As Westport’s dining scene explodes, we enjoy more options than ever.
Of course, prices are rising too.
Comparisons with days past is a bit like apples and oranges (though they were not on the menu). Much has changed since the time when appetizers at one of Westport’s favorite dining spots included a half grapefruit, tomato juice and chopped chicken livers, steaks were $3.50, and a side salad set you back a whopping 25 cents.
Still, it’s fun to see not only what we paid, but also what we could choose from. This menu below is from Manero’s, the long-lived, much loved Saugatuck ancestor of what is now Rizzuto’s.
The date is uncertain. But the “CA” phone number offers a clue. CApital 7 became 227 in the mid 1960s.
Click on or hover over to enlarge.
Here are the drinks. A bottle of beer was 50 cents. Nothing cost more than $1, except wine.
(Menus courtesy of Seth Van Beever)
Speaking of Saugatuck restaurants: A bit later, across Riverside Avenue and a few yards south, De Rosa’s had great run.
It was razed to make way for what is now Momu and Sea Kayak Connecticut.
We don’t have their menu. But prices were higher than Manero’s.
And lower than Rizzuto’s. And The Whelk.
(Photo/Rose Colletti)
(Friday Flashback is one of “06880”‘s many regular features. If you enjoy this — or anything else on our website — please consider a tax-deductible contribution. Just click here. Thank you!)
DeRosa’s chicken rollatini was to die for.
and don’t forget the Mansion directly across the street from Manero’s. The fried combination with fried onions was amazing.
Porky Manero’s restaurant was a popular spot! Also, our phones had CL (Clearwater) 259 and not 227. Give me a call at the golf range later CL-9-9108. I’ll be working until 10:00 tonight.
Hey Dave and Pete
Janine and Pietro say hi and would love to know how you guys are?
All our best!
I remember the CApital-7 phone area code days. Manero’s was across the street from my dad’s hardware store in Bridge Square and we ate there from time to time; love those prices! My dad and uncle were fond of The Mansion Clam House’s soft shell crab sandwiches that looked like a giant spider between two pieces of bread. Thanks for the trip down memory lane Dan.
Huge shout out to Mansion Clam House too. I loved their food! Also, remember Porky used to sit by the front door outside and great everyone.
Cool menu
Thanks Dan. “Sanka.”
Maneros where does one begin?
The best Garlic Bread that ever or ever will exist. The steaks were prime and cooked perfectly. I was not a fan of but my parents praised the Gorgonzola Salad.
Of all the steak places I have been round the big blue marble Porky Manero , where ever you are up there, yours was the best.
Their Gorgonzola salad dressing was sold at the Bleecker Street Grand Union where I shopped when we lived in Soho.
Gorgonzola salad was the best!!
Dan,
How did you know???? Ah, the memories this evokes: Porky Manero’s Chateaubriand for Two. Best Gorgonzola salad in the world. Garlic bread. I had a blind date with Gloria. She was at Smith and I was at Springfield College (majoring in Women’s Studies). It was quite a drive and a night of bliss (at the old Westport Inn). After we took in the “submarine races” at Compo I took her back to the dorm. Never saw her again.
Since my father went out to lunch every day in NYC, he rarely wanted to go out to dinner. But when Porky Maneros opened in 1959, after his brother Nick had operated the original in Greenwich, my father started to open his wallet and take us kids and Mom out to dinner. It also turns out U.S. Rubber of which my father was a big cheese sponsored brother Tony Manero on the PrGA tour and we ate free. Those Depression off spring.
Route 17 northbound lane,Maywood/Rochelle Park NJ; 1960s-1977. Manero’s restaurant. Dan Dowd managed it for awhile. Nick Manero stopped by now and then. The place closed in 1977. When it closed and word got around (there was no announcement; just suddenly it was closed.), there was general deep dismay and a range of gustatory mourning in the area. A very large cow statue always stood at the front of the parking lot fairly close to the road. I wonder who bid for the Manero cow and where it went. The food was fabulous; everything on the menu was yummy.
James Mapes
Miss DeRosas terribly.
We still have a Manero’s here in Palm City, Florida. I go there when I get a desire for a gorgonzola salad.
I order the salad dressing from the on in Fl