Sophia's Cafe is a small store front that makes delicious Latin foods and does mostly take away…read morebusiness. They have a sunny space at the front where you are welcome to dine-in at one of their half dozen tables for two. We parked in a lot next to the building. Order at the counter or call ahead for pick-up. Above the order counter is a menu without descriptions and as this is my first visit, I needed info. Paper menus are on the counter that include ingredients which was exactly what I was looking for! I had heard their empanadas were very good and that is why I visited. Then I saw the menu and changed my mind to Chimi de Res sandwich. This sandwich was so good. Cool slaw, beef patty, sauce, good bread, all together a pleasant flavor and texture combination. My SO got a steak & Cheese. Not sure what they do differently, but it was very much enjoyed. Fries are crunchy outside, soft inside. Well done. I tried one of their shakes and it was just the right amount of sweet and full of fruit flavor. Excellent. They have a drinks cooler next to the register to grab a bottled beverage too. No steps up to enter the business. Standard glass and metal 'push' type entrance door. I did not see an 'auto open' door feature or a handicap parking spot in the shared lot but there was snow so it's hard to tell at the moment. There is no public restroom. It's tiny and as mentioned, most business is take-away. The staff were super nice. Food is soooo good. For take-away or casual dine-in, this is an excellent stop. I will be back to try those empanada!

I waited too long to come here. It's dangerously close to my house.. And the chopped cheese goes…read moredown way too easy. Everything you love about a burger slapped in between some crisp bread, add some saucy cheese, and dig in. There's not much else to say about this one other than I really want to try everything else on their menu now. Simple counter service place, but plenty of seating inside if you wanted to eat in.

I was born and raised in the Bronx for 33 yrs so I loveeee an Italian deli…read more I've lived in Rhode Island for three years and I've never had sandwiches as good as the ones from the Bronx until recently trying Michaelangelo's . The bread is soooooo fresh - I had a steak and cheese and chicken parm- unbelievably delicious !!! I'm actually picking up an order today for my daughter and I. I'm excited to turn her on to this place as well. Keep up the a amazing job!

This place is fantastic. We recently purchased a home in the neighborhood and figured we'd give it…read morea try. We were not disappointed and ended up dining 3 times in the first week. Amazing sandwiches and the staff is wonderful. If there was a rating above 5 stars I'd give one.

Dee's is by far the best sandwich shop in Cranston, and it's one of the best in RI. It's been my go…read moreto for nearly 20 years, and I have never, ever, been disappointed. Always fresh bread (I love the hard Italian roll), plenty of meat, fresh vegetables, and the best dressing around. Absolutely amazing every time! My go to sandwiches are the Italian grinder, the corned beef & Swiss, and the pastrami and Swiss. Service is always great here and they are very efficient in both making the sandwiches and at the cash register. There are a few tables you can eat at, or you can take your food to go. Either way, the charm of this old school sandwich shop is unmatched. It's always busy at Dee's, but if you call your order in early, it will be ready for you when you arrive. Definitely give Dee's a try. The sandwiches are top notch and the prices are great as well!

We got a roast beef and turkey sandwich at their food truck during Waterfire night…read more The taste was just OK...not very flavorful, kind of bland... The veggies were cooked well, but the overall taste of the sandwich was nothing to write home about....

Holy smokes the unicorn came in screaming while I was enjoying a few beers at the bar. I was…read morestarving until I ordered some wings and pizza and it came out hot n ready. First came the wings, wet and flavorful to the max with an extra dilly ranch and real bacon crumbles. Then came the cupped pepperoni pizza on a wheat crust, greasy but not more than you would like to be. In previous visits I have had the BLT and mushroom banh mi to which I also cannot rave enough about. Get out of your house and grab a beer at Buttonwoods and food at Screaming Unicorn so you know what it's like to live a life full of hops and flavor!

Great staff, awesome music, nice drinks open concept and interesting menu. We will be back.read more

I visited here after Sonia's Deli had their renovation and I love the look of it! I love the…read moretraditional rug wallpaper they have on the wall, it really gives it an authentic Armenian look. The art on the walls are also a great touch as well as the sitting area with backgammon available to play. I also love the food and drinks they have in the grocery section. I do wish they had more selections to choose from though. In terms of more options of Russian/Armenian food like deli meat, dairy products, smoked fish, fruits/veggies, candy, cookies, juice... The prices here are steep, it's a big reason as to why I don't shop here often. It's a shame because I would love to support an Armenian business.

