On20

This was a great find. The food was excellent and the presentation was beautiful. The service was great as was the ambiance and view.

This is a gem on the HARTFORD restaurant scene. Indoor parking, elevator to the restaurant, warm greeting, and delightful ambiance. The service is always top notch and friendly. The wine list is excellent. We have always enjoyed the chefs tasting menu with paired wines. The view done the CT River is delightful. Hard to know what these yes are with done folks– we have dined here 6 times in two years and service and good are always superb. Try it for a special occasion or have apps and drinks at the bar-​you will not regret it!

I went here with my girlfriend few weeks ago. The view from this restaurant is amazing. You overlook the Connecticut River and the city of Hartford. I had a delicious meal of chicken and my girlfriend had fish. Both were prepared and cooked to perfection

Awesome views and better food and drink!

The food was absolutely exquisite along with the service. Although the older gentlemen who I believe may have been a host almost turned us away because we only «called ahead same day» instead of making a formal reservation, he later made up for it and apologized. We came in for lunch and as I mentioned, called ahead in order to assure there would be no issues if we stopped in. The rainbow trout and carrot cake were truly amazing! The views are spectacular and the ambiance in general was very nice. Calm, relaxing and simple. It is upscale, we noticed a lot of business professions and well dressed employees working throughout the restaurant. The bathroom was gorgeous! Which might sound strange, but it has everything a woman may need for a quick refresh. I definitely will return!

The service is superb. Very attentive wait staff. The maitre d’hotel passed around to make sure everyone was happy.
The food is phenomenal, one of the top places in Hartford. Everything from appetizers to desserts is great. A bit pricey but well worth it.
The bar is cluttered with rowdy lawyers.
The decoration is rather crappy, the only reason this place is getting 4stars. It’s from the 80/​90s where brown went to die. Everything brown. Suffocating. The view is of the highway and the river then east Hartford beyond. Overall

We made reservations for my wife’s birthday and were both extremely excited to dine at On20. A day before they called personally to confirm the reservation which was a nice touch. We arrived at the restaurant a few minutes early but when we attempted to park in the garage at the restaurant the gates were down and the attendant never was reached. We waited a few minutes and then decided to park a few blocks away and walk.
We then walked back to the restaurant and the front revolving door was locked along with the two side doors. We used the call box on the wall but no response. We then called the restaurant and they said they will take care of the issue. A hostess finally came down and tried to open the doors, they were still locked! Eventually we were let in, 14 minutes later after waiting in the cold! Another couple was also stuck outside.
We finally made it inside and the restaurant is impressive. What was unimpressive was the non window table we were seated at. Server was pleasant and let us know that due to the locked door situation, they were going to serve us Prosecco on the house. We expected more but it was a nice gesture. The server admitted that parking is an issue they are aware of.
The first course arrived which was an Asian inspired shellfish and custard. Upon first bite I almost broke a tooth on a chunk of shell! My first course ended right there. We let the hostess know and she was less than empathetic.
The appetizers we ordered were very tasty — Steam bun salad and Agnolitti. Our main courses were less than stellar — Hanger steak «pot roast» and the Olive oil poached cod. What was also disappointing was the waitress did not even know how the poached cod was prepared and served.
We decided to skip desert or a second round of drinks at this point and asked for the check. We were a party of 2 and there was 20% service charge already added to the bill. I have never encountered this before for such a small party.
Overall, our dining experience from parking, service, food quality and charges was less than par. Unfortunately we will not be recommending On20 to anyone soon.

I was definitely excited to try another experience at on20. I have a new appreciation for the happy hour — which we made in the nick of time! — but I was not particularly moved by the dinner.
I appreciated that the bartender was willing to make my husband and me two cocktails just 10 minutes before the end of happy hour. The side bowl of popcorn was a nice touch. On this given Thursday, the bar was not too crowded.
We came here for Restaurant Week, which gave us a good opportunity to try lots of different things. The presentation of all our dishes were great, but the flavors did not stand out or sometimes seemed off, such as the temperature of the steam bun and salad (pork shoulder, grilled steam bun, charred broccoli slaw).
We actually loved our desserts, as they stood out to us as very unique and super fresh. The Cucumber (cucumber ice cream, griddled corn muffin, black pepper milk crisp, honey-​basil) and Blood Orange (quark sponge cake, blood orange curd, matcha tea streusel) had some very interesting textures and flavors.
Maybe I’ll just come back for alcohol and sweets!

Fabulous!!! Delicious food and romantic ambience. Yummy drinks too! I highly recommend the trout!
The maitre d was lovely. Such a nice man.

