1. Manchester Memorial Hospital
City: Manchester, CT
Category: Health Care
Telephone: (860) 533-3400
Address: 71 Haynes St.
Description: Along with Rockville General Hospital, Manchester Memorial is part of the Eastern Connecticut Health Network, which serves 19 towns in Hartford and Tolland Counties. The not-for-profit network was established in 1995 when the two hospitals joined together to increase services for those in the eastern part of the state. The 249-bed facility offers a full range of inpatient and outpatient services, including robotic surgery, maternity and neonatal care, cancer care, and cardiac care. Specialty centers include the Sleep Disorder Center and the Center for Wound Healing. The network has facilities in Manchester (CorpCare Occupational Health), Glastonbury (Glastonbury Wellness Center), Manchester (John A. DeQuattro Community Cancer Center and Manchester Memorial Hospital), Vernon (Rockville General Hospital and Women’s Center for Wellness), and Tolland (Woodlake at Tolland).
2. Journal Inquirer
City: Manchester, CT
Category: Media
Telephone: (860) 646-0500
Address: 306 Progress Dr.
Description: The Journal Inquirer is the hometown newspaper for north-central Connecticut, including the towns of Coventry, East Hartford, Enfield, Manchester, South Winsor, Tolland, Vernon, and Windsor.
3. Cosmic Omelet
City: Manchester, CT
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (860) 645-1864
Address: 485 Hartford Rd.
Description: Push through green doors into an inexpensive breakfast place with a twist. You’ll find 23 omelets here at Cosmic, as well as other favorites like French toast, buttermilk biscuits, and bagels. Everything is an experiment here, like the bagel with bacon and peanut butter, which some patrons swear by. The best thing is that you can create your own; the owner, Tracy Devine, suggests you include cream cheese in your omelet, and it’s not a bad idea. Leo’s Death Dog Omelet is a keeper, with hot dog, bacon, onions, cheese, and barbecue sauce. And, of course, don’t forget to add the cream cheese.
4. Cavey’S
City: Manchester, CT
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (860) 643-2751
Address: 45 E. Center St.
Description: This unique place is really two restaurants, one Italian, one French, side by side in one building. They have separate kitchens, separate waitstaff, and separate menus. However, they are both called Cavey’s. The villa-like Italian side of the restaurant makes homemade pasta, fresh figs wrapped in prosciutto and Gorgonzola, and ravioli in brown butter. On the French side, which looks straight out of a Toulouse-Lautrec painting of the Belle Epoque, you can get all the classics, from foie gras to duck confit. But the chefs mix it up, adding Asian touches like sweet chili sauces and modern (or is it the opposite?) ingredients like pan-roasted antelope. They are open for dinner only, and closed Sun and Mon. Wear a jacket; this is formal dining. A double restaurant seems like a Kitchen Nightmare in the making, but Cavey’s has been around since 1933. So, they are doing something right, and that is probably the amazing food.
5. Shady Glen Dairy Store
City: Manchester, CT
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (860) 649-4245
Address: 840 Middle Tpke. East
Description: This 1948 family-run restaurant got its start as a dairy store for the owners’ farm. Today it’s a throwback to another time, complete with an old-fashioned soda fountain and a mural of hungry elves chowing down on ice cream in a magical forest. Their cheeseburgers are famous; on top of the burger is a chunk of fried cheese. Once you try it, you’ll wonder why every cheeseburger doesn’t include this instead of the boring melted kind. You can also get it on the side. For dessert, they have a rotating selection of two dozen ice-cream flavors. This place is a Manchester institution, and waiting for a table is worth it. There is a second store in the Manchester Shopping Parkade with the same wonderful burgers, if not the same authentic atmosphere.
6. New England Jukebox And Amusement Company
City: Manchester, CT
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (860) 646-1533
Address: 77 Tolland Tpke.
Description: Want a jukebox for the basement bar or kitchen you’re renovating? You’re in luck, although most people who visit here are actually treating this store as a museum, and they are correct. New England Jukebox takes old coin-operated amusements and mechanical devices from around the country and refurbishes them. But its nostalgic collections of signs, phones, radios, postcards, slot machines, bubble gum machines, and, of course, jukeboxes bring in more gawkers than buyers. However, don’t miss the opportunity; this is not a museum, and everything has its price.
7. Cheney Hall
City: Manchester, CT
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (860) 647-9824
Address: 177 Hartford Rd.
Description: The Little Theatre of Manchester company produces three or more plays a year at Cheney Hall. The hall itself is a National Historic Landmark, the oldest operating theater in the state. It was built by silk industrialists in 1866 and dedicated a year later by famous journalist Horace Greeley; plays here have been attended by Presidents Cleveland and Taft, Susan B. Anthony, and other luminaries. In 1925 it became a fabric salesroom, and then was renovated in the late 20th century to reflect its former glory. Along with plays and musical revues, you’ll find special events like “folk on Fridays” and silent cinema at Cheney Hall. Head into this historic district of town for a night of laughs or drama.