Best Restaurants in Connecticut — 2026

At its core, 29 Markle Ct operates under a powerful and heartfelt philosophy: “Always with Love.” It's not just a place to dine—it’s a space to feel, to be seen, heard, nourished, and loved. Chef Damon Daye draws from global flavors and techniques while remaining grounded in soul food traditions and seasonal, ingredient-driven cooking.

Casa Me celebrates the simplicity of authentic Italian cooking and bar culture. The menu encourages sharing a selection of spuntini, antipasti, pinsa, housemade pasta and farm-fresh vegetables, plus grilled fish and meat dishes. 

Happy Monkey is a fun-loving Latin restaurant from world-renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. The menu features tacos and tostadas, larger dishes like arroz con pollo and whole Maine steamed lobster with butter-fried garlic and dried chili, and cocktails with bright, tropical flavors. 

The chic waterfront restaurant serves seafood sourced from its fish market next door, with raw bar offerings, conservas, roasted oysters, and entrees like pan-seared yellowfin tuna, miso-marinated cod and spicy crab pasta. 

The Laurel is an exploration of global cuisines, utilizing locally sourced ingredients. Food and beverage menus are forever evolving, always unique, and designed to be shared.

The Foundry, a crown jewel atop the 20th floor of the Hartford Steam Boiler building, seeks to elevate dining in the capital city. With innovative cuisine, extraordinary ambiance, storied past, and panoramic view of the city, every guest’s experience will be indelible, every meal unparalleled.

Gveenah's menu blends the rich flavors of the Mediterranean with a modern twist, featuring fresh pastas, fish dishes, shawarma, brick-oven flatbreads, kebabs and more.

Max a Mia continues its 35-year tradition in a newer, updated Avon space, with a casual yet upscale Italian bistro experience featuring pastas, seafood, steaks, pizzas, and wood-grilled entrees.

Belden House & Mews offers breakfast, lunch and dinner in the house’s original dining room, gracefully restored to incorporate the essential comforts of modern hospitality. Dining at Belden is a celebration of seasonal produce, sourced with care from nearby farms and the New England coast.

Ore Hill offers a unique fine dining experience in a historic Litchfield County destination, with farm-to-table small plates and entrees. The menu changes seasonally, with produce sourced from adjacent Rock Cobble Farm and several other carefully selected local farms. In 2023, Ore Hill was named to The New York Times' annual list of the 50 best restaurants in the United States.

The Pink House is an inviting bistro-style restaurant serving inventive fare, focused on highlighting the seasonal bounty of the region’s farmers and purveyors. 

Experience seed to table dining at Winvian’s signature restaurant, where seasonal ingredients and refined technique create elegant cuisine.

This Guilford favorite specializes in wood-fired pizza, its menu reflecting seasonality and the simplicity of good Italian ingredients. 

ROLi is the debut concept from two passionate Europeans (and New Haven locals) Angela Grogan and Chef Roland Olah, blending the rustic soul of traditional European cooking with modern creativity and a dash of New Haven spirit. The restaurant was nominated for a James Beard Foundation award in 2026. 

Enjoy fresh flavors, bold ingredients, and a little taste of the Mediterranean at Vyne, with a menu featuring Italian and Greek influences. The venue also hosts weddings and other special events.

A contemporary brasserie experience in downtown New Haven by Chef Vincent Chirico, The Luke features tasting menu experiences and indulgent share plates like aged prime NY steak and Maine lobster and prawn cavatelli.

This landmark tavern, established in 1822, is known as a destination for chicken wings (and a full menu of classic pub fare like potato skins, prime rib, and burgers.)

A beloved bakery and cafe, The Flour Girl offers sourdough breads and specialty baked goods (including sought-after cinnamon rolls, available on Sundays.) The cafe has a full menu of coffee and tea drinks, breakfast items, sandwiches and salads. 

Little Mark's reopened in a new Vernon location in 2025, offering smokehouse entrees like baby back ribs, Carolina pulled pork, brisket with Kansas City sweet sauce and hot Texas sausage. The extensive menu also offers burgers, sandwiches and full plates like a T-bone steak and southern catfish n' chips. 

Set along the shores of Coventry Lake, Lakeview Restaurant brings together waterfront dining, classic New England charm, and a relaxed atmosphere. The menu features American favorites, fresh seafood, steaks, burgers, wings, and seasonal specials. 

Passion, love and innovation fuel this locally sourced menu. At The Essex, experience modern American cuisine that draws inspiration from the land, sea, and deep heritage of the Connecticut River Valley, alongside a legion of international flavors.

