Trumbull Kitchen: A Hip Eatery Offering Cross-Cultural Cuisine

A hip eatery from the Max Restaurant Group, Trumbull Kitchen creates eclectic epicurean cuisine ranging from comfort food from around the globe to twists on local favorites. The ambiance is contemporar, and imaginative, and includes a warm and welcoming mosaic tiled bar (with an extensive list of inventive "cool cocktails") that offers a partial view of the kitchen. Beyond the chic atmosphere, Trumbull Kitchen serves everything from sushi rolls, crisp noodles, and fondue to dim sum, sandwiches, and stone pizzas—so you can pretty much order whatever you’re craving. Chef Chris Torla has an adroit ability to create a diverse and inspiring menu with items like the sweet and savory rock shrimp and sweet potato fritters or the seafood pad thai. The restaurant also offers a light midday tapas and small plates menu, where all items are priced at under $12—a perfect excuse for happy hour.

Trumbull Kitchen
150 Trumbull Street
Hartford, CT 06103-2403
(860) 493-7412
www.maxrestaurantgroup.com/trumbull/

Costa del Sol: Hartford’s Best for Authentic Spanish Cuisine

A 20-year-old south end eatery, Costa del Sol is a family run establishment that has generously added to the popularity of authentic Spanish flavors in Hartford. To go along with the old worldly European charm, Costa del Sol’s décor is filled with frescos of beaches, Spanish guitar music, and drinks served in traditional earthenware. The restaurant gets a high Zagat ratings (a 25 for food!), and homestyle treats include spiced up preparations of seafood, chicken, and meat, and delicately-spiced paellas (priced at under $50), which are Costa del Sol’s most iconic offerings. While everything from the tapas and salads to the entrees and desserts certainly taste delicious, the flawless presentation is what earns brownie points with customers. Make sure to check out Costa del Sol’s specialty store next door— bring home a taste of Spain and delicacies like olive oils and wines.

Costa del Sol
901 Wethersfield Avenue
Hartford, CT 06114
(860) 296-1714
www.costadelsolrestaurant.net

City Steam Brewery Cafe: The Finest Brewed Beer in Town

The vintage-looking City Steam Brewery Café sports a chic, classic setting and is touted as serving the finest brewed beer in town. Everything here, from the large fermenting tanks at the entrance window to the wafting aroma of pizzas and smoky wraps, lures patrons who love their beer and comfort food to go with it. Add a dose of live comedy to a mouthwatering burger and beer session, and you’ve got a combination that’s hard to resist. There is a nice balcony with a great view where customers can chat and relax over cigars and drafts. Don’t forget to take a peek into the swanky pool room as well as the in-house beer garden that showcases a rare collection of handcrafted beers.

City Steam Brewery Café
942 Main Street
Hartford, CT 06103
(860) 525-1600
www.citysteambrewerycafe.com

Hot Tomato’s: Savory Italian Cuisine, To-Die-For Garlic Bread

Hot Tomato’s is northern Italy’s gift to Union Place. The lively restaurant, with its wide-open kitchen, is known for attracting patrons from near and far to savor their absolutely mind-blowing signature garlic bread along with a host of delicious menu items. The seduction starts with a basket of garlic bread topped with four kinds of cheeses, and continues with an assortment of fiery seafood pastas and entrée favorites like Grilled Salmon and New York Strip. Must tries on the menu include the celebrated 3 Devils Shrimp, a dish consisting of angel hair pasta tossed with sweet sausage, Shrimp, hot cherry peppers and a spicy tomato sauce; as well as the Chicken Pesto, served over fresh Cavatelli pasta. Newly renovated, Hot Tomato’s has an old-fashioned charm that extends from the lively bar to the charming outdoor patio, to the old world wine cellar stocked with wines from all over the world. Buon appetito!

Hot Tomato’s
1 Union Pl
Hartford, CT 06103
(860) 249-5100
www.hottomatos.net

Carmen Anthony Fish House: A Classic Seafood Franchise in Wethersfield

Although Carmen Anthony has to compete for attention on the bustling Berlin Turnpike filled with a myriad of eateries, it holds its own thanks to a distinct local franchise flair. Headed by the corporate Carmen Anthony Restaurant Group, the eatery is a classic seafood and chophouse that cooks up delicious signature dishes using shrimps, oysters, prime beef, and more with other fiery ingredients to create unusual combinations. There are mildly flavored entrées for less intrepid eaters like the Chilean bass or the chunky yellowfin tuna. The stylish ambiance is further accentuated by contemporary décor, a mahogany bar, distinct wine lockers, and for guests preferring a more discreet dining experience, private dining rooms. And of important note: Carmen Anthony’s crab cakes and chowder are touted as the best in the city. Apart from Wetherfield, there is another branch in Woodbury that serves huge fresh Maine lobsters. A third one on Route 44 in Avon is a super stop for after work drinks on a balmy summer evening.

