Red Rock Tavern

Best bar in Hartford if you’re not in the mood to deal with anybody’s bullshit. Also the best bar if you want to sit and drink beer and talk to friends and eat curly fries for hours.
Staff and owner are the best!

What a pleasant surprise! Great beer! Eggplant fries were amazing and burgers were fantastic! The service was terrific as well. Wish we lived closer, we would be here a lot!

A really friendly place with, Good people, Great food and reasonable prices. My wife often makes my stop here after work to pick-​up some of their phenomenal dry rub wings, before driving the 25 miles back home. Also their eggplant fries rock!

I came here on a Friday night right before Christmas with some friends and coworkers for happy hour. Unfortunately, they didn’t have happy hour specials due to the holiday, but we decided to stay for some food and drinks nonetheless.
We sat at a table in the back room and had that room pretty much to ourselves until a larger party came. The bar area was pretty full that night. The waitress came over right away to take our order, and when one of my friends wasn’t sure what she wanted, the waitress came back about a minute later to check, and then a minute after that. My friend wasn’t ready the first time, but was ready the second– it was nice that the waitress was so attentive and we didn’t have to search for her or wait a long time after we had all made our decisions.
I ordered the eggplant parm sandwich with sweet potato fries. The fries were crinkle cut and nicely cooked– crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. The eggplant was also delicious. We got sliders for appetizers, which came on nice, fresh bread, as well as a huge order of nachos with chicken. Real cheese, not the goopy nacho kind (a couple of us had been to a restaurant the week before that DID serve their nachos with goopy cheese, so we had to be sure).
Two hour street parking is available on streets surrounding the parking lot. Although the food and drinks were good, nothing in particular really stood out to me about this place. There are other places I’d like to try first before coming back, although I feel like I should probably give it another chance for happy hour.

Quality of the food is getting inconsistent, service sucks and it smelled like piss the last time I was in. Not sure why it’s going downhill but it definitely is.

Great bar with a great mix of people. The people who work here are always amazingly friendly and welcoming. In addition, the food goes beyond your basic bar food and you can always eat a great meal here. The eggplant sandwich is amazing and the prices are outstanding.

A great bar and restaurant to hang out and have a drink and grab some food. The staff and owner are super down to earth and really friendly. They are always accommodating, whether it’s a complicated order or a large party. There’s events like live entertainment, a pool table and darts (BYO). On Thursdays and Saturdays you can find the men and woman’s rugby teams there, awesome group of people btw. The bathrooms are always clean. They also have an outdoor patio for nice weather. All in all, it’s a great part of the Hartford community.

We were downtown looking for a spot to eat and the first place we went insisted we make a reservation so we stopped here instead. We had a party of three and were able to share the Cesar salad and eggplant fries. Both were delusions and freshly made. Amongst us clam strip platter, shrimp scampi and the pasta a la Nicole. I tasted everything and would have been happy to eat any of this three meals. Everything was piping hot, healthy portions… with drinks our bill totaled about $ 85. Overall it was a fantastic meal, with friendly and accommodating service in no nonsense, unstuffy place. Just as we were fishing our meal they turned up the music and played a good variety of hip-​hop and other less mainstream hits. I will definitely be recommending this place and plan on stopping in more often. I also enjoyed seeing that there was a small crowd of regulars stopping in to grab a beer and play pool.

I guess I could have stuck with the average 3 star rating because truth be told, Red Rock is a no frills kinda place.
But maybe it’s for that reason that I’m a huge fan. Just a solid, comfortable spot for some beers with friends. Food is good (the veggie salad is monstrous and super fresh, and who doesn’t like any dish topped with strips of fried eggplant?) drinks are good, everything is just solidly good. I guess it all depends what you’re looking for in the ambiance department. But as Kerri P so eloquently put it, «You want a pretentious nightclub with a dress code and barely legal women puking in the bushes? Sorry. This ain’t it.» And for that reason, I love it.

So, thanks to Unilocal reviews, we decided to check this place out. Great beer selection and regular down-​to-​earth folks. But the highlight is the food! We enjoyed the chicken tequila chili and beef barley soup. The lunch entrees were great too. It’s not «fine dining» but it’s a bar with a good restaurant. Lots of Hartford cops, lawyers and the occasional local celebrity can be found there during lunch.

