Eating Your Way Up (or Down) Route 22
Eat alfresco at the new Four Brothers Burger Shack
There are two main arteries for traveling between New York City and our region—Route 22 and the Taconic State Parkway—and I prefer Route 22 because you can eat and shop along the way. (Of course, nothing beats the Taconic in good weather for a Zen driving experience.) For anyone who travels any part of the 57 mile stretch between Brewster and Hillsdale, here are more than a dozen essential pitstops listed in order, beginning at the intersection Route of 22 and I-684.
Trader Joe’s
OK, you’re going to have to take slight detour, but it’s absolutely worth it. Has there ever been a grocery store chain as beloved as Trader Joe’s? In the pantheon of food retailers Trader Joe’s falls somewhere between Dean & DeLuca and Costco—taste level and entertainment value leaning toward the former, prices leaning toward the latter. Trader Joe’s is the first place you’ll see a new idea so good that it later becomes a cliché. It was a solid 15 years ahead of other supermarkets on things like nan, curry simmer-sauce, sort-of-fresh salsa, and hummus. Loyalists rhapsodize about private label products like fire-roasted peppers, organic olive oil and Tarrazu coffee beans. The Danbury store is small and easy to navigate, so you can probably stock your pantry for the summer in 30 minutes.
Trader Joe’s is four miles from the intersection of Route 22 and I-684. Take the exit for 84 East/Danbury and get off at Exit 2, and make a left at the light.
113 Mill Plain Road, Danbury, CT; 203.739.0098
Daily 9 AM - 9 PM
Red Rooster Drive-In
Stopping at the iconic red-and-white striped A-frame with the ice cream cone on the roof is a no-brainer—a decades-old summer tradition (that’s available to us all year long but more fun in warm weather when you can eat at a picnic table under a tree.) Where else can you get a grilled-to-order burger, impeccably fried onion rings and a soft ice cream cone after midnight on a Friday or Saturday night? At peak hours, the lines can be maddening, which is why the adjacent miniature golf course is a balm to parents with young children.
1566 Route 22, Brewster, NY; 845.279.8046
Monday - Wednesday 10 AM - 11:30 PM ; Thursday & Sunday 10 AM - midnight;
Friday & Saturday 10 AM - 1 AM
7 Stars Family Restaurant
Since 1989, the Moundoukas family has been running the 7 Stars diner across from the Red Rooster. Greek coffeeshop veterans who learned their trade in the Bronx and Westchester, the family takes great pride in using fresh ingredients that they get from the Hunts Point Market and herbs they grow themselves on three acres behind the restaurant. I have probably eaten the 7 Stars Greek salad (below) more than two dozen times, and it is always perfection: crsip lettuce (which, they volunteer, makes it “inauthentic’), grape leaves, piquant feta, cucumbers, olives and radishes all stylishly presented and served with a basket of warm challah.
“The challah is a tradition that goes back to our Bronx roots,“ says second-generation co-owner Dean Moundoukas (above with his mother, Sophia), who notes that they import their own olive oil from family back in Greece, which explains why their homemade vinaigrette is so luscious. They recently added a separate Greek menu of Sophia Moundoukas’s Old World recipes—moussaka, pasticcio, spanakopita—but you can pretty much get anything under the sun at Seven Stars. “Except matzoh ball soup,“ says Dean. “It’s the one thing we’ve never been able to get right.“
1577 Route 22, Brewster, NY; 845.278.2750
Sunday - Thursday 7 AM - 11 PM
Friday & Saturday 7 AM - midnight
Aversano’s Restaurant and Pizzeria
When you’re really in a hurry, the drive-thru at McDonald’s can seem very tempting, but there’s a better option just behind it: Aversano’s. You can grab a slice of pizza or a stromboli that’s as savory and satisfying as anything you can find on the streets of Brooklyn. (You can also have a proper meal in the adjacent upscale restaurant.)
1620 Route 22 at Towne Centre; 845.279.2233
Monday - Sunday 11 - 10
Panino Italian Gourmet Deli
The Rimaldi family brings the tastes and attitude of the Bronx’s fabled Arthur Avenue to the countryside. For the past ten years, Rosa and Giorgio, the Italian-born owners, and their son, Danny, have been making decadent hot and cold wedges (think eggplant parmesan or prosciutto with provolone and peppers) as well as their own biscotti, ricotta, gnocchi and ravioli. “We make our own sausage, too,“ says Rosa, who takes me into the kitchen where Giorgio is grinding the meat. (In the mornings, they make a mean all-American bacon-egg-and cheese sandwich.) Panino’s deli case has everything you need for a ravishing antipasto platter, including my favorites: the peppers stuffed with mozzarella and prosciutto and the slivers of marianted eggplant and zucchini.
