Providence restaurants

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La Masseria

Exemplary Italian fare in East Greenwich
The first thing to say about La Masseria is that, despite its name meaning “farmhouse” and its décor focusing on earth tones with exposed brick and pitchfork tines hanging on one wall, it’s a beautiful space.
By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | May 05, 2010

Café Nuovo

A celebratory eating adventure
Café Nuovo is one of those places you go to celebrate.
By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | April 21, 2010

Diego’s

No sombreros allowed
Sometimes you don’t want just a taco or two, or the usual burrito stuffed with rice and beans as the quickest way to fill you up.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | May 17, 2010

Sawaddee Thai Restaurant

Let a thousand spices bloom
Sometimes I think back to when there were no Thai restaurants in Providence.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | March 17, 2010

Edgewood Café

For neighborly gourmands
The Edgewood Café's slogan is "casual neighborhood dining with a gourmet touch," and every adjective is scout's honor true.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | March 05, 2010

Bruna’s Table

Careful, but not fussy
Considering that Westerly has a large population with Italian heritage, it's curious that the town is not known for good Italian restaurants.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | February 10, 2010

Dan’s Place

Comfort food in the wilds of West Greenwich
We didn't notice any grizzlies or cougars as road kill on our trek to Dan's Place, though we kept our eyes peeled there in the wilds of West Greenwich.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | February 03, 2010

Midtown Café

A cut above the rest in Wakefield
In this economy and in downtown Wakefield, it's a tough task to keep a restaurant going.
By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | January 13, 2010

Kabuki

Cuisine off the beaten path
Japanese restaurants can be too predictable.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | December 30, 2009

Spice

A hot and cheap Thai bistro
You might find it difficult to believe, but at one time there were no Thai restaurants in Providence. I know, I know, it’s sad — no pad Thai, no pik pow sauce, such deprivation, such shamed downward glances in the streets.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | December 21, 2009

Ama’s

Don’t read this, please
I'm in a quandary. I want to tell you about Ama's, but it's a tiny place with very few seats, and I really don't want to see a line outside the next time I show up.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | December 16, 2009

Junction Trattoria and Bistro

Peerless pizza and much more
On a recent rainy Friday evening, we were calling around for a place to eat dinner. One restaurant had no reservations till 9 pm (it's still tourist season); another was farther away than we'd realized, and we might end up eating at that same hour.
By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | September 09, 2009

Amazing Grace

Sweet tastes, beautiful building, heavenly reward
Few of us bother to go to church, so Mainers must find ways to reuse our houses of worship, just as we do our riverside mills in this post-industrial age. While several restaurants have put mothballed mill buildings to use, Grace Restaurant's repurposing of the Chestnut Street Methodist Church is the most impressive reclamation project yet.
By BRIAN DUFF | September 02, 2009

Review: Chez Pascal

Regional fare, boundless pleasures
Everything about Chez Pascal, beginning with Monday Market Menus and ending with a gallery show for a Rhody painter, emphasizes co-owners Matt and Kristin Gennuso's support for local talent, be it farmers or artists.
By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | June 10, 2009

Champlin's Seafood

Clam shack bragging rights
There are clam shacks and there are clam shacks. Champlin's is more of a clam duplex, hot meals upstairs and fish market below. If you have friends visiting from the coast of Maine, where they take this sort of place seriously, bring them down and show them how things should be done.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | June 03, 2009

Los Andes

Back in delicious style
It makes sense that the people who run Los Andes are the ones who had a popular place further up Chalkstone for nine years. It was named simply the Bolivian Restaurant and was, in fact, pretty definitive. At a recent visit to the new restaurant, a fellow diner enthused that the baked saltinas (potato, yucca, and cheese), an indulgence-encouraging two-buck impulse purchase "at the Bolivian," were "worth driving across town for." Indeed.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | May 20, 2009

China Inn

Out of the Oriental ordinary
Finding a Chinese restaurant worth your loyalty is like dating. You look and you look and you yawn and you look, but when you find the right one, your eyes widen and you stick around.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | May 13, 2009

Bond Restaurant and Lounge

Good small plates and wine — license to kill not necessary
Boy, do these people ever wish they had gone for the James Bond theme instead of the US Savings Bond décor?
By ROBERT NADEAU | May 05, 2009

Review: Oak Hill Tavern

Road to redemption
Looking for good down-south BBQ down south? Oak Hill Tavern is well worth the trip
By CHRIS CONTI | March 25, 2009

Señor Flaco's

Tacos and more, with a smile
It's good to see a restaurant with a sense of humor. As well as serving good Tex-Mex chow.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | March 12, 2009

Review: Señor Flaco’s

Tacos and more, with a smile
It's good to see a restaurant with a sense of humor. As well as serving good Tex-Mex chow, Señor Flaco's offers up a good dose of levity.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | February 25, 2009

Aspire

Earth and Ocean
An upscale restaurant in an upscale hotel is disadvantaged in ways that give the advantage to us.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | January 29, 2009

Cucina Twist

High volume, high quality
In the eight-restaurant empire owned by Bob Pinelli and Steve Marra, Cucina Twist has a special place in the hearts of Wakefield and Kingston residents.
By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | January 21, 2009

Two Four Two

Italian fare, with a twist
Italian fare, with a twist
By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | December 17, 2008

Mike's Kitchen

A foodie favorite in deepest Cranston
A foodie favorite in deepest Cranston
By JOHNETTE RODRIGUEZ | December 10, 2008

The Loft

Dining in a surreal seascape
The Loft is the restaurant at NYLO Providence/Warwick, a new hotel, so the impression that diners get over their Point Judith calamari or apple-tini is going to affect how they anticipate the digs upstairs; Crisp salad, crisp sheets.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | December 03, 2008