Chefs, start your fryers – it’s time to announce the best bite in New Haven. In the series premiere of Guy Fieri’s new Food Network show, Best Bite in Town, “Bite Club” members Noah Cappe, Tiffani Faison, and Jet Tila searched high and low across the Elm City for what they determined to be the best bite. From there, the Bite Club submitted their dish to a panel of notorious judges hand-picked by Guy, who crowned the winner after a tantalizing public taste test.
While we can’t recommend enough tuning into the episode yourself, we’ll give you a quick rundown that will surely leave you hungry.
Spot 1: Munchies
Noah starts the episode off strong with a visit to Munchies, a unique shop that offers New Haven an untraditional twist on sandwiches. Munchies owner and chef Drew Osbon introduces Noah to a jammy twist on a classic Philly Cheesesteak, the Canadian Tux, and the shop’s popular secret menu item, the chopped cheese.
Spot 2: Prime 16
Let’s face it, New Haven is the home of the hamburger, so of course the Best Bite Club had to try one of the city’s most elevated burgers. Tiffani sinks her teeth into two of Prime 16’s gourmet burgers, the consistently popular Smoker, and the truly unique Belgian Bierhaus Burger, which offers the best of Europe stacked on a bun.
Spot 3: Haven Hot Chicken
New Haven is a city of firsts, and Haven Hot Chicken is truly the first of its kind in New England. As the first hot chicken spot in New Haven, Jet knows Haven Hot Chicken will set his taste buds off when he tries THE Sandwich and Fuego Fries.
Spot 4: Fair Haven Oyster Company
Guy knew what he was doing when he threw Fair Haven Oyster Company in the mix, after all, he’s friends with the spot’s owner and chef, Emily Mingrone, who won Guy’s Grocery Games in 2019. Noah spends his time at the elevated seafood bar trying two of the restaurant’s most popular dishes, the Lobster Tartine and Bone-In Skate Wing.
Spot 5: Madeline’s Empanaderia
For her second stop, Tiffani takes a bite of a New Haven favorite, Madeline’s Empanaderia. With the original Madeline’s just a food truck back in 2015, Chef and Owner Hazel Lebron shows Tiffani that she has truly perfected two of the spot’s most popular dishes, the Mofongo and Rican Jerk Empanada.
Spot 6: Da Lenga at Nolo
With a sourdough starter older than many of the city’s college students, Da Lenga at Nolo shows that New Haven pizza comes down to a literal science. Finally, Jet gets to try his first bite of New Haven apizza, and what’s better than Da Lenga’s delectable Honeypot and sweet and figgy Figura.
After a day full of the city’s best bites, the Bite Club chose their top three dishes. The final results were as follows (drum roll please). Noah chose Fair Haven Oyster Company’s Lobster Tartine, Tiffani crowned Prime 16’s Belgian Bierhaus Burger, and Jet selected THE Sandwich at Haven Hot Chicken. In the end, the judges named the Best Bite in Town to be… Haven Hot Chicken.
What do you think of their choice? Watch the full mouth-watering series premiere of Best Bite in Town on Max to check out these Ivy League-caliber dishes yourself.
