Nutshell Cafe

We’ve lived in the area for over 30 years and tonight was our first time dining there and I can honestly say it will it not be the last. The service was outstanding and the food was exceptional. Suzanna, thank you. See you soon. Don and Sharon.

I love that this cute little café/​neighborhood bar is right in an actual neighborhood. There’s a small bar and a dinning area on the right side of the restaurant layout.
I ordered the pork and clam dish hoping for some authentic Portuguese fare. I could have gotten a burger and fries but that wasn’t why we wanted to try this place.
I wasn’t that impressed with my pork and clam dish. I took home the leftovers and it didn’t reheat well either. It wasn’t seasoned well. I actually liked what my boss got: breaded and fried shrimp. I will note our waitress was friendly and sweet.

Really great place. We originally went to Primavera Café but they were closed, this place was open an extra half hour and a couple told us they would cook for us even though we came in at closing.
They had a very impressive Taste of Hartford Menu for $ 20.15. I decided on the Kale Soup, Garlic Chicken with Linguine, and Flan. We also got some very delicious Portuguese rolls and veggies.
The food was very good and the service was prompt and very friendly. If not for the couples recommendation I’d probably never know to come here. The cooking felt very homemade and almost as if you were eating over a friends place. I definitely want to come back here to try some more things on the menu.

Today for lunch we visited The Nutshell. I must say I was very pleased. Greeted by everyone as we entered thru the bar. The waitress was very attentive. We had cod cakes for appetizers. They were lightly breaded and fried well. Tasted creamy and delicious. I ordered Shrimp with garlic. It came with a salad that was crispy and fresh. The shrimp gave a crack sound as you chewed it. So very good. That sauce was hardy with a mild fire. The rice with peas was done to perfection. My husband had the Strip steak with fries. He said the steak was done perfectly and tasted delish. Loved the fries. Both entrees were 12.99. What a wonderful new place. We will be back.

Fiancé wanted to try Portuguese food so we ended up here. Menu looks awesome, so we were very excited to try everything. We started off with the calamari… huge portion but a little too much breaking for my liking. The chorica in the nutshell clams dish was delicious! Probably my favorite part of the meal. As for my fiancé, he ordered the specialty, the pork and clams served over fries. Nice mild garlic and tomato taste! Overall, huge portions, fair price, nice waitress, quiet and welcoming place. Food was ok, I think we are willing to try and come out some other dishes in the future… paella and stuffed flounder sound good!

I haven’t been to this place in months and it’s usually a contender when my favorite dive is too busy, but these past few times it’s been disappointing. The establishments I tend to frequent are pretty consistent in terms of quality and service, but I have to say I left last night feeling like what the hell.
I had the seafood mix which was unsatisfying. It had a strong smell and I’m not sure it was a good smell. The rice was overdone and the mussels just smelled off. Also, the chocolate mousse dessert was soupy and poor. What’s funny is that I was hungry and I barreled right through the entire meal, but I let the waitress know the short comings.
What I find interesting about Portuguese establishments in general is that I can be a little biased and I normally don’t say anything because I feel like they can do no wrong, but I am slowly changing. Also, when suggestions are made it usually falls on deaf ears and they can be combative, so in most cases I don’t say anything.
I know my peoples and it can be difficult, besides the manager or the cook never came out to have a word with us, so for me I will not be visiting any time soon.
This is a hit or miss place in terms of food.
Cons:
–Horrible parking.
–Hit or miss on quality of food.

Great food! Great drink! One of my favorite places for lunch. I only wish it was kinder to my waist line.

Limited on parking, but well worth finding a spot. You can eat on the bar side, or the dining side which is more dressy. I had Kale soup, it was good, different from the way my hometown New Bedford, MA makes it, marinated steak and pork with rice and fries, very tasty and filling. I can eat but couldn’t finish it all. Will definetly be back.

Fantastic portugese food at a reasonable price. Pork and clams seems to be their signature dish — highly recommended. Service typical of a family run place, not too efficient but endearing nonetheless.

Fantastic! Small, quaint place that you’d never know existed if you weren’t looking for it. Great service, and excellent food! Try the Paella with a bowl of caldo verde (kale soup) and arroz doce for dessert.
5* from me!