Welcome Back! After a friends dinner here over a year ago, I decided to head back and try the 8 course Chefs Tasting this time around. $ 85 pp.
We were seated promptly for our 8p reservation. Our waitress was pleasant, friendly and attentive. We placed our order and she told us the Chef was excited to have us pick the tasting. It’s always a treat for chef’s because they get to be creative with off the menu creations.
I’m not going to go into detail about each dish but I will say, we told the waitress we were not a fan of fish, and they were accommodating. Let’s say the tasting started off with a treat from the chef, then a fantastic steak tar tare. From there it was a mix of soup, pasta, a steak dish & dessert.
A fantastic experience you must try and indulge yourself!
Service was excellent water and wine was attentively poured. Plenty of staff to take care of you.
Also, ON20 now includes a 20% service charge which counts as the tip.

1.5 year anniversary :):)
Window seating, great views
Steam bun salad (grilled steam bun, charred broccoli slaw, French 5spice pork shoulder), lamb sausage, vadouvan curry, coconut kaffir lime lentils, quick pickled roots. Pancetta wrapped monkfish (fried onion broccoli rabe, port wine reduction. Pork osso bucco (creamy and crispy polenta, Tuscan kale gremolata). Cucumber ice cream, griddles corn muffin, black pepper milk crisp, honey basil), quark sponge cake, blood orange curd, matcha tea streusel
Will be back for happy hour 4 – 7
Parking at 400 Columbus, they validate

I’ve only been here for happy hour, so this is only in regards to the drinks and appetizers.
First off, the atmosphere is great! If you get there early, it’s quiet, romantic, and you have an amazing view over the river and of downtown Hartford as the sun goes down. This is an ideal date spot for an intimate drink, or to catch up with an old friend after a long day at work.
The drinks themselves, well I haven’t tried anything other than amazing. My absolute favorite was the Sazerac, followed by the Blood & Sand. If you like whiskey, you’ll definitely like these cocktails. The appetizers were good too. We shared the Truffles and Pomme Frites which were both rich and delicious. The only appetizer I wasn’t ecstatic about was the Salt & Pepper Dumplings — mainly because these were not what we were expecting. They are more like baked dough with salt & pepper on top, not a typical dumpling.
Just be sure you don’t get lost on your way up to the bar. It can be a little bit tricky if you come in through the garage — you need to first go up to the main lobby and then take the elevator up to the 20^th floor. Don’t forget to bring in your ticket to get it validated!
Overall, this is a wonderful happy hour spot. And for $ 7 cocktails, $ 4 wines, and $ 6 – 7 appetizers you really can’t be disappointed!

From the second I stepped foot through the doors of ON20 to the moment I left, I was astounded.
We were greeted by a friendly hostess who had asked for our reservation, took our coats, and proceeded to seat us. We were greeted once again and had our glasses filled with water that one of our servers mentioned was filtered. Finally our main server, Kristina was attentive and made sure all of our questions were answered. She was knowledgeable about the menu and was excited when she heard we were ordering the Chef’s Tasting option (8 courses chosen by the chef seasonally $ 85pp). We let her know that we were not a fan of raw meat or liver and they were accomidating. She couldn’t wait to let the Chef know and we couldn’t wait to begin.
Our tasting began with an egg white foam and biscuits to start off our palate (did not count towards the 8 courses). Proceeding was soup, salad, seafood, barbecue pork, stuffed trout, small ravioli, and the final savory course, venison. The venison our server mentioned was farm raised and grass fed from New Zealand. Everything was phenomenally prepared and presented. Flavors I can’t even begin to describe to you. The final course was a dessert to die for. A Japanese cheesecake with a blood orange custard, blood orange slices, and a crispy pistachio wafer. The dessert came with a candle and a small happy birthday song for my girlfriend (who I had mentioned we were celebrating this for in our reservation).
Concluding our visit we were brought out some caramel popcorn and an egg based cake, along with parking validation. 5 out of 5 stars from me.

No doubt ON20 is an outstanding restaurant but my dining experience in particular was very disappointing.
We were there celebrating a special occasion … The dining room is big, open and spacious enclosed by huge glass panes… we had a table by the window, the view was just breathtaking overlooking the Connecticut river at sunset and the travelers building in the vicinity. It was just magnificent.
I recommend u call at least a week ahead to make ur reservation. I called just 2 days before and we had some dietary restrictions so since the menu (chef tasting) was already pre-​set for the week, at first I was told we could not be accommodated but 10min later I got a call back and they said that the chef would make something for us even at short notice and we could be accommodated. I really appreciated it.
We had asked for the chef– tasting (chicken and vegetables only) … Ya I know I am crazy to pay lotta greens for eating greens coz out of the 8 courses 6 were veg, 1 chicken and 1 dessert.
I would expect even though it was veg, the food would taste good but to my disappointment I felt the chef had absolutely no skill in cooking vegetarian food. And after eating the last course which was chicken… I was glad the rest was vegetarian coz the chicken dish was so bad… lacked flavor, seasoning we didn’t eat more than a bite of it. My favorite was the first course… tomato watermelon gazpacho. Overall the food was so not worth the money. I felt I’ve had better tasting (even veg) before.
I regret having taken my husband on such a dining experience coz he is fussy when it comes to food and it took a lot of convincing to get him to dine here (he was paying for it after all).
Even with all said and done I wud still recommend this place for anyone celebrating a «special occasion» or not.

