The Polish National Home

It’s easy to forget that you’re in Hartford while dining here. The warmth and cultural pride is infectious throughout, made evident in the friendly service and exceptional food. We ordered the Polish Deluxe Plate (pierogis, kielbasa, cabbage roll, sauerkraut) and the potato pancakes. We ate a lot and I’d be hard pressed to choose a favorite.

I’m a little fuzzy on the specifics of exactly how I learned about it, but I do know three things about the Polish National Home.
1) The first is that I definitely learned about it on Unilocal.
2) The second is that I Unilocal bookmarked it on June 29, 2015.
3) And today after eating here, I learned the third– that this is a tremendously fun and very unique place to visit.
We loved everything about tonight’s early dinner.
Start off with the building that houses the Polish National Home. It’s a massive stone structure that looks more like a New York City Museum than anything else. The restaurant is a throwback to the past with dark wood booths, tables and chairs, and a gorgeous long wood bar with tall chairs, no bar stools here!
Next, we loved the service! Our server was an absolute delight. Charming, efficient, and upbeat.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the food was great, plentiful, and not expensive.
I started off with a really nice Polish beer — Zywiec in a 500 milliliter (about 17 ounce) bottle that ran a modest $ 6. Next was a cup of Kapuśniak — think of it as Polish Comfort food in a soup bowl chock full of kielbasa and tender cabbage. This was a steal at just $ 3.
Our meals were Placki (potato pancakes) at $ 7.95, and a Daily Special of Currywurst and pierogis at $ 10.95. How great were those potato pancakes? Crispy on the outside, delicate on the inside with a ton of great taste. The Currywurst special was a big split sausage served over 4 potato pierogis in a mild curry sauce. There sure was a ton of flavor in that bowl!
We loved our meal here, for all of the above reasons.
Thank you Unilocal for leading us to another winner.

I had a delicious brunch today at the Polish National Home. It’s a beautiful place with great atmosphere, exceptional food & awesome wait staff. Anna the «Captain» is doing a superb job of running this operation. We all are so fortunate to have this gem in our capital city.

Live radio broadcast (polka!), history (décor, photos, interior design), good prices, kind staff, community and good food.

With new reduced prices, the menu is much more affordable and willing to come back again.
On a Sunday afternoon why not treat yourself to a delicious polish plate while enjoying a live radio remote broadcast? The beer Okocim was recommended by our waitress and paired nicely with my fresh kielbasa and pierogis.
The food was served hot and displayed attractively. The price is right and perfect for any family celebration!

Outstanding food all around! Service is excellent! Very accomodating when I ordered a meal to stay and 3 meals to go. The other 3 meals were ready right as ready to leave!

Great old-​fashioned ambience and delicious homemade food! I ordered the Polish plate deluxe at it was a smörgåsbord of national delights, all well prepared and lip smacking: pierogi, kielbasa, sauerkraut, and golabki!
The utterly friendly, beautiful Polish girls! I’m not into beers, but my partner is, and he was very pleased with the selection.
Great «hidden gem» in Hartford! Try it!

The food is delicious, a big hit with the after church crowd (there is literally a Polish church across the street that is gorgeous!) I’ve come here on numerous occasions, sometimes just to dine, other times for meetings, and once for a concert.
The venue itself gets rented out for weddings frequently, and I believe it’s been remodeled since last year. They’ve made big improvements in my opinion, and there is a full bar serving Polish beers such as Żywiec, among others.
A hidden gem in Hartford!

I went back to PNH yesterday and ordered peirogi’s and potato pancakes. The potato pancakes were very good they were not greasy at all and were cooked perfectly. In the last review I stated that the pierogi’s were bland, upon having them again I will say that they are not bland but I will say that I have had pierogies that have more flavor. The weird thing about the way they have their pierogis listed on the menu is that you don’t have the option of ordering a pierogi plate under the main entrees section like most Polish restaurants would have it, instead they are listed under side dishes at $ 1.25 or 75 per piece. I will definately be coming back here again.

Traditional homecooked polish food at reasonable prices. The pierogi were delicious and they have 2 different Polish beers on tap. If you want to see a piece of history in Hartford, CT, then come to the Polish National Home. Great people, great food, and a taste of Poland here in Hartford.

I come here for swing dancing and beer. They serve Spaten. German beer at a polish place is cool. So is swing dancing with the Hartford underground. Unfortunately they close early and last call is at 10pm :(

I was pleasantly surprised by my experience at the Polish National Home. The food was excellent — peirogi, kielbasa and meatballs — and as we were at a holiday party, I can’t really complain about the atmosphere. The room upstairs was large, bright and nicely decorated. As another reviewer commented, this place really is a hidden gem.

The PNH is a must do experience for Hartford visitors or locals. I was torn between a 4 star and a 3 star rating and opted for 3 because while the food is good solid Polish soul food, it only offers a tiny picture of a rich and varied cuisine. That being said all of the standards are prepared well. Washed down with a fine selection of Polish beer you’d think you were out in the Polish countryside. Its also a good place to sample some of the interesting Polish liqueurs like Krupnick.
The décor is funky reflecting its origens and continued operations as a Polish social club. Service is prompt efficient and pleasant. The PNH does large groups really well. I hauled about thirty colleagues here on a days notice and we were accommodated… no problem. My last visit our group of twenty was one of four being served.
Definitely worth a trip or a diversion off of I 91 if your driving through the area.

Come for the food, not the atmosphere. Unless, of course, you think that a place that looks like it was built in Soviet Russia during the height of communism is kind of cool. In which case, you’ll probably enjoy both the delicious food and what it’s like to go back in time.
On my first visit, I went with the Polish Plate which included kielbasa, peirogi and a sauerkraut/​bacon dish (can’t recall the name, sorry). Served with mustard and strong horseradish, it was a great meal for a chilly fall day. Will definitely be back.

