6. Agave Grill
City: Hartford, CT
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (860) 882-1557
Address: 100 Allyn St.
Description: This downtown grill has a Mexican-Caribbean menu and a flair for experimentation. Simply decorated with occasional live music, they have improved the Latin American food in Hartford tenfold. Sure, you can get chili con queso and an enchilada, but why not try one of the more interesting dishes, like the lobster, black bean, and corn tostada; the shrimp on sugarcane skewers and glazed with passion fruit and chipotle; or the mango-rubbed ribs. They make the guacamole right at your table, as fresh as the moment. For dessert, the banana chimichanga is almost too rich and good to really exist. Try one of the 30 tequilas, especially the 9 “supremas,” the best tequilas in the world. Don Julio 1942 never fails to surprise, and neither will Agave Grill.
7. Polish National Home
City: Hartford, CT
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (860) 247-1784
Address: 60 Charter Oak Ave.
Description: Hailed by Gourmet magazine and the New York Times as a treasure, this secret restaurant hidden in a nondescript brick building is an insiders’ treat. Once you find your way inside, through a door around back by the parking lot, you’ll find some of the best Polish food in the state. The potato pancakes, stuffed cabbage, and pierogi dumplings are perfection itself. Try the “Polish plate” that includes all of the above, as well as some delicious sauerkraut (called bios). If you’re in the mood to dance a polka, come on Sat nights. Don’t expect to be impressed by the decor—this looks like a heavy, Eastern European, utilitarian hall. But the food, although certainly heavy, is anything but utilitarian.