Ive been here a couple times. The food is very good. Really. The service, however, is day to day. If you have somewhere to be or if it irritates you to wait 10 mins or more for a drink, you should either relax or avoid.

This is a clean, handsome, professional bar/​restaurant that really cares about the food. Pricing is very, very reasonable. What’s not to love?
We’ve had quite a few meals here over the years. There’s always a few of the Franklin Avenue guys here, along with their younger hangers-​on, but, mind you, they always behave, here. It was at their invitation that we first came down. And now we’re like family. Oy, what kind of «family» you’re probably asking…
Some may not go for the televisions which are all over the place; sporting events, news and a financial ticker are the steady fare. Volume is low or not at all.
There’s an attractive patio in the rear with shady seating, however, there’s no waitress service out there. You must buy and bring out your own drinks. Smoking of cigarettes and cigars is just fine with the ownership and the crowd — on the patio.
What’s really stellar is the food. It’s priced right, delicious and well-​prepared, and served in abundance.
The steamed clams with wine (app $ 9, entrée $ 12) are a home-​run. Not over-​cooked, sweet and delightfully seasoned and sinfully buttery; we sopped-​up the extra sauce with the fabulous Portuguese rolls they serve.
The house kale soup is very, very good. A baked onion soup special one day was merely run-​of-​the-​mill, in that it’d relied on beef base concentrate for the broth, and the croûton was hard and stale.
Portuguese cod cakes disappointed. They were small and lacking in flavor. A squid appetizer is a better bet, we thought, but it was lack-​luster at best and could’ve been a bit more tender.
They marinate pork and serve it either as an entrée or in a sandwich (entrée with salad and potato $ 10; sandwich with signature «chip fries» — they’re homemade potato chips — is only $ 8.) They also marinate their steak, and you can get a sort of mixed grill (steak & pork with gravy) for about $ 18. The portion is large enough for two.
The burgers are very good. I’m a purist so didn’t opt for the house burger featuring gorgonzola, mushrooms and onions. Companion did and was in pig heaven. It’s gigantic, and served with delicious fries or their homemade chips. It was under $ 10.
A turkey club sandwich — their only club sandwich — disappointed by using salty, gelatinous turkey breast. It obviously hadn’t been roasted there. A caesar salad relied on bottled dressing and was lack-​luster. Other salad dressings are bottled, as well. Why can’t they make a nice Sherry Vinegar vinaigrette?
They have a Vinho Verde (white Portuguese wine) here that’s absolutely delicious — and I’m not a white wine drinker. A red was cheap (about $ 4.50) and dry and just right. I’m not well-​versed in Portuguese wines but what they gave us was just wonderful. There’s an attractive selection of beers here, too. Cocktails are kinda small but hey, the price is right. A nice premium high-​ball is $ 5. 12-​year-​old scotch on the rocks is about $ 8.
Nice details abound. The cutlery is heavy-​weight and substantial. A cloth napkin is used, although paper placemats cover laminated-​wood tables. No matter what you order, a little dish of olives and their homemade pickled vegetables (very spicy) is placed out. The place is very, very clean.
They have espresso and very good coffee, to which they’ll add whipped cream on request.
The rice pudding is what floats my boat for dessert here, but the brownie with vanilla ice cream and the flan are close contenders for second place. The desserts are a bargain, none over $ 5.
Service is cheerful and efficient. At times, the single server in the dining room can be overwhelmed, but the food didn’t get cold and we got out of there timely.

One of my worst dining experiences ever. I came with a group of six, two of whom had been previously. The atmosphere was lacking; imagine diner-​style tables in what looks like a semi-​residential setting, with the A/​C blasting to an uncomfortable level. The waitress was OK at first, but she soon wore out her welcome. She hovered and shoehorned her way into our conversations.
As another review mentioned, the rolls were large but nothing special. The waitress put pressure on our group to order alcoholic beverages (we ordered soda) but did not seem familiar with their selection. We started with the chourico and fried calamari appetizers. These were the highlight for me. The calamari in particular had a nice breading. However, the waitress refused to clear the plate of calamari until someone took the last remaining piece.
The food came out one at a time over a 5 minute period. For my entrée I had the lamb chop special. It was two hunks of lamb with a multitude of fat and not much meat. I struggled to cut into it and when I finally did, I noticed it was rare, rather than medium as I ordered. The waitress offered to take it back. When she returned it was completely overcooked, well-​done, and dry. It was inedible. The sides were unremarkable: the mixed vegetables were clearly frozen, the rice and potatoes were bland. I hardly touched my plate but the waitress did not comment or offer to discount the bill. My husband was ambivalent about his meal (the chef’s meat skewers). No one took their leftovers home.
Since my dinner was a disappointment I was looking forward to the cheesecake for dessert, hoping it could redeem the meal. The waitress returned a few minutes later to say they «could not find» the cheesecake so there wasn’t any.
The bill came out to be about $ 60 for my husband’s and my portion. Given the quality of the food, I feel this was very overpriced. This was not homestyle in a good way. We would absolutely not return.

