The Roadfood Tour of Connecticut began in the lobby of the Windsor Locks Sheraton. Michael Stern and Stephen Rushmore arrived with donuts from two of Connecticut's finest donut shops: Neil's Donut & Bake Shop of Wallingford (see the Roadfood.com review) and Coffee An' of Westport (see the Roadfood.com review). Connecticut is well-known for their donuts, and these two shops make some of the best donuts in the state.

Here is where the Roadfood Tour virgins are separated from the veterans. If you've never been on a food tour before it's hard to wrap your mind around just how much food you are about to consume. The newcomers (and we were once them) attack the first great thing to eat as if it were, well, the first great thing to eat. Big mistake.
Much as we love these donuts, we resisted temptation, pacing ourselves by grabbing half a crunch-crusted cinnamon cruller in anticipation of our steamed cheeseburger breakfast.
Chris: I totally agree with Bruce: you simply can’t fill up at the first stop—in this case, the hotel lobby. Neil’s are indeed among the best in the Nutmeg State, though I don’t share that opinion about Coffee An’ (they’re good but not of the same caliber as Neil’s). The latter is more than decent when you’re passing by Westport and have time to get off the interstate to wend your way through town to this donut outpost. For us, however, we take great pains to time our travels to hit either Orangeside Luncheonette in New Haven or Olympic Donuts in Milford for far superior donuts beforehand.

In any case, I was too busy talking to people and forgot about the donuts until Stephen announced that the bus was loading. I quickly grabbed a half of marble twist from Neil’s to stuff in my mouth while running to the bus. It was, of course, wonderful, but I clearly had my mind on the steamed cheeseburgers at our first official stop…

Bruce: I talk like the wise voice of experience, Chris, but I recall a time way, way back in the foggy mists of ancient history... to last year during the Chicago tour, when donuts were passed around the bus as we drove off, and I wolfed down two giant-sized Donut Vault specimens. After all these years, I believe this was the first tour where I finally learned to pace myself.