[East of the River]

Looking for a spot near West Hartford Center for dinner this weekend. 10 years ago or so I would have known where to go but I realized that recently when the wife and I eat out somewhere decent it has been in Manchester Glastonbury or Hartford. We will be in the center of WH during the day and looks like a relative who lives closer to WH will be able to watch the kids, so it makes more sense to eat there.
We have eaten at Max's and Bricco before and for casual we like the corner Pug, but there has to be more options now.
So far I'm leaning to trying Treva.
Thoughts?

[MikefromCT]

If you enjoy Thai food give Blue Elephant Trail a try. Delicious food and a nice outdoor seating area. Zohara is a new Mediterranean restaurant that's gotten a ton of hype and it's always busy in there, so that might be a possibility.


If the weather cooperates, you might want to consider The Pond House over in Elizabeth Park. The rose garden is in full bloom, so there's no better place of outdoor scenery right now. However, it is expected to be very hot this weekend, so if you do go, I would suggest sitting indoors.

[GeoffD]

It's not in the center but the Indian place on South Main at Park is good. Taste of India.


Zahora on Farmington has reliable Mediterranean.


You already know Max Burger. That's always reliable.


Our experience in West Hartford Center is average food, spotty service, and prices way out of line with the food quality and service. I don't mind spending $100+ for good food, service, and atmosphere but we often find ourselves walking out commenting on mediocre food and/or indifferent service. I'm sure the rents in West Hartford Center are huge and labor is expensive so it kind of has to be that price point. We haven't found any of the higher priced places for drinks/wine and dinner to be a great value. You'd think that when you're one of the few customers midweek in the winter, they'd try to get it right. It seems like they live for their weekend and al fresco business where people seem to put up with it.



It's not in the Center but the Pond House at Elizabeth Park has nice al fresco dining where you don't get the West Hartford Center street noise. The food is pretty good at fair prices. The service less so in our experience. You absolutely want a reservation. We do that once in a while. It's a pleasant evening to do that and walk around the rose garden.


Edited:
I guess this is kind of redundant. We like the other Thai place (Prai Kitchen) on LaSalle better than Blue Elephant Trail. Neither is top-of-the-charts Thai but fine for a bite to eat.

[JimG2]

So many restaurant options in WH center that you need to make a special trip to just walk around with a pad and pen and make a list.. I mean, between N/S Main St to Lasalle Rd, there has to be close to 10 restaurants alone in that short stretch. All ethnic options are covered.... My wife works at the bank on S Main.... Somebody mentioned the Blue Elephant... Haven't been there myself but the bank gets a good bit of takeout from there.... Actually, she brought home some leftover noodles from there.... I ate them on her... well, not actually "on her", too messy, but they were delicious... Something different is the Indian place at the corner of S Main and NB Avenue... You can order goat and other odd stuff.... No women work there. If an over crowded gourmet burger joint suits you, there is Max Burger at the end of Lasalle Rd. You kinda have anything that you might want. Cheesecake Factory down in Blueback, but on the weekends, the last time I went a few years ago, there was an hour wait for a table to get your 3,000 calorie salad....LOL

[East of the River]

I have never eaten at cheese cake factory but my wife was there about a month ago with a friend of hers. I might take a look at Zohara looking at the menu it would be within the wheelhouse of our tastes. My wife tends to prefer American or Italian restaurants (I eat just about anything) and she really dislikes all the Indian food she has tried so far. We like Sukho Thai in Manchester but I'm not sure she want's to experiment with another Thai place. I will take a look at Pond House as well.
Any one been to Treva?

[Stylo]

Cheesecake Factory is garbage.

I’m a big fan of Barcelona and Bartaco. Always good and consistent.

[hvexpatinct]

I'd do Barcelona.

[East of the River]

To update this we basically ignored the suggestions (but they were appreciated). We ended up liking the looks of Treva and Zohara menus so it went to a coin toss and we went to Treva. Server was a little slow getting to us at first but after that service was actually excellent. Not the best Italian I have ever had but it was quite good without being crazy expensive (just mildly expensive). Over all I was quite satisfied.