Ridgefield-Area Weekend Dining Guide: Dinner Theater, Brunch, Live Music And More

RIDGEFIELD, CT — Ridgefield anchors this one, but the fork-and-glass action doesn't stop at the town line this weekend. A barn is staging a musical you're invited to eat popcorn through, a brewery is stacking its biergarten with brass horns and raw oysters, and just over the border in Redding and Wilton, a restaurant's back patio and a two-week dining celebration are both worth the short drive. Here's where to find a table.

• Live Italian Music Night — Thursday evening. A standing weekly tradition: authentic Italian cuisine, homemade pastas and wood-fired dishes served up alongside live music filling the dining room. TerraSole, 3 Big Shop Lane
• Old Bob — Friday, 5 p.m. A free show in the biergarten to kick off the weekend, first come first served. Nod Hill Brewery, 137 Ethan Allen Highway (Route 7)
• Disaster! The Musical — Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. Dinner theater the way it ought to work: cabaret-style seating in a heated, air-conditioned barn, doors open an hour before curtain, and you're invited to bring in whatever food and drink you like for the show and intermission. Tickets are $45 adults, $40 seniors, students and veterans. Ridgefield Theater Barn, 37 Halpin Lane
• Oktoberfest Afternoon with the Fairfield County Brass Quintet — Saturday, 1 p.m. A free set of traditional Oktoberfest brass music to get the biergarten into festival mode ahead of dinner. Nod Hill Brewery, 137 Ethan Allen Highway (Route 7)
• Southern Brunch & Prime Rib Special — Saturday and Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. A full Southern-style spread with prime rib on the side, part of the restaurant's regular weekend brunch service. The Hideaway, 30 Grove Street
• 4th Annual Nod Hill Oyster Fest — Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. A 21-and-over close to the weekend built around fresh oysters, an open bar and live jazz and hot swing from the Hot Club of Black Rock. Nod Hill Brewery, 137 Ethan Allen Highway (Route 7)
• Pimpinella — Saturday, 9 p.m., just over the Redding line. Live music on the patio at one of Georgetown's liveliest bar scenes. Milestone, 2 Main St., Redding
• Mike Milazzo — Sunday, 4 p.m. Milestone closes out the weekend with another live set, a good excuse to make it a two-day trip to Georgetown. Milestone, 2 Main St., Redding
• Wilton Restaurant Week Brunch — Saturday and Sunday. One stop on Wilton's town-wide Restaurant Week (running through Oct. 4, with 21 restaurants offering specials): a historic 1874 schoolhouse turned New American brunch-and-dinner spot. Baldanza at the Schoolhouse, 34 Cannon Road, Wilton

Whether you stay put in Ridgefield for a barn full of theater kids and an oyster-shucking Sunday, or make the short drive to Georgetown and Wilton for live music and Restaurant Week deals, this is not a weekend to eat dinner at home.