You must visit Viola Cucina. This food is among the closest of Italian dinners - like I've grown up…read morewith - that we've ever enjoyed. The pasta e fagioli soup was delicious and tasted as it should. We savoured it. Our salad tasted garden fresh. I asked for a basic spaghetti with meatballs. Delicious. Their meatballs meet my approval. And that is saying a lot because usually no restaurant meatballs measure up. Except for the meatballs my Grandmother, Mother and I have cooked. This is why I'm tentative about eating Italian out since we grew up making it, ourselves. Everything we tried here falls under the "did not disappoint," category which is an A all around. Even the rustic dining style with sentimental interior home furnishings and decorations. All of it speaks to the heart. They are a warm bunch and will talk to those just passing through. When I'm traveling the Eastern seaboard, I will make it a point to dine at Viola Cucina.

Mostly Smoke and mirrors.... At first glance, their website…read morelooks impressive, their menu looks authentic, and their staff promised 'everything' made fresh and to order. But upon tasting their food, it was clear, 'Viola' is just another Americanized Italian restaurant. We started with an a la carte order of: 'House made focaccia, roasted garlic spread, evoo, craft butter' This was fresh and tasty. We then shared the 'Caesar: traditional romaine hearts, foccaccia croutons, shaved pecorino cheese. classic caesar dressing.' This lacked any flavour, the romaine was cut into too small pieces, there was no hint of garlic or anchovy in the dressing. But the most disappointing dishes were the pasta dishes: 'Fettucini bolognese, house made, beef, pork, veal ragu, pecorino, basil, calabrian Chili.' 'Scampi viola, squid ink linguini, shrimp garlic, white wine, julienned vegetables, preserved lemon butter.' Although the pastas were freshly made, their textures were compromised; both pasta dishes were not 'al dente'. In fact the Scampi viola was drenched in a dark gravy and greasy. This is just not a very skilled preparation of pasta. A fresh pasta needs very little sauce, and should be dressed very simply so the 'textures' can be enjoyed. I ordered the: 'Zuppa di vongole: fresh little neck clams, vino biqnco, fresh herbs, crostini.' But this dish was replaced by a fried calamari dish. This was well prepared, actually the only star of the evening. This restaurant may succeed on its 'blandness' but will never attract the discerning diner who wants and appreciates authentic Italian cuisine. ~tiaotse~

Benjamin's Easter Buffet 2025…read more I don't normally leave bad reviews but this felt necessary. Let me paint you a picture of Easter at Benjamin's: My family of 9 adults had a reservation for their 3pm seating. When we arrived a little before 3, we had to wait in a line that was out the door of the restaurant and down a long hotel hallway. We were pretty far down, and as we came in people were wishing us luck or calling other restaurants to see if they could go there instead. It was like being on the RMS Titanic- a foreboding sense of inevitable danger ahead. We were worried about our 3 elderly family members being able to stand in line, but luckily the line started moving after 10 minutes or so. When my party got to the front, we were seated. They did not ask if we had a reservation- just led us to a table. Half our group was cut off by another party that just arrived, claiming they had priority because they had a reservation. Hah! So did everyone else in that line but okay. Anyway, the rest of our party joined us, our waiter brought out 2 carafes of water, and told us his tables would be going first. He felt really bad for the customers, you could tell. We asked him about the food they ran out of as people were muttering about that in line. He said they were out of garden salad and turkey (because they dropped it, apparently. Huh.) but they were also out of bread rolls. If you're going to have three buffet seatings- have food for all three. So the buffet itself was outside the dining room. They had opened at least one other banquet hall at the hotel to fit people, so they were all coming toward this buffet table. Luckily, we were first in line. There were three servers at the buffet for 11 trays of food so it took forever. The scrambled eggs looked awful- very dry. No one piece of bacon looked like it was cooked the same- some of mine were crispy some were chewy. Sausage was fine. They gave you two pieces of each. Stingy! One of my two French toast sticks was hard as a rock. Potatoes were okay. I went to get coffee at the next table and Oop! There wasn't enough to fill a cup in the one canister on the table. No one seemed to be in a rush to bring out more though. The dessert table had some danishes and another tray of blondie crumbs. While eating this first plate, someone finally came around to ask what the name of our reservation was. Better late than never! Our waiter brought us a whole coffee pot because he knew we didn't get any, complete with fresh cream and sugars. After finishing our first plates, some of us headed back to the buffet for round 2. But lo and behold the line was back around the corner! A family friend dining in another section of the restaurant told us that at this point, they had only just received water. Yikes! We did not want to wait in line, so we waited at our table for a bit. Some of us never even returned to the buffet table. A few of us did head back now that the line had died down. I set a timer; it took 14 minutes and 43 seconds from the time I entered the line until I was back at my table. When you reached the buffet area, they had now diverted the line to start at the ham carving table rather than the eggs, so the feng shui was even worse than before, with the line now stretching across the small buffet area. This time, I got the lunch offerings. The ham was alright. The mashed potatoes were incredibly salty. The carrots were mushy on the outside but hard on the inside. The scrod was fine and the penne was fine. There was a welcome addition to brownies at the dessert table. We could've paid extra for a better dessert selection off the menu though. We were not as wise as our fellow diners who complained and got comped, so my elderly grandfather who was paying for our meal paid full price for this, at $35 per person. Oh, and they didn't tell us about the credit card processing fee, costing an extra $10. Thank you to our waiter who tried to make this doomed experience a little better! Suffice to say, we will not be returning to Benjamin's.

