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Carmen Anthony Steakhouse
496 Chase Ave.
Waterbury
203-757-3040

By NANCY and RICHARD WOODWORTH

Best Restaurants of New England

Web Published 8/19/2002

There's an Horatio Alger quality to the fast-food trek that led to the opening of this large and luxurious steakhouse. Waterbury native Carmen Anthony Vacalebre trained at McDonald's before launching his own ME-MA'S fast-food restaurants in Wolcott and Waterbury and eventually becoming an Arby's franchisee. Not until 1996 did he realize his lifelong dream to open an upscale restaurant. The lavish Carmen Anthony Steakhouse proved such a success that he quickly branched out with a Carmen Anthony Fishhouse in nearby Woodbury. He then tackled the Greater Hartford market with fishhouses in Avon and Wethersfield.

The Waterbury original set the pace with black angus beef, fresh-daily seafood, award-winning wine lists, a cigar-friendly bar and private wine lockers for regular customers. The potato-encrusted crab cake with rémoulade sauce, a signature appetizer on all the menus, was voted the state's best four years in a row by Connecticut magazine readers. Other winning appetizers include fried calamari with hot and sweet peppers, grilled portobello rockefeller, clams casino and escargots bourguignonne. Four Italian-style steaks are served with Barilla rotini pasta. The chargrilled American cuts come with frizzled onions. The signature New York strip steak is grilled and sliced, served over caramelized onions and topped with sautéed mushrooms in a bordelaise sauce. There are a handful of other choices, from baked stuffed shrimp and Alaskan king crab legs to grilled swordfish steak, pork chops and roasted chicken.

Desserts range from key lime pie to bananas foster.

This content is from original text from Best Restaurants of New England, by Nancy and Richard Woodworth, copyright 2002, published by Wood Pond Press.

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Hours: Lunch Mon.-Fri., 11 a.m-4 p.m. Dinner Mon.-Thu., 5 p.m.-10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 5 p.m.-11 p.m. Sun., 4 p.m.-10 p.m.

Extras:

Attractions Clubs Clubs Nightclub Cuisine American/New, Homestyle, Seafood, Steak House Meals Served Lunch, Dinner Parking ample parking in lot Price Range Expensive Reservations Recommended Services Private Parties Spirits Full Bar Website http://www.carmenanthony.com/