We came here on Sept. 12 for my mother’s birthday dinner because this restaurant has received a lot of good buzz. Perhaps some folks would view On20 as one of the best restaurants in the Hartford area, but my experience did not live up to the hype. Any restaurant that touts its status as «The only Connecticut restaurant with a 29 Zagat Rating for service» better deliver, but this place fell pretty short of that mark. Here are my issues:
–server took a long time to acknowledge our presence after we were seated by the hostess
–cocktails took a long time to arrive
–bread was cold
–amuse bouche of julienned tomato with green hummus was kind of pathetic
–when asked how the porcelet entrée was prepared, the server was totally clueless
–when clearing our table, the bus staff touched the rim of my father’s drink in order to move the glass; this is improper technique; glasses should be moved by the base or the side so that the rim of the glass remains sanitary for drinking
–when the bus staff cleared our first course, they mistakenly removed a fork without replacing it; then when the entrees came out, the server departed too quickly before we could raise the issue regarding the silverware; it took me a while to flag someone else down to get us a new fork; in the meantime, our food got cold
–water glasses were never re-​filled
It wasn’t all bad, though. On the positive side, my father really enjoyed his porcelet entrée even though he kind of took a leap of faith when he ordered it. And the drink menu was varied, with the cocktails made well.
But what I’ll take away from this experience was how much of a discrepancy there was between the service level expected and the service level received. Not even a mention of «happy birthday» or anything like that, despite the fact that it was mentioned in the OpenTable reservation. And there was an automatic 20% service charge included in the bill, which was difficult to swallow. Better options elsewhere.

When I dine in the Hartford area, I manage my expectations. There have only been a handful of restaurants over the years that have been standouts (e.g. Acqua, Glas (both closed)). I personally have never been blown away and it’s rare that a restaurant in the area offers something innovative. So when I dined at On20, I was pleasantly surprised.
I took my mom to On20 for a pre-Mother’s day/​early birthday dinner. First, getting into the restaurant was a little confusing (we entered at the Columbus Ave entrance) and entrance was initially locked. Some signage indicating exactly where to find the restaurant would be helpful.
As soon as you enter the restaurant, you’re captivated by the view. After living in New York for eight years, very few skylines are remarkable. But the view at On20 is so excellent, that you can forgive the fact that it’s Hartford. The restaurant was dim, creating an intimate atmosphere, and a great juxtaposition to the expansive view.
The service was great. Our waitress was friendly, knowledgeable and attentive. The general manager (I think) checked on us frequently and made polite conversation. When our main course was taking a bit long, he offered to comp a glass of wine.
Now the food. .. everything was tasty. The portions were fair, and not overly filling. The flavors were subtle and the curious coupling of flavors and textures were like a never-​ending happy dance in my mouth.
We had: (1) the Peekytoe Crab; (2) the Swiss Chard salad; (3) Duo of Pork; (4) Muscovy Duck; (5) Orange Creamsicle; and (6) the Banana Bread.
The Peekytoe Crab was refreshing and the melon was a nice accompaniment. The Swiss Chard salad was surprisingly good — I honestly hadn’t had raw swiss chard before this dinner.
The Duo of Pork was the low point of the meal for me. I love pork. .. deeply, but there was something weird about the pork shoulder. I can’t put my finger on it, but the texture was more like a pâté and certainly not what I expected. The Duck, on the other hand, was amazing. And I would highly recommend it.
We started out with my mom having the Banana Bread and I having the Orange Creamsicle (I’m on sure of the exact names), both were effectively deconstructed versions of their titles. The Creamsicle was light and refreshing, but once I tasted the Banana Bread, I had to order another for myself.
Overall, an amazing experience and I highly recommend On20.

This is the perfect place for a very special evening. I came here during Restaurant Week so I got a bit of a steal on the prices but the service and food was still top notch. This is the kind of place where they take your coat, push in your chair for you, place the napkin on your lap, etc. The manager also came by during our meal to check in with us and chat which was very nice of him to do. It helped me feel welcome, in such a fancy place that is usually out of our comfort zone. The normal prices here are quite high but you get great service, a great view, and great presentation in return. They do have parking in a garage right beneath it. You have to get a ticket but they will validate so that it is free. Certainly makes it easier to deal with parking downtown.
We ordered a number of things, including the pork belly appetizer and tuna tartare appetizer. Both of them were delicious with the pork belly being very savory and decadent with that caramelized fat. The tuna on the other hand was very fresh and light. I got the salmon for my meal and it was delicious and filling. My husband got the lamb, done two ways, which neither of us were huge fans of but admittedly don’t eat lamb very often. I also was not a huge fan of my dessert, which was a shortbread cookie kind of dessert. It was very dry. My husband’s chocolate cake dessert was very good though. The presentation for all of the dishes was lovely.
All in all, a really nice experience and I’d come back for a very special event.

