the more quiet areas of New Haven, and out-of-towners are more focused on other busier areas of NH. Two, FB's signs don't stand out as you drive by. FB is located in a historical building called "King's Block", and that name still appears out front. There are a couple of small "Farm Belly" signs, but you might miss them if you're driving. Since "King's Block" has served as a hotel, church, fish store, etc. since it was constructed in 1816, you might not even notice that it's a cafe. For these reasons, I think "Hidden" applies as well. The Farm Belly is a Hidden Gem in my book. It's open for breakfast, lunch, coffee and treats 6 days a week.

This might be my favorite brunch spot in town. This is the cutest restaurant that has enough…read moreseating and great windows for a brightly lit brunch. The drinks are always delicious, I tried the banana latte today, a seasonal item, and it was a 5/5. I highly recommend the chorizo breakfast burrito, even the small was the perfect size for me. The pancakes were good as well! You can't go wrong with whatever you order. The menu is very affordable and it's a great place to bring fam or friends!!

The Chef Truck is a gourmet food truck that opened in Branford, Connecticut in February 2020. It…read morewas founded by Chef John Kronfeld and his fiancée Missy Miller. Kronfeld is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America with over 20 years of experience in the restaurant business. Some of the restaurants he worked at over the years include Bobby's Burger Palace at Mohegan Sun Casino and the kitchen at the Omni Hotel in New Haven. Miller dabbles as an amateur cook while working from home as a campus recruiting consultant. The couple's mission is to give customers a gourmet restaurant experience right on the street or from the comfort of their own homes. This past weekend was the wedding of my brother and sister-in-law at Stewards of the Land Brewery in Northford. It just so happens that they booked the Chef Truck to provide the food for the reception. I had previously sampled some of Chef John's delicious food when I attended an exclusive 'Foodie Influencer' event a few months back at the same brewery. I was not disappointed then and I certainly wasn't this time. The first course featured an Autumn Salad (salad greens, sliced apples, gorgonzola, pancetta) and bowls of Pumpkin Bisque. Both dishes really hit the spot. The next course featured Chicken n' Waffles, Mac n' Cheese Fritters, and Cheese-stuffed Squash Blossoms. Everything was perfect! The final course was served buffet style and included the "Mississippi Mac Attack" (slow-cooked pulled pork over Mac n' Cheese with Scallions) and "General Tso's Chickpeas" (crispy chickpeas, tofu & broccoli tossed in sweet & spicy sauce over jasmine rice). Everything was so flavorful. I think that the second course may have been my favorite. Another great culinary experience from Chef John! If you happen to see the Chef Truck parked at your favorite brewery or winery in New Haven County then you won't be disappointed!

Absolutely delicious, creative breakfast sandwiches! Complimentary Willoughby's coffee! The nicest…read moreowners/chefs in the world! Can't wait to see what their ever-changing options will be. On this morning, they were parked in the lot of the Friki Tiki, with a salt marsh view, but I'm looking forward to finding them at breweries and eventz

So many food trucks, how do you choose?…read more I went to Yelp of course and Ixtapa came up as the most visited/reviewed truck. Ixtapa it is! One Birria plate and a cheese quesadilla please! Of course Birria is messy and eating it in the car can be a challenge but we are up for the challenge! Over the last year, we have been on a birria kick. So I can share, this birria was good but I have had better. Their quesadilla was the winner for me! Super soft, loaded with cheese and flavorful. Maybe it's 2 kids of cheese inside? I would visit again.

We've driven by the Food Truck Paradise so many times & finally, at long last, we decided to check…read moreit out. I'm so glad we did. It's such a great lil stretch of food trucks along the water. So many options, all of which specialize in different kinds of Latin American food. There's plenty of parking along the stretch. It's worth getting out & walking down the line of trucks to check out the options. There are no real tables or facilities, though. We noticed a few portable bathrooms, but they were locked. The food from Ixtapa was delicious & affordable. They made me an excellent elote, & I appreciate that they stabbed it with a stick so that eating it was a neater, cleaner experience. The tacos were great, too. I definitely recommend stopping for the whole experience.

