Meriden, Connecticut, has a lot going for it — but nothing quite prepares you for what’s happening inside the historic building at 1388 E Main Street.
Taino Smokehouse Prime is a family-owned restaurant that blends upscale steakhouse dining with serious scratch-made BBQ, handmade pasta, and a bourbon bar that commands its own devoted following.
It’s bold, deeply original, and unlike anything else in the Connecticut River Valley. 🔥
How Taino Smokehouse Prime Won Meriden’s Hearts
The restaurant operates out of a structure built in 1896 as a Baptist church, later transformed through multiple restaurant incarnations — and two major fires that tore through it in the 1960s and 1980s.
One of the original charred beams still hangs in the main bar, a quiet testament to everything the space has survived. When the family behind Taino took over the building, they leaned into its haunted, storied history rather than hiding it, naming craft cocktails after the building’s legends and letting the ghosts be part of the atmosphere.
That kind of storytelling made the restaurant immediately compelling to Meriden locals who had driven past that building their whole lives. 👻
The family’s vision was ambitious from the start: a scratch kitchen with a dry aging room visible from the dining room, house-made pastas rolled fresh daily, a working bakery producing every dessert in-house, and slow-smoked BBQ meats running alongside prime chophouse cuts.
Nothing on the menu feels like an afterthought — every category is treated with the same level of seriousness, from the Wagyu flank to the BBQ brisket to the mini caramel éclair.
That commitment to craft is at the heart of what makes Taino one of the best independent restaurants in Connecticut, worth seeking out.
Diners who came in for pulled pork stayed for the dry-aged ribeye and left raving about the house-made pasta.
The combination of a genuine family story, a visually striking dining room, and food that consistently over-delivers created exactly the kind of magnetic, repeat-visit energy that turns a newcomer into a neighborhood institution. 🥩
Food Highlights
Every dish at Taino reflects the kitchen’s philosophy of scratch-made, ingredient-forward cooking — nothing is shortcuts, nothing is ordinary:
- Smoked Wings: Marinated, smoked, then deep-fried and tossed in your choice of Alabama, Cajun, Buffalo, Honey Sweet Chili, or BBQ sauce. 🍗
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Prime Dry Aged Ribeye: A 16 oz ribeye dry-aged in-house for a minimum of 21 days in the viewable dry aging room, served with garlic mashed potatoes. 🥩
- Bacon Pops: Thick bites of bacon, lightly fried and served with maple bourbon glaze and snipped chive — or pineapple salsa per the printed menu. 🥓
- Brisket: Slow-smoked, sliced lean or fatty, and finished with house BBQ sauce — served with two sides and cornbread. 🫁
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Jumbo Sea Scallops: Seared scallops served over wild mushroom risotto with preserved lemon chutney and radish. 🍋
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Jumbo Lump Crabcake: A 6 oz house-made crabcake served with broccolini salad and pink peppercorn dressing. 🦀
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Truffle Bucatini: Fresh house-made bucatini tossed with mushrooms, spinach, and a rich truffle cream sauce — regulars recommend ordering it with steak for the full experience. 🍄
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Tonnnarelli Fra Diavolo: Fresh house-made tonnnarelli in a spicy red sauce with broccolini, crumbled house-made sausage, and parmesan. 🌶️
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Pan Roasted Duck Breast: Seared duck breast with wild mushroom brodo, arugula, crisp radish, and double ravioli stuffed with duck confit and truffle ricotta.🦆
- Barbecue Eggrolls: A wildly popular Taino original — smoked chicken, roasted peppers, mashed potatoes, and mac & cheese wrapped and fried into a golden eggroll, served with ranch.
Atmosphere
Taino Smokehouse Prime is one of the most atmospheric dining rooms in New England — a converted 1896 Baptist church with original charred beams, a visible dry aging room, and a reportedly haunted history woven into the cocktail names and the very walls themselves.
The space manages to feel both upscale and deeply approachable, with a full bourbon bar boasting over 100 labels, an extensive wine cellar, and a dining room that works equally well for date night or a family celebration.
Diners frequently comment on the warmth and attentiveness of the staff, who treat every table with the kind of personal hospitality that only a family-owned restaurant can deliver. 🕯️
Bottom Line
Taino Smokehouse Prime is Connecticut dining at its most original. A scratch kitchen, a dry aging room, house-made pasta, slow-smoked BBQ, and a haunted 1896 church building — all run by a family that genuinely cares about every plate.
This is a hidden gem restaurant in Connecticut that earns every ounce of its growing reputation.
Address:
1388 E Main St, Meriden, CT 06450
📞 (203) 440-1600
🕔 Open Tue–Fri, 11:30 AM–9:00 PM | Sat 11:30 AM–9:00 PM (closed Sun–Mon)