Food and Dining in Rhode Island

The Rhode Island restaurant scene is bustling, and we're here to help you find the hottest new spots, the coolest hidden gems, and the best places to satisfy your cravings for great food and drinks.

Everyone's gotta eat! Grab a seat and load up your plate: We've got regularly updated guides, behind-the-scenes features, Q&As with up-and-coming chefs and restaurant owners, and all the news that foodies can use.

Love to cook? There's an entire section of great recipes from experts to explore.
And we're serving up the best food news in Rhode Island as well. Sign up for our weekly newsletter, The R.I. Food Club and we'll deliver it directly to your inbox.

From bottom right, clockwise: The Newport Saint Patrick's Day parade (Discover Newport), customers sitting at the bar at Skeff's Neighborhood Pub in East Providence (Globe staff), a reuben at McBride's Pub (McBride's), Irish flag (Globe staff), musicians performing at Skeff's (Globe staff), fish and chips (Globe staff), pint of Guinness (Globe staff), Busker's in Newport (Discover Newport).

Where you should eat, drink, and celebrate for St. Patrick’s Day in Rhode Island

Ahead of two of the biggest parades in Rhode Island — in Newport and Providence — here’s where you should plan to eat, drink, and celebrate.

Service charges in restaurants can be annoying diners, but owners say they are a lifeline.

Service charges in restaurants: Equity for workers or ‘junk’ fees that should be eliminated?

Thick Neck in the Dean Hotel in Providence, R.I., is closing at the end of March.

A new coffee/martini bar; Providence’s Omni Hotel has something new, and more food notes

Katie Dickson, the owner of Bywater in Warren, R.I., cleans the glass on the front door as she and her team prepare for dinner at the restaurant.

A little neighborhood restaurant was named a James Beard semifinalist. And then rumors swirled that it closed.

The inside of the former Kleos space, a Greek restaurant in downtown Providence, RI.

Kleos, a Greek restaurant in downtown Providence, has closed

The Guides

A plate of dumplings with chile crisp, a spicy crunchy condiment.

Seeking comfort food? Here are some delicious dumplings to try.

The beauty of dumplings is that they come in all sorts of variations, and from all over the world. And you can find some great ones in Rhode Island.

The Carriage House Inn and Saloon in North Kingstown, R.I., built in the 1760s.

History is on the menu at these Rhode Island taverns

During the Colonial era, taverns were a place for weary travelers to sleep, and a spot for locals to share news and debate. Hundreds of years later, some of them are still serving up great food and drink.

A spread at Gift Horse in Providence, R.I., which includes smoked fish dip, Sicilian crudo, monkfish toast, scallop crudo. The restaurant’s chef is Sky Kim, who was named as a semifinalist for the 2024 Emerging Chef award.

Your very Rhode Island guide to the 2024 James Beard restaurant and chef award semifinalists

Rhode Island’s restaurant scene punches well above its weight. The rest of America has finally caught up.

Bites from Frank & Laurie's, a new brunch and lunch restaurant from chef Eric Brown and his wife Sarah Watts on Doyle Street in Providence, RI.

16 Rhode Island restaurant and bar openings to watch for in 2024

This year, some big names and long-anticipated plans will finally come to fruition.

The duck au vin with root vegetables and red wine jus at High Hope Tavern in Westerly, R.I.

Where to eat dinner in Westerly, R.I., this winter

Though this summer destination is now fully within winter’s embrace, the dining scene is warm and unhurried, with many eateries offering fireside dining and heartier, stick-to-your-ribs dishes.

A drunken noodle dish with Thai tea at Thai Lan Xang, a new Lao restaurant at 1573 Plainfield Pike in Johnston, R.I.

The savory flavors of Laos in R.I.: Three restaurants serving traditional Lao cuisine

“In a way, we try to teach our customers about Lao food so they know more about Lao culture,” says Britny Savankham, who works with her father at Thai Lan Xang in Johnston.

Tortilla chicken soup from Casa Azul Taqueria in Providence, R.I.

It’s soup season. Here are 9 superior bowls to try in Rhode Island.

Matzo ball, okra stew, wonton, pozole, and other classics to explore.

Enchiladas with molé sauce from Dolores, a restaurant in Providence, R.I., serving contemporary and regional Mexican cuisine from the Mixteca region of Puebla and Oaxaca.

Some of the best things I ate in 2023

Truffle ravioli, molé sauce, raw scallops, and much more.

With westbound traffic limited on Interstate 195, traffic often proceeds slowly through East Providence, including the Henderson Bridge into Providence.

A guide to East Providence: Because what else can you do?

With westbound traffic still limited on the Washington Bridge and continued gridlock on city streets, here are some things to do while you’re stuck on the east side of the Seekonk River.

Sean Kontos serves as Program Director of Harvest Kitchen, a culinary job training program for Rhode Island teenagers in foster care or the juvenile detention system. The food they make is available for in-person dinning and take-out at their Pawtucket location.

A few standout restaurants and food businesses in R.I. giving back

Beyond Giving Tuesday, chefs and owners are finding new ways to pay it forward.

Cocktails are served in in a plastic pouch.

PODCAST: Food and restaurant trends to expect in 2024

On the Rhode Island Report podcast, a food and innovation expert talks about the rise of kimchi, TikTok in restaurants, and what’s next for the plant-based craze.