I grew up in Tampa where it's argued the Cuban sandwich was invented. The Cuban I got at this food…read moretruck was as good as any I got in Tampa. If you've never had a Cuban this is a great place to fall in love ( with the sandwich). It's on the waterfront in New Haven in a sea of Mexican food trucks. This isn't a criticism of this truck but this area needs picnic tables. Not a fan of eating in my car.

Excellent option in the row of food trucks off 95. There's no tables or chairs, but the guardrails…read moremake a pleasant enough place to sit. Also just be aware the bathrooms are porta-potties.

The best family owned pizza shop! I had the pleasure of volunteering with them at the Apizza World…read moreRecord Festival and they were the kindest people. On top of that, their pizza is delicious and always fresh! Their sauce is delicious. The perfect amount of tartness and sweetness. They have catering services and also post up around different places in New Haven.

Been to 2 weddings in the past two weeks and they both had this food truck. The pizza was fire both…read moretimes. The white tomato pesto pie was 10/10, as was the roni & the buffalo chicken. They make a variety of pizzas at these weddings and they are all delicious and their staff is extremely friendly. Such a great addition to any wedding. Highly suggest!!

It's hard to make a quesadillas stand out, the ingredients are pretty standard and most taste…read morepretty similar. However, my quesadilla from here stands out from the rest. It was the most flavorful and freshest quesadilla I've ever had. The pico was amazing and the ingredient combination was just right. I especially loved the avocado, which was included, but is typically only offered at an additional price. To be fair, I'm not too adventurous when it comes to food and my go-to Mexican dish is typically a quesadilla, so I've had more than my fair share. Basically, I consider myself an above-average, experienced quesadilla critic. In a world filled of dozen of food trucks in Long Wharf, I picked this particular one, and I'm so happy I did. The menu looked good, the truck looked clean and the line wasn't too long (I'm not sure why). They also take credit cards, which was an added bonus. With a drink, my meal came to $9 and I loved every bite and I'm totally full. The BF ordered from another truck, but ended up getting an additional chicken taco here. He enjoyed the green sauce topping he put on, but it was a bit too spicy for me. I have to come back and try something else from here soon.

I recently tried Mexcalli Food Truck and ordered the birria ramen... and OMG. I'm a huge noodle…read moreperson, so the concept alone already had me sold but they really delivered. The meat was super tender, like melt-in-your-mouth good, and the portion was definitely satisfying. I will say, at first I wished the broth had a bit more flavor on its own but once I added the lime and the sauce that came with it? Game over. It gave it the perfect kick and brought everything together. Overall, such a creative and comforting dish. I'd definitely order it again. If you're into noodles and want to try something different, this is it.

I was so excited to try this food truck. They were parked at Gouveia Vineyard the weekend of…read moreMemorial Day. They pulled up with all smiles and were very friendly to everyone that ordered. I was dying to try their red hots and one of their stuffed burgers. I opted for the French onion burger and it was heavenly. The onions were perfectly cooked and you could taste the essence of a French onion soup. The burger was juicy and nicely cooked. The red hot was EXACTLY what I wanted. It has been so hard to find these and I was beyond delighted to get my hands on one. It was perfectly grilled with a nice snap in every bite. The perfect amount of spicy and I ended up tearing through two with ease. I'm going to try to get to their restaurant in north haven for sure in the future. They are one of the top food trucks in CT hands down.

Incredible lobster roll! The roll was expensive as you would expect, but absolutely delicious. We…read morewere given a buzzer to wait for our meal and boy was it worth the wait. The rest of the menu looks amazing as well, and I'm looking forward to trying their clam chowder or a burger. Friendly staff. Hope to try this food truck again!

