Just the bar, this time out. We had business down the street and decided to poke around the Parkville neighborhood. What a wonderful little area to shop, dine, drink, and enjoy a cool ethnic vibe. A long time ago, we saw a review (in the Courant, perhaps) for this place that sang its praises. We were marching up Park Street with several shopping bags (Kien Market, and a Portuguese bakery) and were actually mentioning that review, and voila! -- there it was. We entered through the restaurant door and had to stumble by two tables taking lunch to get to the bar entrance. We were guided there by a very friendly woman who turned out to be our bartender. Just beers. Ice-cold domestics, with cold (chilled) glasses. And $3.50 each -- a bargain anywhere, but a steal in such comfortable, clean surroundings. The meals we spotted being consumed looked delectable. The rating of four stars for quality of bar experience, low prices, and wonderfully friendly welcome. We'll be back and let you know all about the food, shortly. read more

So sad to see it out of business! It will be missed! The food and atmosphere were great!

Hands down my new favorite restaurant. Killing time waiting for my knives to be sharpened around the corner so I stopped in for lunch (thanks to the Yelp reviews). Found parking right in front - a good omen. It wasn't quite, "You had me when you said 'hello.'" but I was definitely hopeful when I walked in. Small place. A working man's taverna. The bar takes up a third of the room and a dozen tables, mostly high hats, take up the rest. The owner's at the bar sipping a beer and presumably looking over things. A number of obvious locals at the tables and the bar. Portuguese intermixed with English the sounds of the house. The menu consisted of well-known Portuguese fare, and I had already determined what I would have based on the Yelp reviews. But in the back was the chalkboard with the daily specials. The friendly server came by with olives in garlic and bread and butter, and explained the specials, so I switched up and got the spinach soup and the beans "transmontana," all with a glass of house Portuguese red. Everything, simply everything, was delicious and abundant. No frills. Nothing vertical, no olive oil drizzle on the soup, just plain good food. The soup seemed to have a chicken stock base but had some thickness, spinach, nice potatoes. Warm and rich. The bean dish - if you want to call it that - was really a full plateful of hacked pork, chorizo, cabbage potatoes...and, yes, beans, with a side of white rice. The pork was to die for, succulent, melt-off-the-bone good. The flavor probably enhanced by the marrow from the broken bones. I mean, this was REALLY good. I intended to try more just to see if I happened to get lucky. They had two fish dishes worth a try and everyone seems to like the crab/fish cakes. But I had all I could handle and still took a plate home for my next meal. If I told you the price, you'd think I was being paid for this. Simply put, this is home-cooked food, plentifully portioned and priced like it was 1950, or maybe like you were in the mountains of Portugal. Thanks to the house for making this my lucky day. read more

O’Camelo Restaurant - House specials from 10/7/22 - Portuguese Near Me - Hartford, Connecticut

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I recently had a party for 9 people, the food was amazing and plenty. The service was fantastic. Probably the best Portuguese restaurant in Connecticut. read more

This is a great restaurant with a dining room and bar . It's located around a few other Portuguese stores. The food is Portuguese and delicious. My favorite is either the pork sandwiches with French fires. A traditional fast food sandwich. The equivalent of a burger in America. For dinner my favorite is the pork dinner with French fries and rice read more

Place looks absolutely disgusting. Came in and nobody greeted us. I was interested in trying out their food. There's definitely better options around. Ignore this place. Advice to management, clean up your restaurant read more

I like little gems, this is one of them. A hole in the wall with surprising good food and decent wine to match. Came here a few time now, its always under staff, one nice lady that takes care of the whole dining area with an occasional helping hand from a guy in the kitchen. I have tried their pork dish with shrimp and potato, and a beef steak dish with eggs and fries. Both dishes are flavorful and the fries are tasty and interesting. I tried their house wine and the lady gave me a full glass to taste, and when I ordered it the wine came in in a small pitcher that is enough to fill 4 wine glasses. The cold bread that they serve before the entrée can be improve, but overall come with a date or with a few friends, and I am pretty sure you will have a nice experience without breaking your piggy bank. This is a new favorite of mine, good food, inexpensive price, family run feel, the whole package. read more

