National foodie blog TheDailyMeal.com recently cobbled together a list of "9 Great Small Food Towns" and New Haven made the cut, joining fellow New England recipients Burlington, VT and Edgartown, MA. Whether New Haven can accurately be categorized as a 'small town' is a matter of contention, but the city's brief caption referenced a handful of popular dining destinations including Louis' Lunch, Ibiza, Zinc, and Union League Cafe, adding that they were all "worth the 1 ½ hour drive from New York City or the 2 ½ hour drive from Boston."
The most entertaining content could be found in the comments field below the article. One anonymous reader took a shot at Connecticut's Elm City by stating, "With the crime and shootings in New Haven, I wouldn't eat at any restaurant in New Haven." Hey, commenter: While the city has certainly seen its fair share of violence, the majority of these crimes have been committed during the late evening or early morning hours, after restaurants have shuttered their doors for the evening.
Soon after that one, another took offense and rebutted, "Ibiza, Caseus, Heirloom, Miya's, Zinc, Union League... I could go on & on. New Haven is eclectic and gastronomic. A melting pot of epicurean delights. I, for one, would take a bullet in order to dine in any one of these places."
New Haven was the only entrant that created controversy, and the only city that generated any comments at all.
