Tag Archives: Valencia Luncheria

SUNDAY DINERS DOES LUNCH! FAIRFIELD’S BODEGA TACO BAR & NORWALK’S SWANKY FRANKS

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Today’s Sunday Diners is all about… LUNCH!  Yesterday, we went to Bodega Taco Bar in Fairfield, and today we ate at Swanky Franks, Norwalk’s famous spot for Hot Dogs!

Bodega Taco Bar 1700 Post Road, Fairfield, CT www.bodegatacobar.com

Bodega Taco Bar is owned by Chef Michael Young, who also owns Valencia, one of our favorite spots.  Chef Michael is a great chef and like Valencia, Bodega is very popular… so popular, that once we tried to eat there and it was a two-hour wait!  But yesterday, we were lucky to get a table really fast, which was really good, because we had our friends Adam and Tracey with us and they had to catch a train back to New York City.  Tracey is from New Zealand, but used to live in Mexico and LOVES Mexican food, so we thought that Bodega would be perfect!

We started off with “Tres Salsas y Chips”  which is their homemade Pico de Gallo Salsa, Black Bean Dip and Mango-Cucumber Salsa.  We also had their “Slapped Fresh” Bodega Original Guacamole and straight from the fryer chips!  The chips were excellent and so was everything else.  For lunch I had the  Americano Tacos which is made of seasoned ground beef, manchego cheese, salsa rusa, in a crispy taco shell – iMUY BUENO!  To drink I had a Pineapple Jarrito, which is a Mexican brand of soda – it was tasty!

For desert, our server Molly suggested that I try the Tres Leches – which is like pound cake soaked in three kinds of milk – it was great, but I was so full, I couldn’t finish it.  

One thing I tried, that you should be careful of, was a Pickled Jalapeño Pepper — I ate the whole thing — but IT WAS HOT!!!

The Sunday Diner Rating (Out of Cinco)  

FOOD * * * * * (CINCO)

SERVICE  * * * * * (CINCO)

LOOKS * * * * *  (CINCO)

BATHROOM * * * * *  (CINCO)

Yesterday, was also Chef Michael’s Birthday!  So, Happy Birthday Chef Michael from your friends at Sunday Diners!

The Original Swanky Franks of Norwalk  182 Connecticut Avenue, Norwalk, CT www.theoriginalswankyfranks.com

Norwalk’s hottest spot for Hot Dogs is Swanky Franks!  Swanky Franks has been serving dogs since 1949 and they are good — I’ve been going there since I could eat hot dogs!

The hot dogs have a good crunch when you bite into them, and the buns are fluffy and toasted.  Today I had a Hot Dog, Onion Rings and a Black & White Shake.  It was excellent.  Swanky Frank’s is very popular with kids — in fact, the walls are covered with pictures of the children who have eaten there.

They started to serve breakfast recently, we’ll have to try them out soon!

The Sunday Diner Rating (Out of Five)  

FOOD * * * * * (FIVE)

SERVICE  * * * * * (FIVE)

LOOKS * * *   (THREE)

BATHROOM * *  (TWO)

 

¡Bienvenido A La Nueva Valencia Luncheria!

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Valencia Luncheria, 164 Main Street, Norwalk CT www.valencialuncheria.com

Readers of Sunday Diners know that I love Valencia Luncheria and their awesome Venezuelan Beach Food – we’ve been there many times for breakfast and lunch. Valencia even won a Sunny Award for “The Best International Breakfast”.  But since the place was really small and people loved it so much, if you didn’t get there early, you would have to wait for a table. So when I heard that they were moving up the street to a larger location I couldn’t wait to check it out and today I did.

The food is just as amazing as before, except in a bigger location with a bigger kitchen. Today, Chef Michael Young and his partner Luis Chavez gave me a tour of the new Valencia’s kitchen.

Compared to the old location, the new Valencia’s kitchen is HUGE!  Chef Michael told me that you could fit the WHOLE old restaurant in this new kitchen and there still would be room! – That’s BIG!

He showed me some of the most important parts of the kitchen like the “plancha” which is a metal grille, the stoves, and the deep fryers where they cook the Arepas.

There is even a huge smoker machine, but Chef Michael has been so busy with the restaurant he hasn’t even had a chance to try it yet.  There is also a very big ice machine… but it’s still not big enough… the new Valencia is so busy and popular that the restaurant was only open for two hours today and the ice machine was already low on ice, but no worries, Chef Michael had already brought in some ice from  a store for backup. Having a bigger kitchen is also important because Chef Michael does a lot of catering for parties — yesterday he made food for 400 people who were having a taco party!  THAT’S A LOT OF TACOS!

Today I had an Arepa with Eggs, Queso Blanco and Avocado — I put a lot of the green sauce on it which called Guasacaca.  It was really good. I also had some Chorizo which was smoky tasting – YUM! One of my favorite things at Valencia are the Batidos – which are like smoothies – I had Blueberry and my dad had Banana – I tried both and they were excellent, but I still like Chocolate Batidos the best.  My mom came too and she had an Arepa with Eggs, Cheese and Chorizo – and she loved it!

Even though Chef Michael (l.) and Mr. Chavez (r.) were busy they were so nice to give me the tour and even answer a question. I asked Chef Michael, What is his favorite thing on the menu?

He said, “If I had to pick one thing, I would say “The Media Noche”, which is a Pressed Wrap of Turkey, Plantains, Bacon, Grilled Onions and Mozzarella!” 

He also told me that “Media Noche is Spanish for Midnight” — and that this is a “Perfect midnight snack”! 

One thing that is missing from the old Valencia is Guy Fieri’s autograph from when he came to film Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, but Chef Michael told me not to worry as they’re trying to figure how to move it to the new place…maybe Guy should just come back for another visit!

