Arkansas fan here....

[TheHogFather]

So I lucked into some tickets for our game with you guys and was wanting to get some info on the area. I love traveling to opposing arenas and it's even better when traveling to a program with the tradition of Connecticut. So where are my must eat at restaurants? Places to see? Where would your museum/trophy room be for your basketball program? Ect. I'll be there for 2 days.

Hopefully my Hogs will give you guys a nice challenge. Not expecting to win, as we are very young. Talented but young. Anyway, good luck till then and thank you for your suggestions.

 

[Scot-e]

Welcome. We are still finding our way as a team so the game may be closer then you think. I am sure the CT peeps on the board will hook you up with some great places to go.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

So I lucked into some tickets for our game with you guys and was wanting to get some info on the area. I love traveling to opposing arenas and it's even better when traveling to a program with the tradition of Connecticut. So where are my must eat at restaurants? Places to see? Where would your museum/trophy room be for your basketball program? Ect. I'll be there for 2 days.

Hopefully my Hogs will give you guys a nice challenge. Not expecting to win, as we are very young. Talented but young. Anyway, good luck till then and thank you for your suggestions.

The game is in hartford which is 20-25 minutes at least from our main campus which is where our museum/trophy room is.

 

[TheHogFather]

The game is in hartford which is 20-25 minutes at least from our main campus which is where our museum/trophy room is.

I'm driving up there so I have no problem driving to Storrs. I kind of have a tradition of visiting teams' campuses and checking out their history.

 

[Excalibur]

HogFather, welcome. I assume that you'll be staying in Hartford given that the game is at the downtown XL Center as opposed to our campus arena, Gampel Pavilion. If that's the case, I can recommend several restaurants.

I'm going to assume that you're looking for something different from what you'll find in much of Arkansas, so I'll avoid things like steakhouses and barbecue .

Two that I'd strongly recommend are Salute for Italian food and Feng Asian Bistro. There's also a great Spanish restaurant that's on the outside of town called Costa Del Sol. Max Downtown is also very good but is more of the business person's power lunch kind of place. If you want to venture out of town, Max Oyster Bar, Restaurant Bricco (Italian), Grant's (same owner as Bricco) and Barcelona are all highly recommended.

It's a 25 mile drive from Hartford to the Campus in Storrs. You can visit the Husky Heritage Sports Museum in the Alumni Center, though I'm not sure of the hours.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Eat ice cream at the Dairy Bar. It's made by the university's Ag program. You'll see the sign for it across the street from the big church as you first enter campus. You can thank me later.

 

[Waquoit]

I would stay at a downtown hotel. The Hilton is right next door, Residence Inn or Holiday Inn Express is a block away. Sightseeing nearby includes the Wadworth Atheneum Museum of Art, the first public art museum in the country. Also, the Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe Houses are nearby. Hartford has a free shuttle that will take you there.

For downtown eating, the absolute best is ON20. They only do dinner on Friday night so if you are interested make a reservation soon. My favorite is Feng Asian Bistro, Max Downtown has a great rep as well. For more casual dining I like Agave Grill and Trumball Kitchen. Vaughns and City Steam have good pub grub, The Tavern is a good place to watch games, avoid Coaches. Send me a PM if you have any specific questions about the area.

 

[Excalibur]

For downtown eating, the absolute best is ON20. They only do dinner on Friday night so if you are interested make a reservation soon. My favorite is Feng Asian Bistro, Max Downtown has a great rep as well. For more casual dining I like Agave Grill and Trumball Kitchen. Vaughns and City Steam have good pub grub, The Tavern is a good place to watch games, avoid Coaches. Send me a PM if you have any specific questions about the area.

Jeez, I completely forgot about ON20.

 

[Burnsbros23]

On a side note..... If we dont have Ryan Boatright Arkansas will be a tough challenge.

 

[jleves]

Surprised nobody has mentioned getting wings at The Bidwell Tavern in Coventry about 15 minutes from campus. That's a must!

 

[FluxTZ]

Surprised nobody has mentioned getting wings at The Bidwell Tavern in Coventry about 15 minutes from campus. That's a must!

Ughhhhh... SOOOO BOMB. Miss that place.

 

[MTHusky]

Ughhhhh... SOOOO BOMB. Miss that place.

Loved their Tubesteak's back in the late 60's!

 

[Waquoit]

Loved their Tubesteak's back in the late 60's!

Excuse me?

 

[Dann]

your driving up? are you planning on NYC for a day or anything? if not then i would avoid NYC traffic/tolls on your drive.