Carmen Anthony Fish House
1770 Berlin Turnpike
Wethersfield, CT 06109
(860) 529-7557
www.carmenanthony.com

Al Fresco’s Restaurant: You’re One of the Family

You may not know it, but your Italian grandma lives on Burnside Avenue. Al Fresco’s serves up rustic, robust Italian dishes in a bright, family-friendly dining room. The menu is pretty much like other budget Italian joints—pizza, grinders, calzones, and pasta dishes abound. But flavors are rich, nuanced, and surprising. You can taste the love in every bite, and portions are big enough to take home and keep you full for days. Al Fresco is open from 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. every day, and the full menu is available for takeout at C&E Pizza, which is attached to the restaurant. Delivery is to East Hartford and Manchester only. Online ordering is available.

Al Fresco’s Restaurant
1111 Burnside Avenue
East Hartford, CT 06108
(860) 528-4433
www.alfrescosrestaurant.com

DISH: Country Food, City Chic

This chic downtown eatery is a knockout reinvention of the former Sage-Allen department store building. The antique sidewalk clock still stands in the same spot, but inside, where moneyed matrons once bought white gloves, a hip crowd drinks rainbow margaritas, nibbles tuna tartare, and watches UConn basketball on a plasma screen above the bar.  The food is worthy of the soaring space-age decor; New Yorkers will say that you can’t find first-rate dining north of Greenwich, but DISH proves them wrong. Ingredients are fresh, simple, and locally-sourced, and coolly inventive combinations like surf-and-turf dumplings—tender, piping hot, perfectly crisp-edged little packages full of lobster and shredded beef tenderloin—will bowl you over. Flash like this is matched with consummate skill. Salmon Wellington is delicately browned across the buttery crust, leaving the salmon inside juicy and flavorful.  DISH is an excellent choice for every night out, offering a raw bar, chophouse fare, dessert bar, and an astounding drinks list. Open for lunch and dinner.

DISH
900 Main Street
Hartford, CT 06103
(860) 249-3474 ‎
www.dishbarandgrill.com

Carbone’s Ristorante: Old School Italian

There’s nothing like the real thing. Carbone’s offers the classic Italian dining experience imitated by chains like Maggiano’s or Bertucci’s—dark wood, plush curved banquettes, huge portions, and bustling family atmosphere. The Carbone family has been serving up specialties from their cookbook since 1961, and the food is definitely timeless; but that doesn’t mean it’s boring! Old favorites like Ravioli Pomodoro or Fettucini Carbonara are peerless, but dishes like the Mediterranean Spice Rubbed Tuna Fillet with roasted eggplant companata are playful, tasty, and in touch with the times. The wine list is extensive but perhaps a bit pricy for what’s on offer.  Carbone’s offers gift cards, catering, and event hosting. Reservations are recommended, especially on weekends.

Carbone’s Ristorante
588 Franklin Avenue
Hartford, CT 06114
(860) 296-9646
www.carbonesct.com

Vivo Seasonal Trattoria: A Taste of Napa in the East

Voted “Best New Restaurant” and “Best Hotel Dining” in its first year of business, Chef William Reardon’s Vivo, located in the Hartford Marriott Downtown, offers simple, fresh, and delicious Mediterranean cuisine, presented with signature Napa Valley verve. Vivo might be the closest you’ll get to a Northern California winery restaurant; huge windows, high ceilings, and sleek-yet-comfortable decor instantly transport you west, while day boat seafood, artisan cheeses, and scrumptious, unfussy dishes like braised osso bucco with chanterelles, classic risotto Milanese and burgundy demi reduction are perfectly balanced by a lovingly-curated wine list. You don’t need to get a babysitter, either; Vivo’s large, reasonably priced kids’ menu includes Nickelodeon-themed cups and dishes. This Zagat-rated stunner is open weekdays for breakfast, lunch, and dinner; on weekends, breakfast and dinner only.

Vivo Seasonal Trattoria
200 Columbus Boulevard
Hartford, CT 06103
(860) 760-2333
www.vivohartford.com

Vito’s By the Park: Relax Downtown With Traditional Italian

Complete with a spectacular view of Bushnell Park, Vito’s offers traditional upscale Italian dining. This is your oasis on the downtown scene—during the day, huge windows bathe you in sunlight, while after dark you have a front-row seat for Hartford’s buzzing nightlife.  (If you miss that park view during dinner, just turn your head; one wall of the restaurant is a scenic green mural.) Start relaxing with a succulent lettuce-and-berry salad with delicately balanced raspberry dressing, followed by juicy prosciutto-wrapped shrimp, cooked to perfection. Pizzas stand tall among the stiff local competition; the gigantic Chicago-style meat pizza (meatball, pepperoni, sausage, and bacon) might out-muscle the Windy City itself! Vito’s boasts an excellent raw bar, a detailed-yet-manageable wine list, and a generous happy hour from 4 – 8 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Vito’s By the Park
26 Trumbull Street
Hartford, CT 06103
(860) 244-2200
www.vitosct.com/park

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