Best Dining in Connecticut | 2016 Editors’ Choice Awards

Wondering where to eat in Connecticut? The Nutmeg State offers plenty of restaurant options for hungry residents and visitors alike. Here are our picks for the best dining in Best Dining in Connecticut for 2016.

Best Breakfast: The Sloppy Waffle, Newington Pearl sugar from beets in the dough makes Liège waffles rich, crispy-sweet, and nothing like any other batter waffle you’ve tasted before. Now imagine Belgium’s gift to the world topped with apple cobbler, s’mores, bananas Foster. It gets better: Regulars are gaga for chicken and waffles drizzled with real maple syrup, and the “Sloppy Waffle,” topped with any-style eggs, bacon or sausage, cheese, and maple syrup, is reason to wear your loosest-fitting pants. Specialty waffles: from $7.25. 2551 Berlin Turnpike. 860-436-6893; thesloppywaffle.com Best Lunch: Heirloom Food Company, Danielson It’s worth a road trip to this organic café, where a chalkboard gives props to local farms for ingredients playfully intertwined in salads, soups, sandwiches—even vivid drinks like the strawberry, mango, flax, and apple juice “Summer Solstice.” Most selections are vegan; all can be ordered gluten-free. And devotion to freshness means baked goods such as oatmeal cream pie taste heavenly. Lunch items: from $8. 630 North Main St. 860-779-3373; eatheirloomfood.com Best Lobster: Ford’s Lobster, Noank When a mere lobster roll won’t do, try a “Lobster Bomb”: a tender, grilled sourdough bread bowl heaped full of cold or hot buttered lobster. Yes, it will blow up your wallet. But paired with lobster-rich bisque, it’s plenty for two, and the BYOB policy at this waterside marina deck with table service (and indoor seating off-season) will save you some dough. Lobster Bomb: $37. 15 Riverview Ave. 860-536-2842; facebook.com/fordslobster Best Ice Cream Flavors: Grass Roots Ice Cream, Granby Don’t get too attached to scoops of “Salted Caramel Bacon Brittle,” “Blood Orange Chocolate Chip,” or “Goat Cheese & Wild Blueberries.” The mad-genius ice-cream artisans behind this teeny creamery’s surging popularity incessantly shake up the chalkboard menu, offering about 30 all-natural flavors from their repertoire of hundreds—handcrafted on site in small batches—at any given time. Scoops: from $2.50. 4 Park Place. 860-653-6303; grassrootsicecream.com Best Sweet Shop: Tschudin Chocolates & Confections, Middletown Filmmaker, TV personality, lawyer, firefighter, Food Network battle winner: The plot twists in Roberto Tschudin Lucheme’s résumé hint at why his sweets are sublime. In the hands of a passionate, inquisitive mastermind, stone-ground, couverture chocolate becomes an artistic medium, from which Lucheme handcrafts exotic truffles and edible sculptures. Nibble a merlion-shaped “Night in Tunisia,” and red chiles, fenugreek, cardamom, coriander, and ajwain will have your tastebuds calling for backup. “It’s designed to hit all of your senses,” he says. Chocolates: from $2.50. 100 Riverview Center. 860-759-2222; tschocolates.com Best Fine Dining: Union League Café, New Haven The crème de la crème of Connecticut special-occasion restaurants has remained owner Jean Pierre Vuillermet’s passion and workplace for 23 years. Inside a Beaux-Arts landmark, this French master chef—who has fed presidents of several nations, including our own—styles elegant plates with the region’s seasonal bounty, classic French culinary precision, masterly attention to textures and tastes, and creativity ensuring that even traditional dishes such as duck-leg confit are transcendent. Entrées: from $23. 1032 Chapel St. 203-562-4299; unionleaguecafe.com Best Bakery: Hen & Heifer, Guilford Tell Whang Suh that his sweets are too pretty to eat, and he’s flattered but displeased. Half Korean, half Italian, 100 percent gifted, this French Culinary Institute– and Per Se–trained pastry chef’s creations are exhibited like delicate sculptures in his jewel box of a bakery. But cinnamon–blueberry macarons, tarts glistening with local fruit, torpedo-shaped croissants—all are made to be devoured. Pastries: from $4. 23 Water St. 203-689-5651; henandheifer.com Best Doughnuts: Tastease, Hartford “We open Saturdays at 8:00. At 9:30, I had zero,” boasts Tony Mendes of his record day, when 2,500 mini doughnuts left his and wife Susan’s 400-square-foot bakery in minutes. He hand-decorates every one of these ridiculously tiny, cute, and addictive treats, sometimes pulling all-nighters. Order ahead—three dozen if you want to try every flavor—to avoid dis­appointment. Doughnuts: $0.65 each or $6.65 per dozen. 70 New Park Ave. 860-233-2235 Best Outdoor Dining: Red 36, Mystic On balmy days, even the indoor dining area is open-air at this Mystic River waterfront hot spot. And the sun-splashed deck’s umbrella and lobster-trap tables, nautical couches, and bar seats are in high demand. Boat or drive—just be sure to arrive parched and famished. The line-up of cocktails, Connecticut-brewed beers, and inventive fare from land and sea is as universally pleasing as the view. Entrées: from $12. 2 Washington St. 860-536-3604; red36ct.com Best South American Fare: Cora Cora, West Hartford Andean music, vibrant woven tablecloths, alpaca-wool wall hangings too cuddly not to touch … You’re Peru-bound even before you peruse an encyclopedic menu of ancient and futuristic dishes from the land of the Incas. Amiable servers help newcomers navigate page after page of ceviches, quinoa stews, beef, and seafood. Don’t miss lúcuma fruit ice cream: The texture’s otherworldly; the taste’s a mashup of pumpkin, coffee, and peanut butter. Entrées: from $12.50. 162 Shield St. 860-953-2672; coraperu.com Best Ethnic Experience: Hasna’s Afghan Fusion Cuisine, Waterbury Hearty kabobs, spinach- and potato-stuffed bolani, pillowy naan flatbread, butter chicken bathed in spicy, fragrant sauce: This strip-mall eatery is pleasing diners with pretty much everything that emerges from the tandoori oven, including “fusion” offerings like pizza and burgers. It’s Waterbury’s new place to eat incredibly well yet affordably. Entrées: from $7.95. 625 Wolcott St. 203-805-4044; hasnasrestaurant.com Best Steamed Cheeseburgers: Ted’s Restaurant, Meriden Steamed cheeseburgers are a Connecticut thing, and this classic lunch counter—family-owned for three generations since 1959—is the place to fall for them. Juicier and healthier than their grilled brethren and erupting with molten steamed cheddar, these hefty burgers are the most satisfying meal you can buy for the price. A heaping side of nostalgia is included—free. Single cheeseburger: from $6. 1046 Broad St. 203-237-6660; tedsrestaurant.com Best Wings: J. Timothy’s Taverne, Plainville Shuffle off, Buffalo! You haven’t had chicken wings until you’ve tried them “dirt” style: a technique invented in the mid-’90s at this 1789 tavern. Now, more than 200 tons of these tasty poultry parts hit the fryer each year. The dirty secret? They’re sauced, then refried, then sauced again in four flavors: Buffalo, honey BBQ, teriyaki, and sweet red chili. If you guessed that they’re extra-crispy-sticky, you’re right. Wings: from $7.50. 143 New Britain Ave. 860-747-6813; jtimothys.com What tops your list for the best dining in Connecticut?