You want a pretentious nightclub with a dress code and barely legal women puking in the bushes? Sorry. This ain’t it.
The Red Rock is a neighborhood bar. It’s where the rugby team comes to celebrate, where political savvy types regularly discuss hot topics, and where anyone is welcome to be themselves, whether that means wearing a suit or a ripped and stained t-​shirt with jeans.
Divey? Please. You don’t know from dive.
The Red Rock is clean. The bathrooms are not remotely terrifying.
There are appetizing specials, but nothing so pretentious you’d have to ask what the heck it is. They don’t cave in to food trends, and I love them for that.
There are some options for vegetarians including eggplant grinders, grilled cheese, salads, and veggie grinders. There are eggplant fries. Curly fries. Plain old fries.
Billiards and darts, large tv screens, live music, election night gatherings — something for everyone who has grown out of beer pong.

You know those days when you are trying to figure out where to go with your friends that’s «just a bar»? No frills or «fusion» cuisine. A place that you can stop in wearing whatever, with whomever and feel the same way each time you go? That’s Red Rock. This is my bar that I tell people to meet me at when we just want a pitcher and a chat. The second you step in the door, the regulars give you a smile and the bartenders, managers, waitresses all come around to say hi and see if you’re ok at some point during your visit. Customer service at it’s absolute best.
I love bar food and this place has it at great prices. Keep an eye on the specials because I’ve had some awesome dinners trying things posted on that whiteboard. My favorite part about Red Rock is that they serve pitchers with a great beer selection! There’s plenty of TV’s to watch, so during (insert sport)‘s playoffs, I order a pitcher of a seasonal brew, 3 or 4 appetizers and have a great night of people watching.

The four stars is because it’s a really fun place to go. Always busy and always friendly staff and service. The food is standard pub/​bar fare, nothing spectacular, but consistent and good. There’s a pretty good beer selection and the prices are good. My friends and I go here often and always feel right at home. Yay, Red Rock!

Stopped by to see a live Frank Sinatra impersonator. Bar was very busy as it was around 6:30pm on a Friday and lots of people wearing suits so I assume they were all enjoying happy hour after work.
Employees were REALLY friendly and let us cut through the bar itself to get to the dining area where the singers was. Bartender dropped by later to offer to buy us a drink too and welcome us (Do they have that many regular’s? — either way it was a nice gesture and made me feel good).
Food was average bar food and not the best but not horrible– we had sweet potato fries, fried calamari (I believe they were frozen as most bars have), and a cheese burger, and a couple drinks.
The waitress working the dining area was a bit busy, and it took a little bit for the food to arrive, but we were enjoying the singer.
Nice friendly place, probably wouldn’t return for the food, but seems like a fun gathering place if you were in the area.

I love this place! I work across the street so I’m here everyday! Great atmosphere and even better service. It’s my home away from home.

Stumbled on Red Rock Tavern Friday night looking for a place to sit outside and grab some grub. The menu had plenty to choose from and apparently everything is fresh and made according to the owner’s Mom’s recipes. Chicken marsala was yummy and the drinks were good. Good sized crowd – looked mostly to be regulars. Good place to watch sports. The owner said the building was featured in Judging Amy??? Never saw that show, but I liked Red Rock and will go back.

It’s hard to find a good place around the Capitol that doesn’t cost as much as Firebox and isn’t as dingy as the «dinero deli». I’d give this place 4 stars for the neighborhood but 3 stars overall. It’s affordable with a descent food and generous portions. Staff is nice and will not keep you there all day. Burgers are undesirable but stick with the chicken sandwiches, salads (they’re huge) and apps and you’ll be happy.

If you’re looking for something family-​owned (since 1933!), convenient (right across from the capitol!), and neighborhoody (outdoor seating, indoor bar!), look no further. Red Rock — formerly Kenny’s — may not be the fanciest spot in greater frog hollow, but it’s cheap and tasty and I say go for it. I got Nick’s Combo — eggplant and cappicola — and loved it. Local flavor, a number of regulars, and easy access. Check it out.