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Meadowland Restaurant269 Beaver St. New Britain 06051 860-224-0129 By STEVE & LISA ALCAZARI Hartford Advocate Published: 3/6/2003 Lisa and I paid a visit to Meadowland Restaurant in New Britain after receiving a letter from a waitress there. It's noteworthy any time the help likes a place, and when a waitress says a restaurant is a fun place to work and a nice place to eat, well, we thought we'd have to take a look. First thing though, I'm not sure if Lisa and I are abnormally inept when it comes to finding addresses in unfamiliar towns, or if New Britain is trickier than most, but the detours on Main Street had us circling in the vicinity of Meadowland for near 30 minutes before actually finding the place. Meadowland is about equal parts bar and restaurant. Walk in to the door on the right if you want happy hour; choose the door on the left if you want the dinner specials. The smokiness of the bar tends to blend over into the dining area. Slow-rising plumes floated from behind the high-back booths. The effect was worsened by the ceiling fans whipping the air around. If you can't stand the smell of cigarette smoke while you eat, don't go here. We scanned the menu and kept turning around to look at the dry-erase board with the specials written on it; our waitress thought we were not-too-subtly trying to get her attention each time we poked our heads out of the booth. For vegetables there was squash, pickled beats and corn. Our waitress told us the veggies were frozen, so I decided to look for some other options. From the specials, I ordered the Polish vegetable soup. On the menu, Lisa spotted the pierogies with buttery onion sauce, and I decided to round things out with a half of a kielbasa grinder and a plate of onion rings. The soup was definitely homemade -- chunky, thick and filling. There were big pieces of potato and carrots, with lima beans and macaroni. The food and the atmosphere at Meadowland have a kind of enduring workingman feel. Bruce Springsteen was on the stereo. The fire station is right next door. Towering heaps of plowed snow lined the sidewalk outside. The dining area had the feel of a rec room. There was nothing on the walls save a few beer ads. In addition to the cigarette smoke caveat, we would be negligent not to mention that the food took an awful long time to be served. Our waitress was sweet and apologetic. She said the kitchen was swamped because of two take-out orders. Not a confidence-inspiring admission. We devoured a small basket of sliced dinner bread. I finished the soup, and we were left hanging for a bit. So we sipped on our beers and ate the oyster crackers while we waited. The food came. My kielbasa grinder was made with thinly sliced sausage, grilled to a nice crispness around the edges, and a couple slices of provolone cheese. I had to ask for some mustard for the grinder and ketchup for the onion rings, which didn't seem like it should have been necessary. I couldn't help eating a few bites of the grinder while I waited for the mustard, and I enjoyed it even more once I covered it in the stuff. I'm not sure that this should come as any surprise to anyone, but the kielbasa was a little oily. Lisa's pierogies came topped with some sauteed onions and bathing in a buttery onion sauce. She dropped spoonfuls of sour cream on top of the stuffed dumplings. The pierogies were a little thicker than flat; they looked like potstickers. The pierogie special cost $7.99 and was supposed to come with a salad, which never appeared. The half of a kielbasa grinder was $2.99. It should be noted that New Britain is something of Polish, and if Meadowland can survive serving the Polish staples in this neck of the woods, they're obviously pleasing the people who know. Beyond the Polish fare, the Meadowland also serves, spaghetti dinners, T-bones, lasagna, fried mozzarella sticks, seafood, and chili dogs that have a reputation. The Meadowland has a family feel. There were youngsters related to some of the staff who were hanging around in one of the empty booths playing with dolls. Judging by some of the greetings exchanged and conversations overheard, Meadowland sounded like a place where cousins bump into each other. If you can get past the smoke, the clubhouse feel and the slow service, Meadowland is not a bad place to grab a meal. Hours: Lunch daily 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Dinner daily 4:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Map | Printer-Friendly Page | Email to a Friend
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