The food here is absolutely incredible & full of flavor. It is one of those places you keep coming…read moreback to because everything is consistently fresh & delicious. The staff is warm & engaging. My go-to is the supreme gyro: perfectly seasoned gyro meat, juicy tomatoes, crisp lettuce, red onions, feta cheese & banana peppers topped with creamy tzatziki sauce & wrapped in warm Greek flatbread. Every bite is the perfect mix of savory, tangy & fresh. You can really tell the ingredients are high quality & prepared with love! They also have a wonderful specialty market filled with great spices, specialty ingredients & unique items you won't always find elsewhere. Be sure to try the halva - they carry it in several different flavors & it is yummi & unique. The baklava is also outstanding. Both are the perfect sweet treat to take home after an amazing meal! NOM NOM NOM #YUM

Best deli in Rhode Island! They have the best selection and…read morehighest quality meats vegetables,dry goods. And nobody can come close to their sandwiches made on fresh hard rolls or soft rolls. Can't go wrong at Garden Hills Deli!!

This is a small neighborhood market with old time customer service. Weekly specials are listed on…read moretheir website and on the door as you enter. There is plenty of beautiful fresh produce. Everything looks good. Cold cuts are Boars Head and they will make you a sandwich. Meat is behind a counter. Just ask the butcher for what you want. They have Italian food items like passata and lots of pastas, sausage and oil. They also have the usual pantry staples like loaf bread, canned goods and condiments. We picked up quite a few items during our visit and are very happy to have found this grocery store with old world customer service.

Worst sandwich and stale bread, I have eaten here before and it was awesome, today I got a small…read moreroast beef sandwich and the bread was stale, the sandwich was $11 hardly any meat on it, should've kept going and went to Dee's, such a disappointment, two bites and in the garbage.

I was so unimpressed w this establishment, after the reviews I read. Coming from the southside and…read morea diehard grinder fan of Tony's,I had high standards. My hopes and dreams were shattered once I tasted the Italian sub. I found it bland. Maybe I should have added more to it. I just don't know.

This place is great ... you can tell not too much has changed since the 1970's and unintentional…read moreretro/vintage is my thing. This place could be so perfect with only a couple small changes! - There are white flourescent style lights on the ceiling. This really kills the vibe. It's almost like the top of the restaurant and the bottom don't match. You have cozy, 70's style wood paneling with dark wooden booths and stained glass lights hanging over the tables. Warm, cozy and intimate. Then, bright white lights above. I'd love to eat here with those bright lights turned off sometime. - Probably not economical but red checkered tablecloths, like vintage Italian restaurants used to have would make this place look like a movie set in a good way. That being said, everything else about this place is cool ... you know a good spot by how many regulars are there and everyone seemed to know everyone else by name on a Tuesday night. It wasn't crowded ... but it wasn't empty on an off-night. - The staff is exceptionally good. The waitress and hostess couldn't have been any sweeter and more helpful. Fast refills on the soft drinks and helpful without being intrusive. - The pizza is good. I have to admit, I am not sold on the cheddar cheese vs. mozzarella. I thought it would give the cheese an interesting, sharper taste but it seemed a bit bland. I will do the Italian-style next time with mozzarella. I liked my pizza but there was just something different about it. The crust is Greek-style ... kind of like the old Pizza Hut, when it was actually made fresh. Back in the 1980's and 90's there was nothing better than a golden, buttery light and crisp pizza crust from Pizza Hut, before the brand went to shit. This reminds me of that goodness of 1980's pizza crust. I'm not a thin crust guy ... but if you are, they have a thinner crust on the menu as well. Topping was good, maybe a bit spicier pepperoni would be a bit better ... toppings are a tad expensive for a few slices of pepperoni. A 3-topping pizza adds around $5. The small is good for two-people with light/moderate appetites. I wouldn't be able to eat a small and a salad by myself. Speaking of the salad ... one of the best regular house salads I've ever had. The dressing is amazing ... tangy, salty, perfectly done. I know it's hard to get all worked up over a standard Italian dressing but often the simplest things in cooking are the hardest to get right ... and they get the dressing right! Also, the lettuce was super fresh and the tomatoe slices were as well. The only issue I had was there was no 'side salad' version. There was a 'small' salad for around $8 ... but that could easily feed 2 - 4 people. Overall, this place gets just about everything right. It doesn't change or modernize. It's portions are great ... the food is very good ... prices maybe a bit high compared to other spots ... but you can tell they don't cut corners and everything is freshly made. The bar is where I'd want to sit normally ... but the seats are very close together and I didn't want to be elnow to elbow with strangers, so I snagged a small booth, which was also fine. The customers seemed nice ... but they all seemed very 'Cranston'. If they could deal with the lighting situation and make it less bright, I'd eat here 2 times per week. You can't beat a classic ... and this place is a classic.