Pedestrians walk past the Colosseum, a large 18-plus nightclub on Pine Street in Providence, Rhode Island on August 25, 2023. There are several popular nightclubs in the area that fill up with partiers on weekend nights.

Why does Providence have so many 18-plus nightclubs?

With thousands of students returning to the city this fall, establishments are once again getting ready for a boon in business, one that often comes from Rhode Island’s younger crowds.

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Drinks

L Street Tavern in 1995, two years before the release of "Good Will Hunting."

L Street Tavern, made famous in ‘Good Will Hunting,’ being sold in March

Cocktails are served in one-of-a-kind handmade glasses at Guild Bar in New York.

R.I. bartenders have big plans and drinkable resolutions for 2024

Bauer Wine & Spirits on Newbury Street used Drizly to reach customers online.

Last call for Drizly: Liquor delivery service shutting down

Chef Jamie Bissonnette at Little Donkey in Cambridge.

Jamie Bissonnette will open a Korean restaurant, sushi counter, and listening bar in Downtown Crossing

Behind the scenes

Oberlin moved to a nearby space on Westminster Street in 2023.

Here’s what’s moving into the former Oberlin restaurant space in Providence

Get ready for a new Mexican kitchen in downtown.

Teenage phenom pastry chef Piper McAloon.

She’s the pastry chef making Foglia’s delicious vegan desserts. She’s also self taught, and still in high school.

After Lil Rhody Clam Cake Crawl No. 9, the “Clamarati” -- friends who embark on a daylong journey to sample and rank the best clam cakes -- may have reached local celebrity status.

From left Kevin O’Donnell chef and owner of Giusto, Walter Slater, executive chef of Food Love Market in Middletown, and Will Rietzel, executive chef of Giusto, at Giusto in Newport, R.I., on Nov. 22.

What it takes: Region’s lauded chefs say they learned it working at pizza joint in high school

Their careers intertwined since they worked together for early mentor Walter Slater, Kevin O’Donnell and Will Rietzel are teaming up once again, this time at Giusto in Newport.

Ashley Taveras, an assistant event stylist at Easy Entertaining, sorts dishes.

‘I feel abandoned’: Restaurants remain burdened by Washington Bridge closure in Rhode Island

The lack of customers traveling to restaurants and other food and drink establishments is also coming at a critical time.

Rhode Island chef Eli Dunn is a two-time Food Network “Chopped Champion” – which he won in 2018 and in 2020.

R.I. chef Eli Dunn will open a Portuguese cafe this spring

The troubles of retailers like Christmas Tree Shops and Bed Bath & Beyond can be a boon for Ocean State Job Lot, a closeout operation. And they're involved with tons of other businesses.

Dale Venturini, the longtime president and CEO of the Rhode Island Hospitality Association, announced Jan. 17, 2024 that she is retiring.

Dale Venturini, leading voice of R.I. restaurant and tourism industries, to retire

Heather Singleton, the hospitality association’s current chief operating officer, will serve as the interim president and CEO while the association’s executive committee oversees a search process to appoint a new leader.

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Cooking

Recipe: In less than 15 minutes, you can wow your val/gal with these chocolate swirl cream cups

Looking to switch up your festive sips? Here's some advice from the pros.

Two pasta dishes direct from cooks in Italy

Simple handmade noodles are the star of Basil Tagliatelle With Butter, Sage, and Parmesan while “oven ready” lasagna noodles are used in Pasta Rotolo With Spinach and Ricotta.

Recipe: Celebrate Chinese New Year with the scallion pancakes author Grace Lin learned from her mother

This recipe is for Scallion Pancakes from the food section of The Boston Globe.

Recipe: A meatier take on lobster bisque for New Year's Eve

How to make a dish that’s elegant without being over the top.

Recipe: Your year is off to a good start with this miso-braised cabbage on soba noodles

Recipe for Miso-Braised Cabbage with Soba Noodles

Here’s the recipe that went viral for the crispiest, cheesiest roast potatoes you’ll ever make

This viral side dish is popping up all over social media. It's simple and satisfying, based on the premise that everyone loves carbs and they also love crispy bits of cheese.

Recipe: Welcome the new year with smoked salmon tartines topped with crunchy salad garnishes

Recipe for Smoked Salmon Tartines

Recipe: If you’re looking for a plant-based dish loaded with flavor, try this chickpea coconut curry

Recipe for Chickpea Coconut Curry

Meet the Rhode Island Team

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Rhode Island Food & Dining Headlines

RI FOOD CLUB

The shuttered Dragon 2000 in the former Rialto Theatre in Providence, R.I. closed in 2014, and was supposed to reopen.

Is a restaurant in the future for this historic Providence theater?

The Rialto Theatre was once the site of a church, which was first constructed in 1829 and looked like a Greek temple. Here’s more about its intriguing past -- and what it could hold in the future. 8:45 a.m.

NH BUSINESS

David Moore, a Ph.D. student at UNH’s College of Life Sciences and Agriculture and a researcher with the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station, adds a tap to a basswood tree located at UNH’s Kingman Research Farm.

Move over maple? With climate change, new interest in tapping other trees for syrup.

Producing other kinds of syrup could be a natural way for farmers to safeguard their harvest against warmer weather and pests. But maple experts say the most famous syrup is here to stay. 12:01 p.m.