Restaurants in East Haven

Purple tablecloths bloom with vases of cut flowers as petal-like fans whir overhead. Their regal hue symbolizes one of Zaroka Bar & Restaurant's guiding principles: that guests are akin to royalty. Inside the dining room, traditional Indian meals unfold amid ornately carved picture frames, vibrant music, and colorful conversations. To explore India's nooks and crannies, chefs craft dishes from far-flung regions such as Punjab, Gujarat, and Bengal. House specialties range from spiced chicken kebabs baked in a clay oven to curried shrimp simmered in a coconut pot. The kitchen also prepares an array of vegetarian dishes, such as savory garlic naan and three types of lentil dal. An ideal dessert or palate cleanser, the rosewater lassi teems with sweet, floral hints, like a game of charades with a potpourri sachet.

Since 1974, Viva Zapata’s interior has cloaked diners in rustic comfort, complete with brick walls and wooden beams from a 200-year-old barn. A suit of armor stands guard at the eatery’s entrance, scaring away door-to-door jousters but allowing all others to enter the softly lit dining area bedecked with Mexican tapestries and antiques. Candlelight flickers across wooden tables that support homemade enchiladas, burritos, and marinated steak flanked by grilled peppers and onions. Baskets of complimentary peanuts beckon guests to throw spent shells on the ground as they did in the days before legumes grew naturally in prepackaged canisters, and barrel lamps at the bar illuminate a selection of domestic and imported beers and freshly concocted margaritas.

Walls the colors of dijon mustard and acorn squash lend warmth to an environment founded on dark hardwood floors and awash with white linens. The aromas of Mediterranean and Spanish cuisines waft throughout the handsomely dressed, yet unfussy, restaurant, inviting visitors to discover how Bistro Mediterranean and Tapas Bar earned a "Don't Miss" rating by The New York Times.

In the 4,500-square-foot dining space, which seats 150, tables populate with tapas of chorizo, pork, and cod, plus surprising accents of piquillo peppers and quail egg. Entrees include seafood stews and Spanish paella, as well as grilled cuts of meat doused in wine. A breezy patio accommodates outdoor dining in warmer months, and a 45-seat bar enables guests to sip on glasses of wine while they wait for a table or wait for a strange-looking blind date to give up and go home.

Owner and Sao Paulo native Felipe Franco embraces the culinary traditions of his home country, telling the New Haven Independent in 2012 that "my interest is to show Americans Brazilian food and culture." His menu brims with the country's signature cuisine, including Brazil's peppery national stew of black beans and meat, as well as moqueca—a seafood stew of fish, shrimp, mussels, calamari, or kraken-gone-astray that simmers inside a handmade clay pot. To accompany these entrees, the bartenders deftly mix potent yet refreshing caipirinhas using cachaça, or sugar-cane rum, Brazil's favored spirit.

At Anastasio’s Steakhouse, stones line the walls from floor to ceiling, gathering to form a giant fireplace. Candles glow atop its wooden mantel, which overlooks a dining room dotted with linen-topped tables, not roving bands of leopards. Genial servers circulate the space, delivering certified Angus steaks of various sizes, from 8-ounce petite filet mignons to 20-ounce porterhouses. In the kitchen, chefs douse lobster ravioli with a tomato-cream sauce and cloak chicken saltimbocca in prosciutto, mozzarella, fresh sage, and a brown cognac sauce. They also build catering orders from classic Italian dishes such as rigatoni bolognese and veal caprese. An outdoor patio invites guests to dine alfresco or practice dance steps during salsa classes on summer Sundays.

A bandana-clad chef draws his gleaming cleavers with practiced speed and agility, spinning them through the flames at his hibachi station as he prepares filet mignon and swordfish. Between jokes, tricks, and attempts to lasso stray vegetables, the cowboy chefs at Sakura Garden Japanese Steak House prepare savory meals right before the eyes of patrons sipping specialty cocktails from a full bar. Away from the heat, chefs fill a glass-cased sushi bar with sashimi and specialty fusion rolls packed with both traditional and inventive ingredients, such as coconut flakes, lightly fried lobster, and crumpled patents. Sleek stone walls, white tablecloths, and red pendant lamps create a modern backdrop, and an indoor rock fountain guarded by a cherry-blossom tree adds a touch of the traditional.:m]]