One of my favorite pizzas in Rhode Island. I love the old school, no frills ambiance and classic…read morehometown friendly service. They also have one of my favorite salad dressings- I would go there for that alone! I can't recommend this place enough- the delicious food and comforting vibes keep me coming back!

This place makes the neighborhood even more Italian somehow. I ride by before they open and smell…read morethen cooking everyday....and it smells so good! Great place to go with someone who has different taste than you because the selection is vast, even different style of pizza but stay away from the white Italian one, it's addictive. My problem is that I want all of it. Even their drink variety is impressive. Don't have to read menus at all. You can walk in, see the long glass food fridge and point while grunting. Everyone else does Also, don't tell the Original Italian Bakery, the pizza chips are better here

Cutting Crew was playing over the speakers…read more At an Italian deli with a brick oven and an Italian flag hanging in the front window. (I Just) Died in Your Arms, 1986. Whitney Houston a few minutes earlier. Taylor Dayne before that. Huey Lewis somewhere in the rotation too. Somebody behind that counter was a kid in the late eighties and built the playlist around the songs they grew up with while the food their grandparents brought over from Italy came out of the oven twenty feet away. Lou Umberto opened this place in 2017 after graduating from Johnson and Wales. His family is from Cerreto Sannita, a hill town in Campania. He set up shop on Cranston Street, just outside Knightsville, on the edge of one of the oldest Italian neighborhoods in the city. Lauren and I went on a Monday afternoon. Gray skies. One of those quiet Rhode Island days where lunch slowly becomes dinner without anybody announcing the transition. Before we got inside, one of the guys working there was helping an elderly woman through the side door and walking her back toward her car with her groceries. That told me most of what I needed to know. Walk in and the room is doing four jobs at once without any of them getting in the others' way. Shelves stacked with imported groceries. Rummo pasta. Loacker wafers. Baci chocolates. Bottles of olive oil lined up beside jars of tomatoes and peppers. Along the opposite wall sits a long deli case full of prepared food. Eggplant parm. Broccoli rabe. Pasta in vodka sauce. Stuffed banana peppers. Pasta salad. Roasted vegetables. Then the bakery case. Tomato pie cut in squares with red sauce all the way to the edge and enough seasoning on top to perfume the whole counter. Potato pizza. Calzones. Spinach pies stacked on black trays. The kind of food that makes people walk in for one thing and leave with six. Near the front, bags of pizzelle tied shut with twist ties sat on a wire rack underneath a hanging sign that read Welcome Family and Friends. Normally signs like that feel decorative. This one didn't. And behind all of it, through the opening in the back, sat the brick oven. That being said. The pizza. The pepperoni pie came out raised on a metal stand by the window, the Italian flag moving outside in the gray afternoon behind it. Good looking pizza immediately. No stunt toppings. No overloaded nonsense. Just confidence. The pepperoni was placed, not dumped. Natural casing cups charred dark at the edges. Maybe fifteen slices total across the whole pie. Somebody understood restraint. The crust landed somewhere just outside classic New York style. Slightly thicker, but only enough to give the inside some chew. The outer rim puffed up high in spots and blistered dark from the oven. Flour still clung to the bottom and the back edge from the peel. The sauce tasted bright and barely cooked. In some bites it pushed forward sharp and fresh. In others it melted completely into the cheese. Sometimes all you tasted was crust, and that worked too. The cheese browned into amber patches across the surface that pure mozzarella usually doesn't create by itself. Probably some provolone mixed in there. I didn't ask. I should have asked. And the slice held beautifully. Crisp underneath. Enough structure to fold slightly at the front without collapsing. You could see the care in it immediately. Nothing rushed. Nothing overloaded. Nothing trying too hard. Just a very good neighborhood pizza made by people who seem to understand exactly what kind of place they want this to be. The kind of place where somebody helps an elderly woman through the side door before getting back to work. The kind of place that makes you think living nearby might not be the worst idea in the world. Don't forget to grab a bag of pizzelle on the way out.