The Sunday Diner Rating (Out of CINCO)

FOOD  * * * * * (CINCO)

SERVICE  * * * * * (CINCO)

LOOKS  * * * * * (CINCO)

BATHROOM: ¡YO NO FUI!

Thanks again Chef Michael and Mr Chavez!

THE 2012 SUNDAY DINERS SUNNY AWARDS!

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It’s Our First  Anniversary! 

Last week was the one-year anniversary of the first Sunday Diners blog post.  Since then, we have done 47 posts and have visited some of the best places for breakfast in Fairfield County, and beyond, like Block Island RI, Westchester NY, and Lancaster, PA.

We even wrote about our trip to Italy (where the food is awesome) and went to a Mets game and checked out the Hot Dogs at Citi Field!

Most of all, Sunday Diners has been a lot of fun to do with my dad, and we have met some really great people from all over the US and even some from as far away as Japan and Australia who read the blog.  We also met some other great bloggers like OMNOMCT and Dan Woog here in CT.  

It’s going to be a very fun year ahead, so if you have any ideas on where we should go next, please let us know!

Thank you everyone for reading, commenting and sending e-mails!

Love and Happy Father’s Day,

Alex and his Dad

So, without any more delays… let’s get on with the show!

First of all, I want to congratulate ALL of the great places, even the ones who did not finish first, because all of you helped to make the blog to become a big success.

We received tons of votes from all of you and here’s who you chose for:

The Sunday Diners 2012 SUNNY AWARDS! 

The Best Eggs:  The Egg Sandwich at Christie’s Country Store, Westport!

Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs Hooper and everyone at Christie’s Country Store. People REALLY love your egg sandwiches… And so do we!

Renee Hooper the Owner

The Best Pancakes: Chip’s Family Restaurant, Orange and Fairfield CT

Just like their commercial says… Chip’s has “The Best Pancakes Around” they were also named the best pancake in CT by Connecticut Magazine too!  Congratulations Chip’s on your Sunny Award!!!!

The Best French Toast: Olde Bluebird Inn, Easton CT 

Sunday Diners’ readers got really excited about the French Toast at the Olde Bluebird Inn in Easton – Congratulations Ms. Ewa – We’ll be back soon!

The Best Diner Donut: Coffee ‘An Donut, Westport 

Westport’s Coffee ‘An Donuts are good enough for the President of The United States and are really popular with our readers too!  Congratulations on winning the Sunny Award for Best Diner Donut!

The Best Hot Chocolate: Silvermine Market, New Canaan, CT

Congratulations to Chef Scott and Mr. Lou for winning the Sunny Award for best Hot Chocolate! By the way, your eggs are pretty awesome too!

Best International Breakfast: Valencia Luncheria, Norwalk CT

The winner of The Best International Breakfast was Valencia Luncheria. I love their Arepas,  Pancakes and Batidos – Deeeeelicious!  Congratulations on your Sunny Award! See you soon at your new location!

Best Deli/Takeout: Gold’s Delicatessen, Westport 

Congratulations to Gold’s Delicatessen on your Sunny Award!! We loved your Lox and so do our readers! And plus, as a bonus, you get pickles with your breakfast!

Best Classic Diner: Post Road Diner, Norwalk, CT

This was a VERY tough category — but in the end, the winner was The Post Road Diner.  Congratulations to them and all of the runners up!

The Awesome 4 Kids Award: Chip’s Family Restaurant, Orange and Fairfield

Chip’s is AWESOME for Kids! (and adults too!)  Congratulations on winning NOT ONE — BUT TWO — Sunny Awards!

AND FINALLY… 

The Best Bathroom! : Nicholas Roberts Gourmet Bistro, Norwalk CT

As many of you know I almost always check out the bathroom for Sunday Diners. Sometimes, they’re clean and decorated nicely…. and other times… they’re not so nice.

Now, Nicholas Robert’s Gourmet Bistro’s bathroom is almost as awesome as the food is! Congratulations to Chef Robert and his Dad, Mr. Nicholas — another great Father and Son team :)

Everyone deserves a HUGE round of applause! 

We’ll be back next week with another post, thanks for reading and remember to

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¡Muy Delicioso Desayuno! (A Very Delicious Breakfast!) At Valencia Luncheria

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Valencia Luncheria, 172 Main Street, Norwalk, CT www.valencialuncheria.com

Today, we visited Valencia Luncheria which serves the best Venezuelan food, and of course breakfast! Chef Michael John has been serving Venezuelan Beach Food here for over 8 years!  And he’s FAMOUS for it!  The Food Network’s Guy Fieri LOVES Valencia so much he autographed the wall! And tonight they will be on the Cooking Channel at 10 o’clock!

Venezuelan breakfasts are delicious and BIG!  I had an Egg, Bacon and Cheese Arepa. Arepas are corncakes that are stuffed with all sorts of good food.  Valencia has over 30 different kinds of them!  I also had a pancake – which comes with tropical fruit — BUENO!

For my drink, I had a Chocolate Batido which is like a smoothie and very good – I even drank part of my dad’s which was made of Guava!

Here’s where the BIG SURPRISE comes in! – Valencia supports artists by showing their work… right now, they are showing paintings by Jay McKinnney, who works at my School! Mr. Jay Jay’s art is really colorful and fun – one painting even has flying pigs!

Valencia is very popular with kids – over half the people there were kids!

The Sunday Diner Rating (Out of CINCO)

FOOD  * * * * * (CINCO)

SERVICE  * * * * * (CINCO)

LOOKS  ***** (CINCO)

BATHROOM: *** (TRES)

PS: Get there early or you’ll be waiting a VERY long time!

Adiós for now!