New American Restaurants near Newington, CT

“One of my faves !! Love the people that work there and food is sinful!!“

“Zach is INCREDIBLE!!!!

After reading mixed reviews I wasn’t sure what to expect.. We were a party of 15+ and we all had a great time, great service, great food! We were celebrating a birthday and Zach was very courteous. Thank you Zach for being attentive, caring, patient and thoughtful! You are much appreciated!!“

“We had the jumbo wings with buffalo on the side. Some of the best wings I’ve ever had. 10/10“

“I am from England but have used this bar the 3 times iv been hear now since last January very good atmosphere the food is really good and reasonably cheap and very tasty and the drink is reasonably priced aswell love this place.
The staff are friendly and nice will definitely be using this bar every time im hear and just down the street from woodspring suites where I stay what more could I ask for 👍👍👍👍“

“great atmosphere, service, food and drink. The shrimp and grits was great, in addition to the Ahi Flatbread. looking forward to checking out the brunch. Thanks for the great service Hunter!“

“I should’ve took a picture of it, but I had the best burger with Swiss cheese and corn beef and sauerkraut and Russian dressing ever. With the fries it was the best.“

“The linguini is off the chain! The bartenders homemade Bloody Mary is amazing! The vibe! The friendly waitstaff! Love love LOVE this place!“

“Had dinner at Gather 55 last night and it was the most pleasant dining experience and best food I’ve had in months! Crystal’s service was excellent! She is a master at her craft! Not only was the experience worth every penny, the mission and purpose of Gather 55 is wonderful! I wish we had one in TN!“

“What a nice place! Hidden gem. I drive by this restaurant almost on a weekly based and finally had a chance to have a nice dinner with my girlfriends yesterday. Food is amazing, drinks were fantastic and our waitress was super nice. I highly recommend this place. The restaurant is about 8 years old but building itself was established in 1757. It’s like dining at the museum. Loved it!“

“It was a culinary delight. I had the crispy duck leg. It was so tender on the inside. It was plated on passion fruit juice and seeds, and garnished with crispy rind of orange. It was such a joy to eat.“

“I love this place family oriented and great food and service highly recommend“

“Amazing ambiance, incredible food, and friendly service. The bartenders make delicious drinks and the small plates are unique and phenomenal. One of my favorite restaurants.“

“Through the grapevine (social media pages I follow), we heard that Chef Van Hurd from Season 6 of Hell's Kitchen was now the executive chef here at Fire By Forge! So naturally, we pulled up to check it out! (Disclaimer: Chef told me that he was so new there that his featured items hadn't hit the menu at that time. ALSO, he's been long gone from there at the time of this review.) So anyway, here's how things went! Atmosphere/Appearance: Set right in Hartford, just a little on the outskirts is this gem. It's on Broad street a little out the way and there is a very small parking lot next to the restaurant, but street parking is also available. The outside looks very well put together and rustic. Once inside the restaurant is kinda split into 2 sections. You have the main section which is nice, open with high ceilings, bright red bricks, big windows, soft leather couches and all kinds of seating arrangements. If you walk past the bar you get into a smaller section, but it's kinda like a tunnel of tables. Lol. That tunnel of tables then opens up into what almost looks like a different restaurant, but feels like a space they expanded into. So there's plenty of places to sit, though I still encourage reservations! The atmosphere was lively and full of energy. This place also lets you know that it's a cooking school too! Amateur chefs can come here to learn knife skills and cooking skills as well! (This is just a small snippet of what they do, but I encourage you to visit the businesses website to learn more about what they offer.) Service: Here's my only gripe about this place. Right online it says "Happy Hour is from 4:30 PM to 6 PM daily and 8pm-9pm, except on holidays, events, or show nights." But like, when isn't there a show or some sort of event going at at The Bushnell or some nearby theater?! You have to literally call and check with the host to see if they're doing happy hour before you come because if you THINK you're in the clear, they can just say... oh there's a show tonight so there will be no happy hour. So that bothered me. Oh well. We still dined. Now for the good stuff! Let me tell you something about Suzie Johnson! She is the bartender here and she won BARTENDER OF THE YEAR in 2024 via the Connecticut Restaurant Association! She is a TREAT! She's full of personality, knows her stuff and is just a true pleasure. Food: First off was the Up In Smoke Old Fashioned. It had great, subtle sweetness up front, warm taste from the Up & Down branded bourbon, cold, smooth, not too harsh and of course, a bit smokey. As a courtesy to guests, they're served pickled carrots as palate cleansers instead of bread, crisps or anything like that. Clever. The first small plate I got to try were the Duck Mole Wings! These are described as "5 crispy duck wings with a tequila mole barbecue sauce, served with sesame seeds and pickled onions. These certainly looked the part! These were smooth, not necessarily crispy, extremely tender, hardy and just balanced. Mole is a very ingredient-heavy sauce and these were delicious. My 2nd drink was the Ghost Rider which is Up & Down bourbon, spiced Nightrider espresso, Licor 43 and an orange twist. This had a sharp cinnamon/hazelnut/nutmeg flavor/spice-y flavor. Very good and warming as well, even though it was a little sweet. Next up was the Knife Skills Soup! This is a soup compiled by the trainees and all the vegetables they've chopped in class! How cool is that?! It was a very thick vegetable soup, hearty, salty and warm. Next up were the Tostone Nachos! These were so fantastic. The pulled pork on top was so meaty, so tender and the queso fresco was lightly cheesy adding subtle notes to the hearty pork and carb-y tostone. This was my favorite thing of the night. My last drink of the night was the Sazerac. If absinthe is in the building, I must try that restaurant's version. This one was spectacular, but could've used more rye bourbon. The last thing we had to try was their Smash“