2011 Route 22, Brewster, NY; 845.278.0356
Monday - Friday 6:30 AM - 6 PM; Saturday 7:30 AM to 6 PM; Sunday 8:30 AM - 3 PM
A & P 24 Hour Market
No one likes to wake up on a Saturday morning and have to rush to the supermarket. Knowing you can shop late at the A&P in Patterson is reassuring, especially if you’re driving up late on a Friday night for the weekend. This is one of those mega stores that sells much more than food, including every imaginable paper, plastic and rattan accessory for a holiday weekend cookout.
3101 Route 22, Patterson, NY; 845.878.1071
Open 24 Hours: Monday 7 AM - Saturday 11 PM
Sunday 7 AM - 9 PM
Heinchon’s Dairy
When I my spent my first heady summer in northwestern Connecticut eleven years ago, we ritually marked the end of each weekend at Heinchon’s, which serves locally-made ice cream from a dairy that’s been around for more than 80 years.
My friend Carlos discovered that nearly every flavor—there are 108 in rotation, including a 98% fat-free vanilla—tasted good with the bittersweet homemade hot fudge. You don’t have to eat your cones in the car: On warm summer nights, you can sit on the back porch and watch the sunset over the cornfields. While the faded farmhouse shop looks like it might have gone out of business (it could definitely use a paint job), it is open every day all summer as it has been for the past 25 years.
Route 22, Pawling, NY; 845.855.5440
Daily noon - 10 PM.
Big W’s Roadside Bar-B-Q
In the summer of 2003, The New York Times discovered a man named Warren Norstein who was smoking meats on the side of Route 22 in front of Pawling Collision. Suddenly, foodies from New Yorke were making special trips from the city to taste his dry-rub slow-smoked spareribs and take back his lacquered whole chickens. 
A year and a half ago, he moved Big W’s Roadside Bar-B-Q indoors to an easy-to-overlook strip mall in Wingdale, but the faithful followed. He closes each night when he runs out of food (usually between 7 - 8 PM) so if you want to pick up an order to go it is best to call ahead.
1475 Route 22, Wingdale; 845.832.6200
Wednesday - Sunday noon - 7 or 8 PM
Closed Monday & Tuesday.
Four Brothers Ice Cream & Burger Shack
Update July 22: You can now get French fries and onion rings along with a large assortment of ice creams. An added bonus for families is that there are rides for the kids.
A couple of days ago, the Stefanopoulos brothers added their souped-up version of a burger shack to their nine-restaurant Four Brothers empire. Located next to their outpost in Amenia, it has a large patio with umbrella tables for relaxed and affordable alfresco dining. In addition to hamburgers and foot-long hot dogs, there are salmon burgers and veggie burgers, but, alas, no French fries or onion rings, which means you won’t feel guilty ordering a milkshake or banana split for dessert.
Route 22 & 44, Amenia, NY; 845.373.8178
Tuesday - Sunday 11 AM - 10 PM
Closed Monday
McEnroe Organic Farm
You’ll find some 50 different cuts of meat in the freezer case at McEnroe’s, which raises its own organic beef, lamb, pork and poultry. No matter the season, you can find organic tomatoes here but they’ll cost you a pretty penny. If you need sandwiches for a hike or locally made cheese for a cocktail party or ice cream from nearby Ronnybrook Farm Dairy, McEnroe won’t let you down.
Routes 22 & 44, Amenia, NY; 518.789.4191
Daily 9 AM - 6 PM
Silamar Farm
Besides selling its own seasonal produce and fresh-cut flowers, this farm stand is known for the company it keeps. The Schroeder Family sells fresh mozzarella from Popovich Provisions in Pine Plains, salad greens from Sky Farm in Millerton, cheese from Sprout Creek Farm in Poughkeepsie. And if you’re craving Heinchon’s ice cream and don’t feel like driving to Pawling, you can get a hand-scooped cone right here.
5744 Route 22, Millerton, NY; 518.789.3067
Daily 9 AM - 6 PM
Stewart’s Shops
When you need milk, bread, smokes, or lottery tickets very early or late, you’re reminded why these retail establishments are called convenience stores.
9248 Route 22
Hillsdale, NY; 518.325.5846
Daily 5:30 AM - 11 PM
Hillsdale Country Diner
If you like mayonnaise and gravy, you’ll like this unintentionally-retro diner—a throwback to the days when no one talked about cholesterol and carbohydrates outside of a doctor’s office. Some of the sandwiches have cute names like “Happy Waitress” (open-faced grilled cheese with tomato and bacon) and the “Jitterbug” (open-faced hamburger with French fries and gravy), which are classic road food.
Routes 22 & 23, Hillsdale, NY; 518.325.9230
Monday - Saturday 6 AM - 8 PM; Sunday 7 AM - 8 PM
