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The hard part about dining in Providence is choosing among its many superb restaurants. If you're in the mood for Italian, take a stroll through Federal Hill on Atwells Avenue; Downtown is home to excellent fine-dining establishments; and the East Side has great neighborhood and upscale-casual restaurants, as well as an assortment of spots with a hip ambience and an international menu.
When it opened in 1980, Al Forno put Providence on the national dining map as the originator of its distinctive grilled pizza. Still consistently good, the restaurant retains a loyal following for its thin-crust pizza, handmade pastas, and wood-grilled or roasted entrées.
This intimate neighborhood bistro seats only 38 patrons, so reservations are essential on summer weekends. Neutral walls, white table linens, and simple but elegant china focus attention on the artfully composed dishes of chef and co-owner Champe Speidel, a four-time semifinalist for a James Beard Foundation Award. The meats, bacon, and sausage on the seasonal menu come from the restaurant's own butcher shop. Pan-seared Hudson Valley foie gras is an excellent appetizer, well followed by bread-crusted Atlantic halibut—if available—which is accompanied by a ragout of Brussels sprouts, celery root, mussels, and clams. The wine list isn't huge, but it is impressive.
You'll find some of the best southern Italian food you've ever tasted at this cozy, family-run Italian restaurant tucked away on a Providence side street. The chef also serves up delicious grilled swordfish, whole branzino, and NY strip steak, but be sure to have the antipasto, fried dough with Pomodoro sauce, or eggplant parm appetizers—all great for sharing.
The informal first floor of this two-level Italian restaurant has a deli case stocked with cured meats, cheeses, olives, and traditional Italian-style small plates; upstairs is a more traditional dining room with impressive views of the Providence River. Every table receives a separate checklist of the cured meats, cheeses, and accompaniments, which are then arranged as a beautiful charcuterie board.
Chandeliers hang from the ceiling, and African and Asian artwork adorns the walls (everything is for sale) at this restaurant-antiques store. The menu is extensive—seafood is particularly, but not exclusively, featured—the food is rich in flavor, and the ambience, occasionally augmented with live music, is full of personality. Brioche toast is the house specialty for weekend brunch.
In a city where culinary newcomers tend to garner all the attention, Hemenway's continues to be one of the state's best seafood restaurants. The high-ceiling dining room's huge windows look out on Providence's World War II Memorial; in warm weather, dine outside on the front patio. The raw bar here is superlative.
Portions are big in the Rhode Island comfort-food tradition at this southern Italian ristorante on Federal Hill; count on fresh ingredients presented in a simple, straightforward way. Share a pasta if you dare, but keep in mind that the veal chop could probably topple Fred Flintstone's footmobile; gluten-free dishes are also available.
In a neighborhood where Italian food dominates, this spirited seafood restaurant offers a refreshing alternative. Oysters—and clams, lobster, and shrimp—are the main attraction, of course, but landlubbers will enjoy a steak or rotisserie chicken.
Ben Lloyd, the chef-owner of this "agri-driven" American restaurant, is committed to honoring the origins of the food he prepares. He purchases humanely raised and harvested meat, poultry, and fish whole from local vendors, butchers them in-house, and uses every part from nose to tail—combined with eggs at breakfast, cheese and fries at lunch, and fresh vegetables at dinner. The weekend brunch will fill you up with frittatas, home fries, donuts and more for just $15 per person.
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