“Since a lot of these reviews appear to be old, clarifying 2 things: there are two locations (norfolk & hartford) run by Good Works Entertainment. The Hartford location used to have a bistro but does not any longer - they have chips and candy. The highly regarded Bears smoke house is across the street as is the convention center and hotel (that ay have a special rate if you ask). hartford location has nearby street and paid parking unaffiliated with the venue. Both feature a range of arttists so check one or both out with friends and family.“

“First visit. Food was excellent. We will be back!!“

“First time there today and it was amazing, I had the beef short rib grilled cheese with sweet potato fries, my hubby had the Philly Cheesesteak and the French onion soup!! Our server explained a lot to us about the food and told us her favorite dishes!!! We will definitely be back !!“

“That buttered hot dog roll 🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤 oh.my.gawwwddddd! SO good! And it doesn’t break at the bottom like most hot dog buns do. Service was super fast and all the staff was friendly and looked happy and seemed to be enjoying themselves. Great environment! Will go again!“

“This place was beyond amazing. I have been here personally for food with friends before but never for an event. I used this place for my 2 month old baby’s baptism luncheon. (On st Patrick’s day) Shannon, the event manager was absolutely fabulous to work with. She even followed up with me after her first email since I have a terrible memory and forgot to reply to the first outreach. She made the whole event super easy and seamless. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that. I am a new mom with a 2 month old so complicated processes will never get done. Shannon made everything super easy and friendly. She was available by phone and email. Any questions I had she comfortable to ask and when I changed the salad she made it seem like it was nothing. I cannot say enough great things about her. (P.s this place was extremely well priced too for absolutely FABULOUS food) The day of, we were 30 minutes early and the room was all ready for us and let us choose whether to be in the room or hang out at the bar. Jackie was our waitress and she was amazing! I am a neurotic mom who can’t remember anything and she totally helped me out. When I was walking around talking to guests she brought the drinks to me. She was beyond professional, kind, helpful and nice to all of our guests and us and our family. We got TONS of compliments on Jackie and the food. We got the bronze package and replaced the salad with a Cesar salad, the chicken plate, steak and pasta bolognese. Delicious! They were the perfect portions and super tasty. Again, we cannot say enough great things about Jackie! We had extra people show up and within moments she had spaces created for them. She and her team were great and I hope she knows how wonderful she made the day!“

“The food here is delicious and thoughtfully prepared. The owner is very friendly and the staff make the dining experience here a pleasure. Would definitely recommend this restaurant.“

“I’ve been here twice in the past week. I meet the new chef Mike, it was reallly cool that he came and talked to us, he said all of his specials are made from scratch and both the salmon bites and hulk burger were some of the best things I’ve eaten in a long time. Great waitressing too. I’d recommend everyone to come.“

“Stopped in for a very last minute birthday dinner. The staff quickly accommodated a large group (with kids) no problem. Food and service was excellent and the live music really made the night. We were very impressed. Thanks for a memorable night.“

“Delicious food and friendly staff!👍👍. Will be back!“

“GREAT FOOD, FAST SERVICE!“

“We had my daughter’s baby shower at Lola’s. From the start of booking until the day of the shower. So easy to work with. The day of the shower, we were greeted with such warmth and truly our waitress for our party, Becky, was fantastic. Catered to our every need and was so beyond helpful. She worked very hard and was so pleasant! The food was amazing and plenty of it! Guests went back for seconds! Becky even went above and beyond for my mom who couldn’t eat something and prepared a new one just for her. Truly a gem of a place! Thank you again to the owners and to our waitress who went above and beyond for making our day so perfect! We can’t wait to come back! Kim Landeen“

“I can't seem to get past the Bacon Burger, it's incredible! I drive an hour and a half to get there, and it's incredible every time! Well worth the drive.“

“Great food , vibes and atmosphere.“

“Beautiful atmosphere, service was very good . Food was outstanding and very fresh . Chef is very talented with great presentation. I would highly recommend !“

“My husband Jeff and I(Terry) had the best Valentine's Dayy!! Your wings, your service, Food is amazing. Our standards are very high and appreciate all you do for our community!!! Happy Valentine's Day From the Vagell's!! ❤️“

“Went for my first time and holy hell, these wings are great! Got the smoked ones with garlic sweet chili and honey chipotle flavors, and both were amazing! The texture is really good, and while they’re a little on the smaller side, i just wanted more. The philly rolls were also pretty good, and the drinks were solid and reasonably priced. Gonna be introducing more people to this place for sure.“

“sunday brunch was nice. food was good service was efficient“

“The food Is pretty good. The service isn't bad. It's just a bit unorganized and quite slow. They only accept cash, but they do have a ATM area. You can differently have a conversation and talk.It's in a church cafeteria. I would encourage. Trying to at least once. The turkey wings are my favorite from this location.“

“Best Italian wedding soup i ve had so far !!! ♥️“

“First time here, but I was very impressed by the food and service. I'm trying to eat a more plant-based diet and the veggie quesadilla was not only delicious, but extremely satisfying and filling. One of a few places that actually have blue cheese stuffed olives for martinis! Will definitely stay here again!“

“1st time here and everything is going very well. Room is spacious and comfortable. Front desk staff very friendly.“

“Excellent food & Service!“

“Had our 37 grammar school reunion Our waitress Mary Lu was amazing We had a set up in the back which was perfect as we were a fun 🤩 group The food was great and the cocktails 🍹 amazing (recommend Strawberry coconut martini)“