I’ve driven by Lil Mo’s at 2415 Main Street in Stratford and the other stores on Main Street dozens of times without giving
them very much thought. I received a message from the owner’s husband on Facebook to check them out. He’s a former Westport cop and very proud of what his wife put together. So I stopped in and met Maureen and she was as nice as could be. She showed me the menu and was proud of how fresh her food is. I took her up on her offer to stop by with my family to give them a try. I took one of their take out menus home with me and was able to see the variety to choose, from a hotdog to seafood and steaks. Maureen told me she and her mom use to run the Bun and Burger on Paradise Green years ago. I’m always in search for a great burger so that is what I went there for.
Our waiter was as nice as Maureen and he told us about the specials and the soups of the day. We started off with the French Onion Soup which was outstanding. French Onion Soup is one of my favorites and I order it whenever its on the menu and this was better than at the highest end restaurants. My wife had the homemade chili and it did have some heat to it. It was awesome when we put it on the waffle fries that came with our dinners.
Not a lot of time elapsed from when the soup bowls were removed before our dinners arrived, I like that! Being the purist that I am I ordered The Legend’s Burger which was 2 patties served with cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo on a Portuguese roll. The first thing I noticed was how soft and fluffy the roll was, very fresh! Lean over your dish as you take your first bite because these burgers are juicy! It was by far one of the best burgers I’ve had in a long time! I also sampled my son’s BBQ Bacon burger which was a quarter pounder topped with BBQ sauce, bacon and cheese, oh how tasty the flavors mingled. To me the best of the best was my wife’s order of a Patty Melt-A 6 ounce Black Angus burger served with sauteed onions, melted cheese, lettuce, tomato on rye. This was a true symphony of flavors!
My daughter loves burgers but she opted for the Shrimp Roll which is popcorn shrimp served on a toasted New England roll. I was able to convince her for one bite. This is the most flavorful shrimp I’ve had in a very long time. Again here is where freshness is the key, I forgot how delicious the natural flavor of shrimp is. Even in the finest restaurants shrimp like most seafood is frozen and the flavor is lost and you have to flavor it with lemon or cocktail sauce, this isn’t the case! I can’t wait to try more of their extensive seafood menu.
The waffle fries that come with most orders as I mentioned are excellent. The onion rings however are to die for! The very best I had were homemade at Tanner’s Restaurant back in the day in the 70s and 80s in Ansonia. These were just as good if not better! Again, freshness is the key!
We were all too full have a dessert of our own so the four of us shared a almond cake and a cheese cake. My wife and kids are big cheese cake fans and they all agreed this cheese cake rivals infamous Juniors cheesecakes in New York City. I’m a chocoholic but wished I had more room for the almond cake, oh so moist and flavorful! My daughter and I stuck with Pepsi with our food while my wife and son enjoyed their freshly brewed tea. I noticed so many interesting drinks coming out from the bar.
Maureen visited our table a couple of times to make sure we were ok like any good host should do. She seemed a little disappointed that we mainly tried the burgers. Again we were out to find the best burger. I think we found a couple great burgers here. Maureen wanted us to try the seafood and steaks which I can’t wait to try. This is probably the best kept secret in Stratford until now. My wife and kids look so forward to visiting Lil’ Mo’s Cafe again and again! Check out their Facebook pager here.