Max a Mia Restaurant in Avon, Connecticut

With eight restaurants in the Hartford, Connecticut area, the Max Restaurant Group has a reputation, earned over more than a decade, of providing high quality food and excellent service in a comfortable setting. Max A Mia, the group's Avon, Connecticut location, is no exception.

Max A Mia is a classic Italian bistro with a casual, yet upscale, atmosphere in the heart of the affluent Farmington Valley suburbs of Hartford. Located at the base of Avon Mountain on Route 44, less than 10 miles from downtown Hartford, Max A Mia has been winning awards from food critics and accolades from customers for almost 20 years.

In the summer, Max A Mia offers outside dining on the front terrace, sufficiently buffered by landscaping and a comfortable distance from the highway on which it sits.

The key to the Italian food at Max A Mia is the authentic brick oven used for baking delicious "stone pie" pizzas. Max A Mia serves their pizza with a unique twist on traditional styles. The pepperoni pizza, for instance, is actually "Pepperoni Con Pesto" - served with marinara sauce, pesto, red onions and fresh mozzarella. The ham pizza is described as "Max Amore" - with prosciutto, goat cheese, red onion and plum tomatoes.

But the Max A Mia menu offers far more than just pizza. The pastas are outstanding as well, like the "House Made Ricotta Gnocchi," soft knuckles of cheesy pasta with grilled chicken, tomatoes, spinach, goat cheese and pearl onions, or the "Penne Al Buttero" with hot Italian sausage, garlic, peas, and tomatoes in a parmesan cream sauce.

The Max A Mia main courses - seafood, veal, chicken and beef - are on par with any of the restaurant group's locations that specialize in those entrees. The Steak Alla Max, for instance, is an Angus New York strip grilled to perfection and topped grilled onions and gorgonzola.

The restaurant occupies an expanded space in high-end strip mall in Avon, Connecticut. Its rising popularity led to the restaurant doubling in size some years ago, and the result is two halves with an enormous 25-foot granite bar separating them. Each side is decorated in warm woods and tiles, creating a casual, family-friendly atmosphere. But the massive bar in the middle has also made Max A Mia a popular social setting for professionals living the Avon suburban life.

Desserts are also a highlight at Max A Mia, including the obligatory but well-done tiramisu and a delicious white chocolate polenta cake.

Max A Mia restaurant is located at 70 East Main Street, Route 44, in Avon, Connecticut. It is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. Reservations are recommended, particularly on weekends.