Hartford Favorite Named One of the Best Fast Casual Restaurants in the Nation

According to Love Food, one of the best fast-casual restaurants in the entire country is sitting right in Hartford — and honestly, this one almost gets me in the car. I’m a huge Mediterranean food fan, but I don’t get to have it nearly as often as I’d like. So, when I hear about a spot in Connecticut serving the kind of stuff I daydream about, it grabs my attention fast.

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Love Food ranked the top fast-casual places in every state, and for Connecticut, they landed on Tangiers International Market in Hartford. If you’ve never been, they say this place isn’t just a restaurant — its part grocery, part prepared-food counter, part “don’t eat before you go because you’re going to regret it” situation. You can sit down and grab a meal, then walk a few feet and buy the very ingredients they cooked with. Not a bad system.

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Tangiers serves food from the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and a little bit of everywhere in between. They have falafel, kebabs, salads, small plates, and sandwiches that basically smell like a plane ticket to Greece. Love Food says the gyros are the standout. This place alone might be enough to get me to drive to Hartford — which is saying a lot, because nothing else ever makes me want to do that.

If you love fresh, fast, flavor-heavy food, this might be the one Connecticut spot that’s worth the trip. I checked out their menu and I'm ready to order! I'll take the Chicken Curry with Chickpeas and some Baked Kibbee, please and thank you!