Restaurant Review: City Limits, Stamford, CT

There’s not a lot of praise out there for the Connecticut stretch of I-95, but City Limits, a dining hybrid of sorts, is a welcome and delicious respite from the inevitable road construction and tailgating. No matter that this place has an identity issue: It calls itself a diner–and the clean, vivid colors, and bright lighting do indeed beckon a visit from Ralph, Potsie, and the Fonz–but the cuisine bobs into decidedly more refined territory.

The menu includes terrific breakfast staples, a la fluffy omelets and bagels with lox, but hearty challah bread and house-smoked salmon separate City Limits from the greasy spoons that often define diner dining. Lunch and dinner, too, offer recognizable diner fare such as roasted chicken (free range) and meatloaf (veal)–alongside udon noodles and mushrooms from a wok and Provencal fish stew.

Also unexpected and well executed is the in-house bakery, which excels at robust, country-style loaves and delicate-yet-rich pastries.

City Limits, 135 Harvard Ave. (off I-95 exit 6), Stamford, CT. 203-348-700; citylimitsdiner.com