We came for lunch looking for Portuguese food but not with high hopes. I'm glad we were mistaken. We had the best bacalao in connecticut! The waitress was eager to please and very pleasant and on top of all we were surprised with the bill. It was way less than we are used to pay in other Portuguese places. I'm sure we are going to return. read more

O’Camelo Restaurant - Bacalao! Delish! - Portuguese Near Me - Hartford, Connecticut

What more can I say this place is good I've tried about everything on the menu. My favs have been the Cantaplana de peixe and the grilled portuguese shrimp the place is nice and quiet for dinner great place for a family dinner. The garlic marinated olives and bread to start your meal is always great too. It's just a lil slice of what park st once was known for aka lil Portugal. Let's not forget to mention they offer $10 carafe of vino tinto aka house red. read more

O’Camelo Restaurant - Polvo grelhado - Portuguese Near Me - Hartford, Connecticut

O'Gawd..a lousy Portuguese meal. Began the "meal" with a thin somewhat tasteless kale soup. Got the traditional clams and pork with cubed potatoes dish. Love this dish at most restaurants. Not here. Served with 5 clams..2 of which I spit out, 2 of which were weird and stringy that I ignored..one that I reluctantly swallowed. The pork was tough (but plentiful!) and dry, the potatoes meh. The sauce was ok. read more

O Camelo is a slice of local Parkville flavor. There are separate bar and restaurant areas and we drank in the bar area. Although our waitress didn't speak much English, a fellow patron had no problem translating for us and was very jolly about it. The prices are amazing for drinks and the food looked very good (My girlfriend and I and veg so we couldn't partake of the meat centered food). The place has a Portuguese soccer bar vibe. There are scarves on the walls next to the club logos and soccer was on all the TVs. So during World Cup time or if you're a Brazil/Portugal soccer fan this is the place to be. We'll definitely be back after brushing up on our Portuguese. read more

This place is horrible. I orderd pork and clams. The pork was not tender it was actually rock hard and tasteless. The clams in my meal were bad. They were extremely fishy and were not cooked thoroughly. The middle of the only clam I ate was actually frozen. This is a major issue as clams only open a few ways. 1... when They are cooked correctly. When theynare forced open... Or what happened here....the clams were dead. I honestly think they might want to look into food saftey as this is a major issue. Never going back. read more

Waooo..this place is great!! You will feel like home!! MARIA the owner is great! Helpful and courteous!! One of the best things is the big glass of wine she gives you with your food!! Trust me on this one. This place is a family place but if you want to hangout stay in the bar section! Recommended A++++++ read more

One of my favorite places to eat, the food is always consistently good. The grilled Salmon is outstanding! Friendly atmosphere and great service. read more

Seafood and soups. Fresh from Long island sound , delicately and sensibly cooked. The mussels and clams are not rubbery, the linguine al dente are not mushy, proof that they know what they're doing. Very cute ambiance too. Good place to go in a group of four to six people because it's so cozy and amiable. The house wine is young, like a homemade table wine. read more

We think it's a great place for authentic Portuguese food. The traditional boiled dinner was good and the Frango was so good- it's a little spicy too. It's on the small side and can get rowdy (sorry us Portuguese folks are loud especially if the soccer game is on). Good portions. The menu for the week is updated on their Facebook page. Give it a try read more

Me and my father delivered the wines and beers there every other week,like we did to many other places but we always stopped at this one for eating.They have a menu,but we would just eat the daily meal the owner lays out in a table and you can fill your plate many times you please,but what i really like is the garlic greeen olives and the bread with butter apperitives. Definately go here. read more

Had a wonderful birthday dinner last night at O Camelo. Was my first time there, and couldn't have been more pleased. Had the shrimp/ squid with boiled potatoes. Was delicious, as were the dishes ordered by my family and friends. The portions are huge, and prices extremely reasonable. We will definitely return there soon. read more

Not bad, not good. Prices are reasonable for the drinks, but if you want great Portuguese food go some place else