The Place Restaurant — Restaurant in Guilford

"The most awesome place you will ever eat at."

The evening had begun with a series of frustrating events leaving our party of three with a young puppy searching for somewhere we could eat without confining the puppy in a car on a sweltering evening.

From the moment we walked into the seating area we saw not only smiling staff, but everyone there was having a great time and smiling

Our stress level dropped from 100 percent down to 0 in a matter of 2 miniutes.

Yes, you sit on stumps and the tables are boards on stumps , and the ground is covered with crushed shells. Its only paper plates and wooden sticks for poking and you go through allot of napkins (They do have patio chairs if you can't sit on a stump.)

And yes its open air, so if it rains you might get wet. It is also one of the most comfortable laid back establishments you will ever eat at.

Our party had the shrimp, grilled corn on the cob, a veggie kabob, bbq chicken, the key lime mousse , carrot cake and cheese cake and every dish was just as awesome as the next.

The birch beer? The best ever! It was clear, with just the right flavors and was different than anything we had had before

Prices at The Place are comparable to other venues and serving sizes are what you would expect for the item.

Grilled corn on the cob was a husked grilled sweet corn that needed no butter and was a small kerneled sweet corn cooked to perfection. You do have to snap off the husks, but its pretty easy to do. Its served family style so if all of you order corn on the cob it comes on one plate. The corn is full sized and fresh.

The shrimp were a nice size ( jumbo full sized)cooked with the shell and legs on so its a bit of a trick to peal them from one side and remove the shell. It came with a tangy sauce for dipping and they brought extra sauce at our request

Our friend had the chicken and Kabob which she kept saying was amazing. The chicken was a nice sized portion with an ample amount of sauce. The veggies on the kabob were fairly large 1 1/2 inch or so and grilled nicely. ( I saw it came with mushroom caps and nice zuccini/ summer squash , onions and other veggies )

On to the desserts. O.M.G.

Huge cheese cake fan here. Totally in love with their cheesecake. Not horribly rich, good texture, nice serving size and the cherry topping on the side was just enough that it didn't overwhelm the dessert.

Carrot cake had dollups of whipped cream on the side cream cheese icing that complimented it nicely. It was really moist but not heavy. Two layers of perfection!

Key lime mousse? Was consumed before I could grab a forkfull but I was informed it had a cheese cake texture and was really great.

This is a byob establishment which includes bringing your own picnic basket if you wish. Or birthday cake, or penny whistle if you are talented enough to play.

Value of meal vs cost.

Great value! $$ depending on what you order. If you have the lobster it can run 23$ and up depending on the size. 12 jumbo shrimp were under 10 dollars corn was under 4 an ear, dessert was under 6$ each.

Hands down the food was really really great.

The only place where you may pay less for seafood is at a harbor whos primary industry is specifically seafood. You pretty much spend more ar the supermarket for the same food plus you would have the cleanup.

The corn ear could be a meal, and carried the price of a normal appetizer however it is unlike any other corn you could make at home.

Staff Rating The staff knows what they are doing over an open flame and the waitress was prompt and efficient with taking our order. They were hard working, and took the time to see to every ones needs and did it with an honest smile.

How to pay Cash only! They do have an ATM.

THE PLACE is now our go to restaurant when we have friends and family...

A Satisfactory Simulation of Rusticity

I am at The Place. Guilford, Connecticut. The name is… aggressively simplistic. A declarative statement. It suggests that there is no need for any other. The arrogance is… refreshing. The establishment is a weathered, rough-hewn structure surrounded by pine trees. The parking lot is gravel. My Mercedes acquires a fine layer of dust. I find it… irritating, yet somehow authentic. A calculated imperfection.

There are no doors. No hostess. One simply… arrives. The seating is communal, on rough wooden benches encircling giant tree-stump tables. It is a forced conviviality, a pantomime of frontier spirit for an audience of dentists from Madison and their thoroughly moisturised wives. I am seated next a man wearing a rugby shirt. It is a bright, unforgiving magenta. He is discussing his portfolio with a fervor usually reserved for religious converts. I tune him out.

