The brick building at 94 Mountain Road has housed a number of restaurants with varying owners over the years, serving as an Inn, a Tavern and now a Bar and Grill.
The business was taken over recently by Miguel and Angelina Mendoza. The couple moved quickly to re-staff and get the doors open and the fire going in March. Suffield residents, too, have been eager to see the popular sport open again since it sudden closed before Christmas.
The decor is largely the same as before – warm and classic with dark wood accents, large paintings on the wall, a few booths and a number of tables in the side room that can be easily arranged for larger parties. The menu, however, is different and greatly expanded under Miguel, a former chef at the Country Diner in Enfield.
The word on the street is that the breakfast is excellent. A bevy of no less than a dozen omelets fill the page along with breakfast burritos, pancakes and waffles. Special dishes like Portuguese sausage and the lumberjack sandwich – described as a "peanut butter french toast sandwich" – are also featured.
The lunch selections are diverse as well. With salads, burgers, sandwiches and "giant" grinders alongside gyros and nachos, there is no shortage of options.
But we zeroed in on dinner, wondering if the restaurant would be able to satisfy me, my boyfriend and the six kids between us. We walked in on a Friday night and were greeted by a hostess eager to find us a large tablea. within 15 minutes we grabbed a seat and started checking out the menus.
Kids' menus offered the standard fare of chicken tenders and burgers and the like. The portions were substantial and the tenders got a big thumbs up, along with the french fries.
The big kids ordered the specials for the night, a shrimp ravioli dish and beef tenderloin tips saltimbocca, as well as a dish of chicken parmesan. The food arrived bubbly and hot. The portions were huge, filling the plate. The consensus was it was almost too much, with the cream sauces almost overwhelming the other flavors and the chicken parmesan swimming in red sauce and cheese. The dishes would have been better served with less, so as to focus on the flavors that were hiding underneath.
Other patrons, too, have suggested the menu could be scaled back to focus more on quality ingredients and refining the more popular dishes.
A big draw for the inn is the bar area, where patrons can grab a leisurely beer, wine or cocktail and a appetizer. The restaurant atmosphere is neither boisterous nor serene, but more or less noisy like a good diner. The wait staff is pleasant and accommodating although there are some hiccups, according to some diners who said they were likely caused by the newness of the inn.
Prices run about $7 for breakfast and betwen $5 to $10 for lunch items. Dinner is reasonable with an average of $15 for an entree served with salad, bread and a side dish.
The Suffield Inn opens at 6 a.m. for breakfast every day except Sunday at 7 a.m. Closing time is 9 p.m. on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday; 10 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday; and 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
The inn in located at 94 Mountain Road in Suffield. The phone number is 860-370-9011.