The food is not the fanciest but it is good home style Polish food using quality ingredients and love.
My favorite was the dessert — fresh baked poppyseed bread that reminded me of a local bakery in New Britain my parents used to take me as a small child

Not the fanciest food, nor the fanciest place but the food is GOOD. Very GOOD!
Always pleasant service, very efficient and happy to make suggestions or have it your way.
If you like a good local bar, Good polish food and a fun place for two or twenty two. Its not a date night kind of place but a great place for friends and coworkers to gather.

We found this place using Unilocal in Hartford. We got the sense we were stepping back in time as we entered the building. Once we took our first bite of food we thought we were in polish heaven! It is a polish club open to the public. We ordered all the polish specialties but they also had other traditional dinner entrees. The potato pancakes were to die for. Two members of our party were of polish descent and they said the potato pancakes were as good as their mom’s. The Kupuski soup, cabbage and potato, was excellent. We scraped the bowl. The stuffed cabbages, perogies, out of this world, all made there. The kielbasa is not made there but is from a company who has a secret recipe which we were told was purchased from Stanley Manufacturing division. Once you taste the kielbasa you’ll believe it must be a secret recipe. Full bar with nice draft beerselection, including polish beer. Sunday afternoon the polish radio show broadcast’s from there so you are entertained. The wait staff and folks running the club are extremely friendly and very appreciative that you stopped by. We are definitely going back to this polish gem!

Had a wonderful lunch experience here today. I’ve never been one for Polish cuisine, but I’ll be headed back here so my husband can try it. I loved the pirogi’s and the potato pancakes. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the kielbasa. And try the Polish beer! Not only was the food homestyle and flavorful, but it was just a fun place to eat as well.
The building is Art Deco with a beautiful hall on the second floor, if you have the chance to take a look, it’s really a neat space.

This is the definition of no-​frills. When you walk in the door it essentially looks like a men’s club, not a restaurant. They don’t put a lot of effort into the décor.
The truth is, they don’t have to, because the food speaks for itself. I admittedly do not have a lot of experience with Polish food, but the food here is good and solid. On my visits there I have ordered the Polish plate, which includes kielbasa, sauerkraut and pierogis.
The kielbasa was decent — not too salty, good consistency. The pierogis similarly tasted good; there was crumbled bacon on top which added a nice crunch to the usual soft consistency.
The sauerkraut, in my mind, was the star. It was more savory than sauerkraut I had tasted previously.
Overall, it’s a good lunch option if you don’t mind the surroundings. I’ve heard that the beer selection is good, but I have not had a chance to try it.

This place is a hidden gem, for real Polish Comfort food… If u know where to find it, then u are one of the few in the know! But it is worth the effort.
This was our first time there (well, hunny had been there to go to his aunt and uncles anniversary 20 some odd yrs ago) but first time to eat as a ‘restaurant’. You do not have to be Polish to eat there even tho it is a private club (and as such, be warned, they are allowed to smoke inside the bar area). We went on a Thursday at 5:30 and were the only ones there, except for 2 bar patrons.
They primarily do lunches (from what I hear), they are hugely busy for lunches with downtown business people, and their Sunday Lunch is the main event… when they have the most to chose from… At the hour were were there, the menu was limited to the «Polish Plate” and some amazingly wonderful soups (Mushroom for the hunny, and Kapusta (Cabbage) soup for me. Both were absolutely delish! It was a very blustery day and they were piping hot and oh-​so delicious! They also had Bean Soup and Barley Soup (a total of 4 to chose from)…
We also had some Potato Pancakes (yummy altho a bit greasy, but not sodden with grease, they were quite tasty)…The Polish plate has the usual suspects, Golabki (Stuffed Cabbage) which I like and hunny wont eat because he had too much of it as a kid… LOL but he did eat some, it was good. The Kielbasa was of the highest quality, was very much like the top notch stuff they only sell at Easter time… It wasn’t too greasy and was very flavorful and moist. I’m not a huge fan of smoked products but it was quite good, especially with the spicy mustard or Horseradish. The Saurkraut was not bitter and was very well seasoned and prepared.
Last but not least on the Polish Plate was… my usual fave… The Pierogis. Oh, how bummed i was to see how they were prepared… not drenched in butter and onions after having been baked as most places prepare them (and my wonderful Mother in law made them)…they were boiled with a few bacon bits on top. Overall the filling (potato) was good, just were a bit bland and mushier (made up my own word) than I usually go for.
Overall, we were happy to be there, it was a cold winters night, and we had a rough day (a recent car accident and we had just found out the car is considered totaled) so some comfort food was right what we needed. And… after hearing so many good things on tv and in the NY Times review about this place, we are glad we finally tried it!
****You may want to call ahead if u are going for evening… to see what they are serving and if they are in fact open. They will stay open as long as someone is there… but again, they always have the Polish Plate, but i really want to try some of their other specialties… I don’t wan to be a ‘tourist’ eater… LOL, but for now, that is all I can report on.
Will update as soon as we try some of their other succulent stuff. I hear the Prime RIb is good, the Turkey and Roast Pork!
Oh and dont be thrown by the look of the building! It looks like an Old Court house or School, just go in the side entrance… and down the hall. You will enter the bar area, but just beyond is a HUGE room, with loads of tables and almost a school cafeteria feel. The ambiance is definitely low key… but the good inexpensive prices and good food are worth it. They also have some good Polish Beer on tap and in bottles!