Liv's has been a staple in Old Saybrook for 20 years. The menu rotates with the seasons, bringing guests a true taste of the local culinary options and the area's stunning seafood, including a daily variety of six different types of oysters. 

Marker 37 is open year-round to the public, offering a riverside restaurant and lounge experience at Chester Point Marina. Its new-American style menu offers seafood, salads, tacos, sandwiches and burgers, and entrees like classic fish and chips, American Wagyu NY strip steak, chicken Milanese, braised short rib and assorted pastas.

Tucked away in the quaint downtown village of Chester, The Village Bistro highlights creative new American cuisine with a touch of European flair, featuring locally and regionally sourced menu items. 

Chef Julian Elfedayni cooks from his roots. His menus are shaped by family history, personal memories, and a deep love for Moroccan and North African flavors he's carried with him for years. Each dish is his way of sharing those traditions, inviting guests to sit, connect, and share in the traditions that inspire his cooking.

Inspired by a classic New England seafood shack, Haring's is a waterfront restaurant in historic Noank, offering fresh lobster, smash burgers, oysters, local fish, farm vegetables and more.

Owned by a husband and wife team, Whitecrest Eatery will make you feel right at home. If you’re looking for a small, intimate space to grab a delicious bite, this is your place. Enjoy locally sourced small and large plates in an industrial-chic setting, with meals served on mismatched china dishes.

The Farm Italy Mohegan Sun brings its celebrated dining experience from New York to the Uncasville casino, offering guests an inviting ambiance, inspired décor, and an elevated menu that honors Italy’s finest flavors.

At this casual town spot, enjoy hamburgers, gourmet salads, flavorful steaks and chicken dinners, and slow-smoked meats from the Pit Master Corner, including St. Louis ribs, brisket, pulled pork, chicken and kielbasa. 

In the heart of Putnam, The Hare and the Hound is an Irish-themed restaurant with the theme of traditional Celtic dishes, featuring a modern twist. Enjoy hearty plates like corned beef and cabbage, Guinness stew, Galway Bay salmon, beef Wellington, and bangers and mash.

This casual American outdoor roadside eatery offers classic burgers, dogs, sandwiches, seafood, salads, and ice cream.

The Mansion at Bald Hill is a historic landmark that has taken on a new life as a premier restaurant and an elegant bed and breakfast, residing in the Quiet Corner of northeastern Connecticut.

This playful pizzeria throws tradition out the window with inventive square pies, pastas, salads, and creations like a chopped Italian sandwich (with pepperoni pizza as the bread.)

At Fresh Salt at Saybrook Point Resort & Marina, enjoy locally grown and harvested ingredients from both land and sea in dishes like its signature cioppino, tuna poke bowl, lobster rolls with three different preparations, and hearty steaks and chops, alongside vegetarian options. 

Máncora Restobar is built on the belief that food has the power to bring people together. The Peruvian restaurant features a menu of traditional fare, with dishes like ceviche and leche de tigre, a variety of fish and seafood entrees, and classic plates like lomo saltado, tallarin verde, and chaufa.

Since 1977, George's has been a staple in Farmington's Unionville neighborhood, offering Greek and New York-style pizzas, pastas, grinders, burgers, seafood, and Greek and Italian specialty dishes. 

Echo Craft Kitchen's historic building dates back to 1784, but the food and drinks are all modern, with craft appetizers, fresh salads, sandwiches and burgers, hand-tossed pizzas and hearty entrees like braised short rib, 40-clove chicken and blue crab ravioli.

Martha Stewart, who famously built her empire at a former farmhouse in Westport, opened her restaurant at Foxwoods in March 2026. The menu features some of her most cherished recipes, like Big Martha's pierogi (inspired by her mother), Kurobuta pork chops, and a classic Niçoise salad.

The modern-Mediterranean concept features a menu rooted in bright herbs, bold spices, fresh seafood and rustic vegetables, dishes that reflect the soul of Mediterranean coastal dining with a contemporary twist,

The intimate sushi restaurant in New Haven's City Point neighborhood, on the Pequonnock Yacht Club campus, specializes in omakase tasting experiences. 

Mozz & Co.'s commitment to an "exceptional deli experience" drives everything, from daily handcrafted mozzarella to a carefully curated selection of Italian meats and artisanal products. Sandwiches and salads are built with bread made from scratch, house-crafted meats, imported salamis and cheeses, and produce at peak freshness. 

tacobarn's tacos are packed with vibrant international flavors, like jerk shrimp with coconut sauce, Peruvian chicken, chorizo with red chimichurri and hoisin-tamarind glazed duck. The ambiance at the converted barn space is described as “simply fresh, effortlessly enjoyable.”