I finally made it to On20! I’d been meaning to come here for so long, and finally did it this past round of Taste of Hartford. I will definitely be back, and will update my review to include a non-​Restaurant-​Week experience.
I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to park, since I hadn’t realized you could use the lot beneath the building and have the parking validated by On20. We did this, then took at elevator up a few floors to the lobby and a second elevator up to the 20^th floor. I’ll admit, it wasn’t until I hit the elevator button for the 20^th floor that the Restaurant name made sense :)
We walked in, and were immediately greeted by friendly hostesses and a sophisticated, sexy atmosphere. The dark grey walls and artwork with the rich wood tones were instantly welcoming. There’s a coat rack when you first enter, and the restrooms are to the immediate left. Direct ahead is the bar area, which is smaller than I had envisioned, but with a really nice open feel. If you sit near the windows, you get a marvelous view of the city of Hartford.
The waiters are super attentive, and there is a knowledgeable wine sommelier, which I always appreciate. We opted for an older rioja, which was reasonably priced and seemed interesting. The sommelier was really attentive, and when he noticed some dish soap spots on my glass he immediately replaced it with a sparkling one.
The food was great. We started with the lamb meatballs and the roasted root vegetable salad, both delicious. For entrees we had the prime rib shepherds pie and the skate. I thought the shepherds pie was good, but the skate dish was the real winner– the flavors worked perfectly together for an overall great experience. For dessert I opted for the lime mini doughnuts, and they exceeded expectations (and what a perfectly-​sized dessert portion!).
I peeked at the bar menu, and would love to come try happy hour and a few items off of that menu. Of course, I also look forward to future delicious dinners here.

It is with great sadness that I right this review.
Many years ago, this place was one of the best restaurants I had ever been to in CT. The service was impeccable and the cuisine was innovative and delicious.
Those days are behind us.
We had been wanting to go here for quite sometime, because it was such an experience the last time we came here. We finally picked a day to go, and dressed up in our sunday best and had hungry stomachs in preparation.
We were greeted by a very kind hostess, who sat us near the window so we could look out over Hartford. As soon as we sat down, the Maître d came over and took our cocktail order. 30 minutes later, we had our cocktails. I understand there are a lot of other patrons in the restaurant, but 30 minutes is a bit of a stretch. But I wasn’t going to let that deter me.
As the appetizers and main courses came and went, I realized they were not as memorable as some other expensive meals I have had, and a wave of disappointment came over me. While they were good, they weren’t something I would order again.
While the cocktails and meals were commendable but forgettable, the service and the desserts are probably what made this a two-​star experience. The waitress was unresponsive, slow, and kept making mistakes that could have easily been avoided. My husband ordered a $ 17 glass of wine, and when she came over to pour him the glass, I noticed the bottle said «Estancia» on it. Most people know this brand, and that it’s about $ 10 at the liquor store. When I questioned her, she admitted it and said they did not have the bottle of wine he requested.
First off, this is a BIG NO NO. You need to come over and tell the customer that particular wine was not available and give them some other suggestions.
Next, the desserts came. My husband ordered a cheese plate with honey, and you could just about carve a knife into the honey it was so hard. I asked for hot chocolate; the result was a water glass filed with what tasted like chocolate milk with whipped cream on top.
When you go to an expensive restaurant like this, you expect a certain level of service and execution in the cuisine, and it was definitely missing throughout this evening. Even the Maître d admitted the service could have been better.
I will not be going back anytime soon, unless they do some drastic changes to their menu and service.

I’ve been to ON20 countless times since my first visit and can confidently say that you receive the same exceptional level of service whether opting for a ten course tasting menu with wine pairings or a simple drink and bite at the bar.
The restaurant has seen many changes over the last several years, including Jeffrey Lizotte taking the well deserved lead as Executive Chef. By adding a happy hour and carefully crafted bar menu (the best kept secret in Hartford), in addition to an affordable bistro-​style lunch, ON20 now seems more accessible to people who thought they’d have to drop a few hundred on a meal.
Happy hour cocktails (sazerac, blood & sand — nice classics) are $ 6 and house wines and beers are just $ 3 each. The bar menu is both simple and exceptional with $ 6 duck confit bbq sliders, truffled risotto balls, burgers and a Waldorf salad, to name a few selections.
ON20 has also started hosting events here and there including a high-​end BBQ on the night of Hartford’s riverfront fireworks and an upcoming event centered around prohibition-​era drinks.
Oh, and they validate garage parking!