Connecticut Eats · Meriden, Connecticut
Meriden restaurants: apizza & lobster rolls
In and around Meriden, our lists hold 2 apizza places, 3 lobster roll and clam shack stops, 5 hot dog and burger icons, and 4 diners and dairy bars, each checked open in October 2026. Beyond the lists, the Connecticut Eats app's directory covers 115 restaurants, cafés, bars, and bakeries in Meriden, nearest first.
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Meriden at a glance
In the app's directory, Meriden has 115 places to eat and drink. Pizza (18), Bakery & Sweets (12), and Latin & Caribbean (11) lead the mix. We matched 26 of them to an active state liquor permit. 27 belong to chains with five or more Connecticut locations. 3 made our hand-checked lists; longest at one address: Ted's Restaurant, there since 1959.
On our lists in Meriden
Every place in Meriden that made our hand-checked lists, most honored first. The order comes from honors and years at the address; it isn't a rating. Honors are reported as facts from the James Beard Foundation's own records and other named sources. Longest at the same address: Ted's Restaurant in Meriden, there since 1959. See Connecticut's oldest restaurants for all 55 with a year at the same address.
Ted's Restaurant
1046 Broad St, Meriden
Steamed cheeseburgerBurger icon Known for: steamed cheeseburger · At this address since 1959
Meriden counter spot steaming cheeseburgers since 1959, the oldest of the area's steamed cheeseburger joints.
K. LaMay's Steamed Cheeseburgers
690 East Main St, Meriden
Steamed cheeseburgerBurger icon Known for: steamed cheeseburger
Meriden steamed cheeseburger shop run by a Ted's alum.
The Little Rendezvous
256 Pratt St, Meriden
Apizza Known for: thin-crust coal-oven pizza; house special (sausage, peppers, onion)
Meriden pizzeria baking thin pies in a coal-fired brick oven said to be about 120 years old.
Apizza in and near Meriden
In Meriden itself: The Little Rendezvous (above). Elsewhere within 10 miles, nearest first. The statewide guide lists 27. 1 more place in Meriden has “Apizza” in the name but hasn't been checked by hand: find it in the web search.
Fuoco Coal Fired Apizza
461 West Main St, Cheshire · 6 mi from Meriden
Apizza Known for: coal-fired thin-crust pie; Money Hots pie
Small Cheshire counter-and-banquette spot baking New Haven-style pies in a coal-fired oven.
Lobster rolls and clam shacks in and near Meriden
Nearest first, out to 15 miles. The statewide guide lists 58.
Westbrook Lobster
300 Church St, Wallingford · 3 mi from Meriden
Lobster roll Known for: hot buttered; lobster roll; mega lobster roll
Inland location of Westbrook Lobster, a seafood market turned restaurant, serving warm buttered Connecticut-style rolls.
Glenwood Drive-In
2538 Whitney Ave, Hamden · 11 mi from Meriden
Lobster rollHot dogs Known for: charbroiled hot dogs; hot relish; lobster roll; onion rings
Route 10 drive-in serving charbroiled hot dogs and burgers for more than 70 years, plus summer lobster rolls.
Supreme Seafood Restaurant
999 Foxon Rd, North Branford · 14 mi from Meriden
Lobster roll Known for: hot buttered; lobster roll; whole belly clams · At this address since 1989
Route 80 eat-in or take-out seafood spot since 1989, with hot or cold lobster rolls in its signature butter sauce.
Hot dog and burger icons in and near Meriden
In Meriden itself: Ted's Restaurant and K. LaMay's Steamed Cheeseburgers (above). Elsewhere within 10 miles, nearest first. The statewide guide lists 21.
American Steamed Cheeseburgers
92 Quinnipiac St, Wallingford · 6 mi from Meriden
Steamed cheeseburger Known for: steamed cheeseburger · At this address since 2013
Wallingford shop behind the train station carrying on the steamed cheeseburger tradition since 2013.
Blackie's Hot Dog Stand
2200 Waterbury Rd, Cheshire · 9 mi from Meriden
Hot dogs Known for: hot dogs; homemade hot pepper relish · At this address since 1928
Roadside Cheshire hot dog stand around since 1928, known for its homemade hot pepper relish.
Capitol Lunch
510 Main Street, New Britain · 10 mi from Meriden
Hot dogs Known for: hot dog with meat sauce; meat sauce by the pint
Family-run downtown New Britain hot dog counter serving Martin Rosol's franks under a meat sauce recipe handed down since 1929.
Diners and dairy bars in and near Meriden
Nearest first, out to 10 miles. The statewide guide lists 45. 1 more place in Meriden has “Diner” in the name but hasn't been checked by hand: find it in the web search. 2 more places in Meriden have “Dairy Bar” or “Creamery” in the name but haven't been checked by hand: find them in the web search.
Sweet Claude's
493 West Main St, Cheshire · 6 mi from Meriden
Dairy bar Known for: homemade ice cream; non-dairy flavors
Cheshire homemade ice cream parlor since 1988, now on West Main Street.
Durham Dari Serve
13 Main St, Durham · 8 mi from Meriden
Dairy bar Known for: soft serve twist; homemade hard ice cream; Cannoli; Maple Derby Bourbon Pecan
Ice cream stand with homemade hard flavors and soft serve; its owners also run Cromwell Creamery and, since July 2026, Tall Man's in Cromwell.
Olympia Diner
3413 Berlin Turnpike, Newington · 9 mi from Meriden
Diner At this address since 1954
Stainless steel roadside diner on the Berlin Turnpike; the family that has owned it since 1974 put the site up for sale and was weighing offers in September 2025 while running the diner as usual.
Wentworth Homemade Ice Cream
3697 Whitney Ave, Hamden · 9 mi from Meriden
Dairy bar Known for: homemade ice cream; sundaes
Homemade ice cream in a small house near Sleeping Giant State Park and Quinnipiac University.
What Meriden eats
The 10 most common kinds among the 115 listings in Meriden, from open map data and the state's liquor-permit list. Tap one to search Meriden for it.