Great food!!! The service of the people they work; they're super great, polite, friendly,…read moreknowledgeable, enthusiastic, lovable; they treat you like family.!!! Sincerely : Lillian Crespo

So all in all I'd like to start by giving them this verbal (ehhh textual) 3.5 stars…read more This being the second time I've tried them out, both times parked over at Two Roads brewing, I've gotta say that this might be the slowest, most poorly stocked truck I've ever eaten out of... The truck seems poorly managed in general but the sandwiches being pumped out, or trickled out, really are pretty darn good. Portion size is well up there with the price point and they taste great. Am I going to chase after them on the highway and stalk out their next location? Heck no, though I probably wouldn't do that for any other truck either... Wait a minute, I think I sorta have, never-mind. This time around after waiting on a line of about 8 people for a 25 minutes and then another ten minutes just waiting for the guy to write my order down, and another 20 minutes to get the damn thing made, I had it, the Reuben Cuban... But no fries, apparently the guy before me got the last bit of potato. No biggie, I get that it's a busy brewery and people gotta eat. Not much else around so the truck really was swamped. As a business I think they could use some no-brainer streamlining, hell get rid of the empanada, it's out of place anyway, or trim the menu, I don't know, but I've never waited an hour for food out of any truck before. Seriously took a large chunk of time out of the day. Otherwise the thing was good, I think it needed a better pastrami flavor as the pulled pork sort of overwhelmed the thing and that officiallay makes up half the sandwiches on the board, with a BBQ pulled pork and a Cuban, made with bacon... Just seems off. Overall a good deal for good food and you should try it because nothing else in the area will be better. I'm just thinking the redundancy makes for a smaller variety... Meanwhile the wait times don't align themselves properly at all.

Old World Pizza Truck is a wood-fired pizza truck that opened in New Haven, Connecticut in 2007. It…read morewas founded by husband and wife Jack & Janet Flagge. No strangers to the culinary world, the Flagges have been involved in the catering business since 1980. When they founded their pizza truck business in 2007, the Flagges joined just a handful of other pizza trucks in Connecticut. They chose the name "Old World" to reflect a way of life and cooking: a celebration where food is more than just nourishment. Today the Flagges have a fleet of multiple pizza trucks and a staff of 25+ employees. The trucks travel around Connecticut to craft delicious wood-fired pizza pies at wineries, breweries, festivals, and private functions. When the trucks aren't running, they are parked behind One 6 Three: a brick & mortar wood-fired pizzeria that was founded by the Flagge's daughter Alexa and her boyfriend Andrew Holmes. Many of the menu items between Old World and One 6 Three are the same. My family and I recently sampled some pizzas from Old World while we were attending a friend's birthday party. Old World was hired to cater the party. I had previously sampled pizza from their sister business: One 6 Three. While some of the pizza varieties were the same, others were exclusive to the pizza truck menu. Throughout the party, some of the pizzas prepared included Pepperoni, Margherita, Fresh Sliced Tomato, Mashed Potato & Bacon, White Clam, Eggplant, Sausage, Asparagus, Spinach, Mushroom, Broccoli Rabe, Shrimp, Caramelized Onions, Roasted Red Peppers, Pan-Seared Zucchini, Filet Mignon, and Peanut Butter & Jelly. They were all delicious!! Afterwards, the friendly staff served French-style ice cream, espresso, cappuccino, and affogatos for dessert. I was really impressed with the pizza from Old World and I hope to run into one of their trucks again!

Our guests were absolutely amazed by the truck and blown away by both the generous quantity and the…read morehigh-end quality of the pizza. It was truly an unforgettable experience, and I'm so grateful for the outstanding service OWPT provided. The crew sent was absolutely fantastic--friendly, professional, and incredibly attentive to every guest. I honestly couldn't have found a better catering solution. We even had some out-of-state guests, and thanks to you, they now understand why Connecticut and New Haven are home to the country's best pizza! Thanks again!

good lord this place has got every puerto rican delicacy and they do it right. Sitting in the turn…read morearound on long wharf the line on a beautiful summer day was so long it was impeding traffic. Worth every penny, and every second I waited. Crispy fried Renello De Papas, Arroz con Gondules & Pollo Frito. Couldn't ask for a better meal. $7.25 with a coke.

Their empanadas are good, not fantastic, but definitely good. Especially with the hot sauce that…read morethey have. Their passion fruit juice, however, is out of this friggen world incredible. It's obviously in Spanish on the sign, and I don't remember what it's called in Spanish, but you can figure it out. I'll update this to be slightly more helpful next time I'm there, but in the meantime, go try the passion fruit juice. Thank me later.