CT's Best Restaurants For 2018: New Survey

We've all encountered this, a friend or family member innocently asks, "Got a suggestion for a great place to eat?" While it's a simple question, we often freeze and can't come up with a quick answer. So to give you a ready answer, Connecticut Magazine recently asked its readers for their suggestions and published the results in Best Restaurants 2018: Readers' Choice.

"The response we received was excellent, and our lists are bigger than ever, with more categories and more winners," writes Connecticut Magazine, which also recently listed its Experts' Choices for the state's best restaurants.

As opposed to the Experts' list which looked at 32 different categories, the Readers' list is more than twice as big with a whopping 73 categories. So if that friend has a specific interest, you're likely to have an answer from the list.

For example, the Readers' list looks at "Best Fries," "Best Doughnuts," "Best Appetizers," "Best Pub Grub," "Best Seafood" (both casual and fine dining), and "Best Fried Clams," to name a few.

Below are the first 10 categories from Connecticut Magazine's Best Restaurants 2018: Readers' Choice. To view the entire list of 73 categories, click here.

Best Restaurant for Overall Excellence

1st: The Spinning Wheel, Redding
2nd: Sal e Pepe, Newtown

Best New Restaurant

1st: Friar Tuck’s Tavern, Mystic
2nd: Rebeka Fresh Pasta Restaurant, East Lyme
3rd: Red Rooster Pub, Newtown

Best for Fine Dining

1st: Union League Cafe, New Haven
2nd: Bella’Gio, Cheshire
3rd: Sal e Pepe, Newtown

Best Fast Casual

1st: Heibeck’s Stand, Wilton
2nd: Westbrook Lobster, Clinton/Wallingford

Best Romantic Restaurant

1st: Union League Cafe, New Haven
2nd: Sal e Pepe, Newtown
3rd: ON20, Hartford

Best Late-Night Restaurant

1st: Friar Tuck’s Tavern, Mystic
2nd: Red Rooster, Newtown

Best Chef for General Excellence

1st: David Pottie, Friar Tuck’s Tavern, Mystic (t)
Jean Pierre Vuillermet, Union League Cafe and Bar Bouchée, New Haven/Madison (t)
3rd: Ferdinand Plaku, Rebeka Fresh Pasta Restaurant, East Lyme

Best Chef (up and coming)

1st: Kelment “Frank Jr” Loga, Bella’Gio, Cheshire
2nd: Ferdinand Plaku, Rebeka Fresh Pasta Restaurant, East Lyme
3rd: David Pottie, Friar Tuck’s Tavern, Mystic

Best Bartender

1st: Korab “Kory” Loga, Bella’Gio, Cheshire
2nd: Graham Andrews, Sal e Pepe, Newtown
3rd: Jeff Mastroianni, Chow Food and Beverage Co.,Clinton

Best American

1st: The Spinning Wheel, Redding
2nd: The Cottage, Westport
3rd: Chow Food and Beverage Co., Clinton

Click here to read Best Restaurants 2018: Readers' Choice on the Connecticut Magazine website. Got some other suggestions? Tell us in the comments section below.

Photo via Rebeka Fresh Pasta Restaurant's Facebook page