The Traveler Restaurant Offers up Delicious Food, and Free Books!

On the border of Massachusetts and Connecticut, there lies next to the highway a somewhat unassuming restaurant named the Traveler Restaurant. However, take a look inside and you’ll discover not only good food and a nice atmosphere, but also lots and lots of books!

The establishment would look like a fairly typical eatery, were it not for the fact that the walls are lined with hundreds of books. Like a libraries, visitors can find everything from cookbooks, children’s books, to pulpy paperbacks, and everything in-between. The restaurant was established by Marty Doyle, a bookworm who began bringing in his old books in an effort to thin out his vast collection and give good homes to his old books. Those who dine at the restaurant also get to choose any book to take home, completely free of charge.

The restaurant has even attracted a number of high profile writers over the years, and signed photos can be seen of authors such as John Updike and Michael Crichton. The restaurant came into new ownership in 1993 but the new proprietors continue Doyle’s tradition. Books are now donated by local libraries and community members, and the number of books a patron can take home has now been upped to three books per person.

“We spend a lot of time on book runs going all over Massachusetts, Connecticut, and sometimes Rhode Island,” said owner Karen Murdock in a Hartford Courant profile of the restaurant. If you’re still hungry for more books, then you can head downstairs to The Book Cellar, the restaurant’s used book store.

If you’re in the area then we definitely recommend stopping there for lunch. The restaurant is on the I-84, exit 74. It can be seen from the highway easily thanks to a big sign that says ‘Food and Books.’ For more information, visit the restaurant’s Facebook page.