The concept is… primal. meals cooked over open, roaring pits. There is no menu. The options are steak, lobster, shrimp, or chicken. A binary selection. Red meat, or sea insect. It is a system of elegant, brutal reduction. I order the ribeye. It arrives raw on a paper plate. The presentation is… nihilistic. It is not plated; it is presented. A blood-soaked Rorschach test on compostable ware.

The fire is the main event. It is not a cooking mechanism; it is a trial. A gauntlet. The flames are unpredictable, licking at the skewered meat with a chaotic, hungry energy. It requires constant vigilance. One must rotate the steak with a focus typically applied to a quarterly earnings report. The heat sears the exterior, creating a crust of carbonized flavor. The interior remains a cool, blood-rich rare. The Maillard reaction is achieved not through a controlled thermal environment, but through sheer, focused will. I find the process… clarifying.

The cornbread is served in a cast-iron skillet. It is dense, slightly sweet. A functional carbohydrate, designed for fuel, not finesse. The baked potato is wrapped in foil, a steaming, starchy grenade. There are no utensils. One eats with one’s hands. The butter melts over the potato, over my fingers. It is… greasy. Uncivilized. For a moment, I feel a flicker of something… primal. It is quickly suppressed.

The entire experience is a meticulously curated performance of anti-luxury. It is a brand built on the absence of branding. They are not selling food; they are selling a memory of hardship. A sanitized, monetized version of struggle for people whose greatest daily struggle is a weak cell signal.

And yet. The steak, once conquered, is… superb. It tastes of smoke and victory. It is the flavor of a challenge met and dominated.

It is more honest than the sea urchin at Dorsia. More real. There are no reservations here. Only a first-come, first-served hierarchy. A natural order.

I use a moist towelette to clean the grease from under my nails. The scent of smoke has permeated my Paul Smith suit. The jacket will need to be dry-cleaned. Perhaps burned. The cost of doing business.

It was… efficient.

Now, if you’ll excuse me. I need to return...

Unique, part picnic part restaurant. Bring sides and drinks if you want them. I loved the “style” of dining, that's why I gave 2 stars and not 1. Maybe they were having a bad day? 4 of us, each ordered BBQ chicken, 2 orders steamers, 2 corn, 6 shrimp, and an iced tea. Asked if we wanted the seafood first. Yes, seafood first. Waitress informs us she won’t be our waitress any longer. 6 shrimp delivered…wait (we’re eating apps we brought)…4 BBQ chicken….iced tea and corn. So much for seafood first. We’re eating the chicken, 1 piece sent back for more cooking. 1 order steamers delivered. When the new waitress stops by I asked for the other order of steamers. When those finally came they tried to deliver to table next to us, then put them down, hesitated, picked them up as we said, “this is the table”, he held them saying he was told wrong table. We insisted he leave the steamers I have now asked for twice. he was confused. We finish. They clear table (nice, not sure that should be expected)…we sit. Its ok, we’re all chatting. Waitress comes by, we ask for check and I ask for another ice tea. The original waitress finally brings check. I ask where my iced tea is and tell them quite frankly the other waitress has sucked (though the mess up on orders of steamers may have been the first waitresses fault). I get told the other waitress isn’t feeling well. So I guess the other waitress isn’t feeling well means tough luck on anything else you wanted because no one brought iced tea or even asked if I still wanted it (I did for my travel mug). Our "new" Waitress, serving people (cept not us LOL), confirmed sick when my friend’s fiancée went to bathroom and the waitress was puking. So…bad day? You decide. We’re not sure we won’t try again, but no one is in a big hurry. Nothing about the food makes me aching to go back, it’s pretty basic and I wasn’t as huge fan of the BBQ sauce, but I could just order chicken and bring my own sauce since all their doing is pouring it on top anyway, they don't cook the chicken with the BBQ sauce on it.

oh yeah...from the critics review and one thing I looked forward to "charred corn on the cob from the open-air firepit" .. absolutely NO CHAR...