Jim Barbarie’s – Danbury’s Landmark Restaurant

In 1961 Jim Barbarie opened a restaurant at 47 Padanaram Road in Danbury, offering choice beef and seafood, supper club entertainment, and banquet facilities.

Forty-two years later, Tom and Michelle Barbarie continue to operate Danbury’s oldest family run restaurant in the tradition that their father started, a tradition that recently earned the restaurant a Golden Plate Award from GQ. With the Barbaries are general manager Jason Cardillo, who is also party and catering coordinator; executive chef Joseph Yorio, and Jerry Nazzaro, the restaurant manager. The managers oversee a staff of nearly 60, all trained in the family’s tradition of providing quality dining at affordable prices.

Chef Yorio earned two culinary degrees at Johnson & Wales with the Barbarie family’s help, and heads an experienced kitchen staff — some have been with the restaurant for nearly three decades –– that serves as many as 300 to 400 dinners on a weekend evening.

With more than 40 choices on the dinner menu plus a half dozen daily specials, Jim Barbarie’s offers something for everyone, from $6 lunches and a dozen $10 early bird dinners to a nearly four-pound king cut of prime rib at $33.95. Since its beginning, the restaurant has specialized in lobsters of all sizes –– up to 6-7 lbs — fresh from the restaurant’s own tanks, king crab legs, and other fresh seafood that arrives almost daily from 12 different suppliers.

Jim Barbarie’s is an old-fashioned restaurant where the kitchen staff makes the salad dressings and sauces, and hand-carves the meat. The award-winning prime rib of beef is roasted every day. One recent evening the specials included cracked pepper-crusted Chilean sea bass, crab-stuffed filet of Atlantic salmon, grilled pesto-crusted chicken breast and a land & sea offering of spinach-stuffed filet mignon paired with popcorn shrimp.

Dinner menu entrees range in price from $11.50 for calves liver (a longtime favorite of the restaurant’s regulars) to $38.95 for twin stuffed lobster tails; all include salad, potato, and vegetable. Appetizers, $4.50-$9.95, and Barbarie’s chowder of the day and baked onion soup are available at both lunch and dinner

The lunch menu includes more than 30 choices of salads, half-pound gourmet burgers, hot and cold sandwiches (try the smoked salmon club or the grilled pesto chicken with roasted red peppers) and a selection of beef, chicken, and seafood entrees, most in the $7-$9 range. All sandwiches are served with french fries and coleslaw; entrees come with a choice of fries, rice, or potato of the day and vegetables.

Sweet endings offers a dozen choices, $3-$5, from chocolate brownie sundae and chocolate praline torte, to various fruit tarts, crème brulee, tiramisu, fried banana cheesecake, peach melba, key lime pine, and Buck’s ice cream. A large selection of specialty coffees is available.

Chef Yorio often comes into the dining room to greet the diners. “We really feel like the type of service we provide for our customers is not like other restaurants,” Jason Cardillo said. “The whole experience here is meant to make the customer happy, whether they want to get in and out in 20 minutes or have a leisurely three-hour dinner.”

Jim Barbarie’s restaurant is open for lunch Monday through Saturday from 11:30 am to 4 pm. Early bird dinner is 4-8 Monday-Thursday; 4-7 Friday, 4-6 Saturday, 1-8 Sunday. Dinner is served Monday through Saturday from 4 pm to midnight, and Sunday from 1 to 10 pm. Reservations are recommended; call 743-3287. Major credit cards are accepted.

The restaurant, now completely smoke-free, has a bar and lounge, live entertainment and dancing on Friday and Saturday nights, and banquet accommodations for parties of 100 to 200.  There is on-site and off-site catering. Party plans range from $15 to $38 a person. Takeout also is available.

On the weekend of November 7-8, the entertainment will feature “The Days Gone By,” an a cappella doo-wop group that sings songs from the 50s and 60s. Upcoming bands include The Right Stuff and Charisma with lead singer Kathy Buda of Newtown.

Jim Barbarie’s is easy to reach. From westbound I-84 take Exit 6, turn right and proceed straight on Route 37 north for one-half mile. The restaurant will be on the right. From New York State take Exit 5 and proceed north on Route 37 for 1½ miles. For more information, visit the website at www.jimbarbaries.com.

Seasonal Soft-Shelled Crab

1-2 soft-shelled crabs

¼ cup olive oil

Pinch of salt and pepper

Flour to dredge

½ Tbs chopped garlic

¼ Tbs chopped shallots

2 tsp butter

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

¼ to ½ cup wine

Heat frying pan with olive oil. Dredge soft-shelled crab in flour on both sides. Place crab in heated oil and sauté on both sides for 3 minutes. Add chopped garlic and shallots and sauté until slightly browned. Add ¼ to ½ cup white wine and deglaze pan. Add ¼ cup fresh lemon juice and butter to simmering sauce to thicken. Add salt and pepper. Serve over grilled crostini bread.

Note: Use 1 crab for appetizer portion, 2 as entrée.