Must-see restaurants in Connecticut

Two-time winner of the Taste of the Nation Award, Chef Bun Lai presents sustainable sushi and sashimi concoctions with fantastic names. Even more…

Belonging to a celebrated local dairy, this upscale restaurant uses the farm’s dairy products and sources other ingredients locally to produce its…

When pastry chef Adam Young won the Food Network's Best Baker award in 2018, things blew up at this Water St location. Baguettes, ciabattas, chocolate…

While the flagship Caseus bistro has shuttered its doors (its former staff have opened Olmo in its place, at 95 Whitney St), its cheese truck rolls on,…

Charming service is the hallmark of this urban gem, which offers a contemporary take on Italian flavors. Regulars rave about the cheesy garlic bread, but…

This hole-in-the-wall Middle Eastern joint serves fresh, cheap, delicious food in a simple restaurant with loads of character (and characters). It must be…

On the fringe of the Yale campus, come here to get your bearings and mingle with the alumni over great coffee, artisanal sandwiches, stellar breads, soup…

It doesn’t get much more authentic than Avery’s. Its 30-plus flavors of sodas and seltzers (including the hysterical 'Totally Gross' soda range) are still…

Providing training and employment opportunities for the Billings Forge/Hartford community, this bright, forward-thinking cafe works with local farmers to…

The same team who converted an old airport hangar into Saltwater Farm Vineyard have performed an equally stunning transformation of an ex-gas station into…

Sure, the vintage album covers, psychedelic sharks and massive wooden canoes adorning the walls are entertaining, as are the terrariums, but folks wouldn…

Noah's is a popular, informal place, with two small rooms topped with original stamped-tin ceilings. It's famous for its seafood (especially chowder and…

North of Grand St, this crimson-walled cafe set in a post-and-beam house offers a creative, modern menu. The restaurant's seafood dishes, often with Asian…

Brightly colored, this local favorite looks like a bar and serves margaritas and home-style Venezuelan and Mexican food for lunch and dinner, and Western…

This restaurant-cum-taproom on Litchfield's town green is both a casual, welcoming hometown pub and – if eating in the dining room – a place to go for a…

So as not to muddle up the lobster-rich menu at Abbott's, the owners opened up down-home Costello's, an old-school clam shack, just down the dock. Here,…

This odd – and locally loved – coffeehouse-cum-restaurant-cum-bar somehow manages to morph from one beast to another throughout its long business day. For…

Get in early and squeeze into a slightly uncomfortable cyan-colored booth for a taste of real old-school Americana at this ancient cafe that has hardly…

This coffee bar is the heart of the downtown lunchtime scene, serving a full coffee menu alongside generous sandwiches and pastries. The outdoor deck…

If you're a fan of 1950s Americana, you'll love this dark woodsy restaurant-cum-diner-cum-bar attached to an inn of the same name. It's delightfully olde…