New Britain's Little Poland: a Broad Street food guide

New Britain, a small city in central Connecticut, has a large Polish community, and it has a street to match. The Broad Street area is known as Little Poland and holds many Polish-owned businesses. For anyone who wants pierogi, kielbasa, rye bread or a Polish pastry without driving to Chicago or Greenpoint, it is a convenient place in the state. Here is what to eat and how to plan a visit. Call ahead for hours, since shops keep their own schedules.

What is Little Poland?

It is the stretch of Broad Street, and the streets around it, where Polish-owned shops, delis, bakeries, restaurants and services cluster. Polish immigrants came to New Britain to work in the city's factories, which earned it the nickname "Hardware City", from the late nineteenth century. The community built churches, social clubs and businesses, and has been renewed by newer arrivals from Poland. You will hear Polish spoken in the shops, see signs in Polish and find imported groceries on the shelves.

What should you eat?

Start with the classics. Pierogi are filled dumplings, usually potato and cheese, sauerkraut and mushroom, meat or fruit, served boiled or pan-fried with onions. Golabki are cabbage rolls stuffed with meat and rice in tomato sauce. Kielbasa is smoked sausage, eaten hot with mustard or cold on a sandwich. Bigos is a hunter's stew of cabbage and meats. Placki are potato pancakes, often served with sour cream or goulash. Zurek and barszcz are sour rye soup and beet soup. For dessert, look for pączki, filled doughnuts, and for cakes, cheesecake made with farmer's cheese and poppy-seed rolls.

What can you buy to take home?

The delis sell house-made kielbasa, cold cuts, smoked meats, pickles, jars of beets, horseradish, frozen pierogi, rye and sourdough breads, and sweets and candy imported from Poland. Bakeries sell rolls, cakes and holiday breads. If you are cooking at home, buy a frozen tray of pierogi and a ring of kielbasa, and ask the person behind the counter how to cook them. Bring a cooler for the drive home in summer. Some shops take cash only, so carry some.

When is the Little Poland Festival?

The annual Little Poland Festival fills Broad Street with music, dance, crafts and food, and thousands of people eat potato pancakes and sugar-dusted pączki. Dates change from year to year, usually in late summer or early fall, so check the city or the Polish business association. Arrive early, because the busiest hours are the afternoon. Wear comfortable shoes and bring cash.

What about holidays?

Polish tradition shapes the calendar. Pączki Day, or Fat Thursday, falls the Thursday before Lent, and bakeries sell out early. Before Easter, shops sell baskets of food for blessing, and breads and sausages. For Christmas Eve, the Wigilia dinner is meatless, and delis sell carp, herring, pierogi and mushroom soup in the days before. If you can visit in the week before one of these holidays, you will see the community at its busiest.

How do you order if you do not speak Polish?

Point, smile and ask. Staff at most shops speak English as well as Polish, and many are happy to explain. Ask for a small taste of cheese or sausage if you are unsure. Say "dzien dobry" (good day) and "dziekuje" (thank you) and you will be well received. Menus are often bilingual.

How do you get there?

New Britain is about 10 miles southwest of Hartford. CTfastrak, the busway, connects the city to Hartford, and Interstate 84 and Route 9 run nearby. Parking on Broad Street is on the street and in small lots. Evenings are quieter than daytime, and some shops close early on Sundays.

What else is in Polish Connecticut?

Little Poland is not the only Polish center in the state. Other Connecticut towns, such as Meriden, Bristol, Wallingford and parts of Hartford and Ansonia, have Polish clubs, delis and restaurants too, and some halls hold dinners that are open to the public on weekends. A short drive from New Britain brings you to several. If you want to build a Polish food day, start at a bakery in New Britain for breakfast, buy kielbasa and rye bread for a picnic, and finish with dinner at a club or restaurant in a nearby town. Check each hall's schedule, because dinners are often held monthly rather than weekly.

The community also keeps its traditions alive in the church kitchens, where volunteers make pierogi by the hundreds before holidays. If you are invited to a parish pierogi sale, go early, bring a cooler and buy more than you think you need. They freeze well.

How do you remember which pierogi filling you liked best?

An afternoon on Broad Street means potato and cheese, sauerkraut and mushroom, meat and fruit, all in a row. Mosey is a food-first app where you rate each dish you ate, keep lists and share them with friends. Rate every filling as you taste it, keep a list for the bakery, the deli and the festival, and your next trip starts with the winners.

More guides to read next:

• Best restaurants near me in Connecticut: a regional guide (2026)
• Norwalk Oyster Festival and South Norwalk food guide
• Connecticut lobster rolls: warm butter versus cold mayo, and how to order

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