My wife and I recently had lunch at the Nutshell. It was good enough, but not the treat we expected from the earlier reviews we read here. If splitting stars was possible, we’d give at a 3.5. The venue is bright, clean, and a bit bigger than we had thought. The server was informal and friendly, but was a bit off the mark in other ways, which we’ll get to later. The opening bread and pickled veggie plate was tasty. We split a caldo verde soup, a classic potato broth, kale, chourico (sausage) soup. It was quite good, although I personally prefer the less austere, but not quite so authentic version made with chicken stock. Then we tried the codfish cakes for an appetizer. They were disappointing– dry, lifeless, and mostly filler. They were only $ 1 each, but I’d rather pay more and have good ones. For my main course I ordered bacalhau à brás, a traditional dish made from shreds of salted cod (bacalhau), onions and potato slivers bonded by scrambled eggs. I only knew to order it though because I heard another, regular patron do so. It wasn’t on the menu, and the server had not mentioned it as a special. She explained that it was always available so it wasn’t a special she mentioned. How one was supposed to know that remains a mystery. The good news is that the generous portion of bacalhau was very good. My wife ordered a strip steak. which while OK, was just a bit stringy and accompanied by indifferent fries. The flan and rice pudding desserts were good but not especially so. Another issue with the service is that the various courses came to the table too close together, creating a bit of a rushed feeling and leaving one course to cool unless you gulped down the previous one. My advice is to stick to the Portuguese dishes and ask what is available that isn’t listed or otherwise offered. We looked at the dinner menu, and it seemed more promising in terms of Portuguese offerings, so that meal might be a better prospect.

First time diners and we will definitely go back. Food is freshly prepared. The calamari appetizer was tasty and ample for the price. This place is a hidden gem; it was recommended by a friend and was worth the trip to downtown Hartford. Looks like a local neighborhood pub from the outside but the dinning room is nice, nothing fancy but clean and neat. A must if you looking for a different fare from the typical franchise and steak house menus.

Hole in the wall type of place with a small bar, outside seating, darts and a small parking lot in the back. Beers on tap and wine list. Portuguese fair, you can tell everything is homemade. We had the cod fish cakes to start which are excellent. 2 per person is more than enough with the fresh portuguese bread and pickled veggies they give you to start. The waitress Suzana was very attentive and fast. She helped us pick entrée selections too. We had the paella which comes with half a lobster on top! We think it was previously frozen and a bit overcooked but still a nice touch. Also the pork and clams was good, clams were very big, pork was moist and home fries on bottom were good except a layer of grease was underneath everything so I avoided most of the potatoes that soaked it all up. We asked about the cheesecake which someone mentioned on here but Suzana said it was store bought, not homemade. We did try it anyways and it was delicious, she brought it out with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. Definitely a place to go back to. Wednesday night was packed at the bar for a dart tournament FYI I dont know if it is like this every Wednesday.

The fare is Portugese, and it’s hard to imagine any better. Pork with clams, perfect crispy chorizo and a friendly neighborhood vibe in what used to be a Trinity College beer joint. Maria, chef-​owner, formerly of the Bullpen, will make sure you have a great experience. My fave entrée are the quails. Two semi-​boneless lovely birds are marinated in Portugese paprika, garlic, etc. for a long time, then fried to crispy perfection. They are served with home-​made potato chips or other sides (get the chips) for 13.99. Before you eat, you will be presented with a bowl of pickled veggies and a soft Portugese roll.
There’s a friendly bar, and a list of Portugese wines all under $ 20.00. This place rocks!