Corner Grinder is dead… well, for all intents and purposes. I went in there for lunch today and learned that the family had sold it. Unfamiliar faces behind the counter, which confused another patron who came in and flat-out asked if this was still Corner Grinder.

Their house pizza, with sausage, spinach, and potato, seemed to have the same ingredients, but the pie from which my slice was taken was waaaaaay overboard on the spinach, to the point where that was all I tasted while eating it. Had never seen that before.

The worst part was that, when I went up to pay, the guy tending the cash register trash-talked the original owners, claiming that they had not been doing a good job, and that customers had stated the food had gotten better since new management came in. I found that hard to believe, since the way the food had been before was precisely how I’d fallen in love with the place, but regardless, I considered it exceedingly bad form to badmouth the family that had started it all decades ago. That, combined with the odd pizza, ensured that I’d had my last meal there.  

First Maple, then Corner… Franklin Giant Grinder is now the only legit old-school grinder place left in Hartford. They were also the first of the lot, starting in 1964. I find this appropriate. And I will make sure to stop there at least a few more times, before it’s too late.