Mud Turtle Cafe

Address:

245 Thames St, Groton, CT 06340

Phone:

The Mud Turtle Cafe is a little breakfast and lunch take-out place nestled onto a tiny streetfront lot on Thames Street in Groton.

With freshly made muffins and egg sandwiches for the morning and homemade soups, sandwiches and dishes such as lasagna for lunch and supper, it does not get any fresher than what owner Janet Coburn provides.

And make sure you pick up a piece of Mud Turtle fudge at the register — it has coffee, chocolate, caramel and pecans. Seriously.

It's a family affair at the Mud Turtle. The name was Janet's mother's nickname when she was growing up: "She was the oldest, and she took care of her 10 siblings. So they called her the Mud Turtle," Janet says. Sandwiches are named after relatives as well.

Janet grew up in New London and now lives in Waterford. She worked at Mystic Seaport for 25 years, making lots of historically accurate foods for sale. She left there in 2002. She then ran a coffee shop on the Naval Submarine Base for nine years. That job ended in 2011, and she looked around for a long time for something that would pay enough and provide benefits.

In the spring of 2012, she waked into was then Thames Street Subs and asked the owner if he was interested in selling.

"He literally threw the keys at me and said 'I'm done' and walked out," she said. "It took me about two weeks to reopen" as the Mud Turtle.

The motto is: "Good light food, quickly served."

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