1. Golden Lamb Buttery
City: Brooklyn, CT
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (860) 774-4423
Address: 499 Wolf Den Rd.
Insider Pick:
Description: This place is legend. Period. The romance of the Golden Lamb at Hillandale Farm is not just in the food; cocktails are served on a tractor-drawn hay wagon that takes you to the eclectic restaurant in a barn, while you are serenaded by guitar. There are fresh herbs, locally sourced meat, and fresh vegetables and fruits. No preservatives, no salt, and no-holds-barred food that will have you crying for more. The menu changes, but expect to be amazed. The service is family style and the dinner is prix fixe, beginning at 7 p.m. Fri and Sat from May to Dec. You must make a reservation and dinner here is literally booked months in advance; all the foodies in the state seem to converge on the Golden Lamb regularly, as they have since 1963. They have good reason. This is food done correctly by a family who cares about making you happy.
2. Hank’S Restaurant
City: Brooklyn, CT
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (860) 774-6071
Address: 416 Providence Rd.
Description: This restaurant is a real time warp, from its sign that says Home Cooking from Alice’s Kitchen to the actual kitchen. Since 1972 Hank’s has served all the classic New England dishes that you grew up loving. They have burgers, steaks, salads, soups, seafood, pasta, and all those fried seafood dishes. There’s even a salad bar. It’s not diner food, it’s quality food, but from the 1970s. They don’t dude up the food or hide what it is—they revel in it. This is family dining from the heartland of Connecticut along Route 6, the Grand Army of the Republic highway that used to cross to California, still the second longest road in the country.
3. Creamery Brook Bison Farm
City: Brooklyn, CT
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (860) 779-0837
Address: 19 Purvis Rd.
Description: More than 70 buffalo roam this 100-acre farm, and that alone makes it an attraction. Kids and adults in Connecticut are simply not used to seeing these magnificent animals, and you will probably spot them in the early evening any night of the year. However, July to Sept you can take a wagon ride out into the woods to see them and their new calves, as well as the bewildered second-fiddle cows that roam the property. You can even pet one of these shaggy giants. Other people come just for the farm store, where you can get bison meat as well as their delicious ice cream. No, it’s made with cow’s milk, not bison, though that would be an interesting experiment. You probably don’t want to be the one doing the milking, however.
4. Brooklyn Fair
City: Brooklyn, CT
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (860) 779-0012
Address: 15 Fairgrounds Rd.
Description: This is the oldest agricultural fair in the US. For 4 days the weekend before Labor Day, people from all over New England come to Brooklyn to see oxen pulls, draft horse demonstrations, skillet tossing, dog shows, cattle parades, and more. The circus and midway games bring in the kids, while the bingo and barbecue bring in the older folks. Everyone enjoys the country dancing, art shows, and beekeeping exhibits. There are craft vendors to bargain with and food vendors to gobble from. The fair is free, but, of course, the rides, games, crafts, and food are not.