 

[MTHusky]

Excuse me?

Back then Bidwell's was a real dump and their Tubesteak's were hot dog's

 

[TheHogFather]

your driving up? are you planning on NYC for a day or anything? if not then i would avoid NYC traffic/tolls on your drive.

I'm visiting family in Scranton on the way. I live in Lexington, KY so not too horrible of a drive. Thanks for the heads up on tolls. I'll be sure to stay clear of them.

 

[UConn4ever]

I'm visiting family in Scranton on the way. I live in Lexington, KY so not too horrible of a drive. Thanks for the heads up on tolls. I'll be sure to stay clear of them.

I feel bad you have to deal with Kensucky fans 24/7

 

[TheHogFather]

I feel bad you have to deal with Kensucky fans 24/7

You're telling me. Think about the decade Arkansas basketball has had, then think about living in UK land. That used to be a big rivalry, well we had lost 10 straight up till last year. Talk about a living hell.

 

[Coach McGurk]

...If you are driving (to and or from) then I MUST turn your attention to some of the best pizza you will ever encounter.
While Driving up (or down) I would strongly recommend PEPE's Pizza in New Haven (even it's original location next door called "The Spot")...New Haven is about 35 minutes south of Hartford, but unless you take I-84 it is along the way and worth a stop
People really LOVE the white clam pie...unlike anything else. look it up!
....there are other incarnations of this legendary establishment in places along the way as well: Fairfield CT, Manchester CT (halfway between Hartford and the main campus), and if you are feeling lucky there's one at the Mohegan Sun Casino as well as a NY location)...if the very long lines prove too intimidating, then you won't even want to consider it's smaller and less accessible rival at the other end of street SALLYS (very good, but not worth the hassle).
you best options would be to call ahead and get the pizza to go (at least there is no waiting in line) or find a place about a mile away called Modern Apizza...almost as good as pepe's (therefore better than more or less everything else)...Pizza is always ready in 20 minutes and there is rarely a wait.
another option would include the potato and bacon pie at a bar called (wait for it ....) BAR...BUT if you go to bar, you might as well go across the street to the small building that you might mistake for a 19 century garage: LOUIS LUNCH...BIRTHPLACE OF THE HAMBURGER (you can look that up too)
....and if you DO go to Pepes in New Haven, be sure to stop next door to Libbys pastry for the 2nd best Italian ice in the world, or whatever else you might want........

 

[Waquoit]

I'm visiting family in Scranton on the way. I live in Lexington, KY so not too horrible of a drive. Thanks for the heads up on tolls. I'll be sure to stay clear of them.

I've actually made that drive (Keeneland roadtrip) and stopped in Scranton overnight on the way back. The poster is correct, forget I-95 and come by way of I-84. Not that you will avoid traffic entirely but you can hit a huge jam at anytime going through New York. Last month I went over the Geo. Washington Bridge listening to the traffic reports on 1010 WINS. It went from no back up to a 5 mile back up in just the 10 minutes between reports. And this was around lunchtime on a Thursday.

 

[iam76]

If your a foody and enjoy seasonal dishes head over to Firebox Restaurant

 

[Ricky1Moore]

If you're going out to Storrsfrom Hartford I would STRONGLY recommend stopping at Shady Glen, ordering a cheeseburger with everything, plus additional side of cheese, and onion rings, and milkshake.... Its on the Manchester / Bolton line...unique cheese situation

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

On a side note..... If we dont have Ryan Boatright Arkansas will be a tough challenge.

Arkansas has a very nice team this year. One of the top recruiting classes in the country all coming off the bench to start the season. At least in the first box score I perused. There are a lot of positive and exciting things to be said about Arkansas and this years Hogs. I completely agree that RB is a important piece to the puzzle in that game for UConn. I really like Mickelson, Young, Abron and KY. Powell off to a great start and should compete for 1st team All-SEC. Madden is a bit of a time bomb and has been suspended once already this season.

Good luck against Oakland tonight.

 

[hungry husky]

If you're going out to Storrsfrom Hartford I would STRONGLY recommend stopping at Shady Glen, ordering a cheeseburger with everything, plus additional side of cheese, and onion rings, and milkshake.... Its on the Manchester / Bolton line...unique cheese situation

+1. This place is fantastic, so many great memories here. It's only about 10-15 minutes from campus too.

 

[HuskyNan]

Here's some info on the Husky Heritage Sports Museum.