Highest-rated comfort food restaurants in Hartford by diners

Written by:
May 5, 2023
Alexandra Harashchenko // Shutterstock

Highest-rated comfort food restaurants in Hartford by diners

Comfort food. Just saying the phrase manages to create a feeling of warmth that suddenly envelops you and travels directly to your stomach. It's the small, happy dance you do in your chair as your mom puts your favorite dinner in front of you when you go home to visit. It's the infamous cranberry sauce that your beloved aunt makes every Thanksgiving. It's the inexplicably delicious French bread pizza that makes you remember the nostalgia of childhood when everything was simple and eating pizza for lunch felt like a dream come true.

There's a wonderfully subjective quality about comfort food because when it comes down to it, the only criterion it has to have is that it has to make you feel comfortable when you eat it. It's the dish you eat when you're having a rough day—like a huge bowl of chocolate ice cream—or it's the dish you eat when you have something amazing to celebrate—also a huge bowl of chocolate ice cream.

Whether you're out traveling for work, enjoying a road trip for solely play-related purposes, or just tired of figuring out what to have for dinner tonight, Stacker decided to help you find some of the highest-rated comfort food restaurants in Hartford, using Yelp data current as of July 22, 2025. The restaurants that serve the starchy, salty, sweet, greasy, cheesy, flaky, buttery comfort food that hits close to home, exactly when you need it most.

Businesses in the "comfort food" category were selected using Yelp's ranking system, which calculates an adjusted rating value that takes into account the number of ratings as well as the rating score itself. Only businesses with at least 20 reviews and within a 10-kilometer radius of Hartford were considered. Also, in an effort to highlight independent businesses and local chains, those with more than 10 locations nationally, based on our Yelp data, were not included.

Keep reading to find out if your favorite comfort spot made it or to find a new favorite!

1 / 11
Blue Plate Kitchen

#11. Blue Plate Kitchen

- Rating: 3.1/5 (575 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 345 North Main St. West Hartford, Connecticut
- Categories: Diners, Comfort Food, American
- Read more on Yelp

2 / 11
My Wife Didn't Cook

#10. My Wife Didn't Cook

- Rating: 3.3/5 (76 reviews)
- Address: 71 Pratt St. Hartford, Connecticut
- Categories: Soul Food, American, Comfort Food
- Read more on Yelp

3 / 11
Bear's Smokehouse Express

#9. Bear's Smokehouse Express

- Rating: 3.3/5 (120 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 454 Ellington Road South Windsor, Connecticut
- Categories: Barbecue, Comfort Food, Desserts
- Read more on Yelp

4 / 11
Max Burger

#8. Max Burger

- Rating: 3.9/5 (803 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 124 LaSalle Road West Hartford, Connecticut
- Categories: Burgers, Comfort Food, Bars
- Read more on Yelp

5 / 11
Red Heat Tavern

#7. Red Heat Tavern

- Rating: 4.0/5 (298 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 400 Evergreen Way The Promenade Shops at Evergreen Walk South Windsor, Connecticut
- Categories: American, Comfort Food, Gluten-Free
- Read more on Yelp

6 / 11
Bear's Smokehouse Barbecue

#6. Bear's Smokehouse Barbecue

- Rating: 4.1/5 (1795 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 25 Front St. Hartford, Connecticut
- Categories: Barbecue, Comfort Food, American
- Read more on Yelp

7 / 11
Cotton Hollow Kitchen

#5. Cotton Hollow Kitchen

- Rating: 4.1/5 (176 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 840 Main St. South Glastonbury, Connecticut
- Categories: New American, Comfort Food, Cocktail Bars
- Read more on Yelp

8 / 11
BIRDCODE

#4. BIRDCODE

- Rating: 4.4/5 (265 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 120 Park Road West Hartford, Connecticut
- Categories: Chicken Shop, Southern, Comfort Food
- Read more on Yelp

9 / 11
Broasterant

#3. Broasterant

- Rating: 4.5/5 (72 reviews)
- Price level: $
- Address: 630 Park St. Hartford, Connecticut
- Categories: Comfort Food
- Read more on Yelp

10 / 11
Soul Bowls

#2. Soul Bowls

- Rating: 4.5/5 (58 reviews)
- Address: 489 Wethersfield Ave. Hartford, Connecticut
- Categories: Soul Food, Comfort Food
- Read more on Yelp

11 / 11
Box Bistro

#1. Box Bistro

- Rating: 4.8/5 (21 reviews)
- Price level: $$
- Address: 380 Main St. Berlin, Connecticut
- Categories: Comfort Food
- Read more on Yelp

This story features data reporting by Wade Zhou and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 95 metros.

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