This was the first time for me, and I was beyond excited. I run a local pizza group and so many of…read morethem told me this was THE BEST and I was ready to experience that for myself. The first thing you notice when you walk in is the counter, then the oven behind a wall of pizza boxes stacked high and ready for service. In front of that wall stood a smiling face. She warmly greeted us and let us know to seat ourselves in the dining room. The bartender was also the dining room server and came over to take care of us. She was a treasure. Every time she came over she brought with her a smile, an anecdote and loads of charm. We ordered a meatball each, then a medium pizza with pepperoni, half olive. While we waited, I checked out the space. At first the place seems small, but it has high ceilings and bright lights that show how much space is actually inside. Beautiful bar, tables of different seating sizes and some cozy booths tucked into the corner shaped perfectly for close conversation. The meatball took no time to arrive, served with a garlic breadstick made from Buono's bread, a local bakery favorite if you did not already know. The meatball was tender, it reminded me of the meatballs my grandfather used to make growing up, and that's when I knew I was in the right place. The sauce was chunky, thick enough to scoop onto the bread. I cleaned my plate, my mother would be proud. Then the moment I had been waiting for: the pizza. It arrived scalding hot and smelling like heaven. I could see the crispy cheese on the edges of the crust and the generosity of the toppings. I am not a patient woman when it comes to pizza so I braved the lava like sauce and took a bite. And understood why so many love Catanzaro's. The thick crust and tangy-sweet sauce combining with the cheese, pepperoni and olive created a moment of sensory excellence. It was a study in Sicilian done well and I can absolutely say the group choosing this spot for Best Sicilian in Rhode Island was well deserved. While we were eating, I noticed one of the owners, Anthony, by the bar. He made his way around to every table. Some people he knew, some he did not. But he spoke to everyone with the same good-natured, welcoming approach. The reputation of Italian hospitality is well known, and Anthony is a terrific continuation of that. When he got to our table, I had the chance to introduce myself to him and explain further what we're trying to do here with our pizza community group. He was immediately excited about what we are trying to build. He and his wife Lauren - great name - love the community we are growing. Outside of the rainy weather, I couldn't have asked for a better beginning to this Best of RI trip based on our group votes. I was happy to connect with another iconic Rhode Island pizzamaker and experience his craft first hand.

Wednesday. 5:30. The parking lot was busy…read more That told me everything I needed to know before I ever opened the door. The kitchen at Catanzaro's Pizza is open and you can see everything being made from your table. Three people, each one perfect at exactly what they were doing, moving together like a tight jazz trio, every action landing exactly where it needed to. Metronomic precision. And then our server arrived. After I finished my first Mountain Dew I told her to just bring me two more cans so I wouldn't have to bother her later for a third. She said she wanted to keep them cold for me and didn't mind coming back again as needed. Like Radar O'Reilly, she was there every time before I knew I needed her. She could not have been any more friendly, warm, or gracious. It was like eating at your best friend's house, the dinner her cool mom made, the one where you always hoped you'd get invited back. First, the meatballs. One meatball each, served in a pool of sauce it had been simmering in all day, dusted with grated cheese, a wedge of garlic bread there to catch what spills over. Big enough to be an appetizer by itself. And it was the most tender, delicious meatball I've eaten in recent memory. Moist all the way through. No dry pockets. No tough exterior where someone got impatient with the heat. This was a meatball that someone thought about. The sauce it was served in smelled almost impossibly good when it hit the table. And it tasted better than it smelled. It tasted like your grandmother made it. (Assuming she was Italian, knew what she was doing, and loved you enough to get it right.) Anthony, the owner, came over and talked with us for a while. Some owners do that as performance. Anthony does it because he actually wants to know if everything is right. There's a difference when you are passionate about serving your customers as well as you can every time, and you can feel it. Then. The pizza. Catanzaro's does Sicilian. Not the thick, doughy kind that puts you to sleep. This is its own creature, a rectangle with serious intentions, baked in a well-seasoned pan, with a crust that's golden and crisp and an interior that's chewy and pillowy and herbaceous in a way that makes you stop mid-bite and reconsider every other place you thought was in your top five before this. The sauce is tangy. Bright. Lightly sweet in the way a good tomato is sweet, not the way a corporate kitchen adds sugar to cover its sins. The cheese pulls. The pepperoni cups and chars at the edges, pooling in the middle, because the oven is hot. This is substantial pizza. Filling pizza. Fantastic pizza. I walked in a stranger on a busy Wednesday night in Cranston. I'm already planning when I'm coming back to see my new friends.