Never coming here again. Food came out 10+ minutes apart so mine was cold before other people in…read moremy groups even came out. They comped part of it, but not worth trying again. Worst waitress I've ever encountered Janice. So many blame games & confrontation. Will update quality of food once I reheat it at home. Guessing the drinks are strong so you won't notice. And the final meal we were waiting on, chicken pot pie, came out cold in the center. 2 parties total at lunch on a Saturday, so far from busy.

In Full Transparency, this review would be 3.5 stars if I had that option, but that's by no means a…read moredig on this nice little spot to get some good local food at great prices. Came here before a concert at XFinity based on Yelp reviews. Provalone's is a very unpretentious little spot with a big menu, great prices and friendly service. Also, surprisingly fresh, quality and tasty food for what you might expect from the outside. Definitely a book that can't be judged by its cover. This is primarily a takeout spot and catering service. While we were sitting and enjoying our dinner they were loading up a large catering order for a customer and several people came and left with good sized orders. Clearly the locals enjoy it here. I went with the chicken parm sandwich. I expected a fried, formerly frozen patty and mediocre sauce Inna roll. What I got (for a very reasonable price) was real chicken breast, clearly hand breaded and fried, with a chunky, fresh, tasty sauce that ended up being a bit watery when put up against the cold provolone in the roll and made everything a bit uncomfortably soggy and messy. This may have been alleviated by baking the sandwich a bit before serving. Sandwiches come in one size here, which is a 12-in grinder. I would have ordered a slice as well, but the pizza in the case seemed to be pretty old and needed a refresh to be appealing. There is a very large menu, including pasta platters that include penne, ravioli or tortellini with meatballs, real veal or chicken. That's unusual for a takeout place with just a couple of tables. But it was among the many very pleasant surprises here. Good food, great prices and friendly service at a nice local spot with great menu variety. If you're nearby, I would definitely recommend giving Provolone's a try.

Clean, friendly staff and great pizza. Everything is homemade and delicious. the food came out…read morequickly and the crust is perfectly thin and crispy.

When we first walked in we were greeted by the bartender/waiter/host who was fantastic. Genuinely…read morewarm, genuinely happy to be there. We grabbed seats at the bar, naturally, and the first thing we noticed was how clean the place looked. This spot used to be Midici, run by a great guy named Brian, and if you were anywhere near East Providence and in the mood for pizza, it was the place to go. The crust was always perfectly crispy with that Neapolitan chew, and the wood fired oven was put to great use across the whole menu. Toward the end of the Midici era things had started to feel a little run down, borderline dingy. Not anymore. From the dining room to the bathrooms, the whole place has had a real facelift. One note: the walls are a little bare. My partner, who is an artist, pointed out that bringing the olive branch motif already present in the table and bar decor to a simple white outline on the walls could be a really lovely touch. We ordered wine and were a little bummed to find a couple of old favorites no longer on the list. In the Midici days, we'd reach for the Tormaresca Chardonnay when we wanted a white, or the Cedar and Salmon when we were in the red mood. We settled on a Chianti and it was quite nice. On to the main event. My partner's usual here is the pesto pizza with ricotta, but a special caught her eye, the Lemon Ricotta and Arugula. It was the highlight of the night. The crust came out beautifully blistered, the arugula was piled fresh and generously across the whole pie, and the combination of big pieces of garlic, lemon zest, and actual lemon slices made for something really bright and satisfying. Honestly, just looking at it made you want to dig in. I went with the Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza, also off the specials menu. The outer crust was spot on, but toward the center things got a little thin and soggy, not quite pick up and eat territory. The toppings were generous but crowded in the middle, leaving the outer edges a little bare. The flavors were good overall, though I'd love more Caesar presence. Not sure what sauce was used as the base, but a proper Caesar dressing might be worth exploring for this one. It's still our favorite spot in the area for pizza, and the new owners have clearly put real care into the place. A little fine-tuning on execution and they'll have something really special on their hands.

This lovely restaurant had the best gluten free pizza I have had in a very long time. The services…read morewas friendly and attentive. We enjoyed the seating as it gave enough distance between tables to feel that our dining was intimate. Great place for a conversation and yummy food .

Absolutely loved Andino's! The food was amazing - so amazing that we actually ordered takeout the…read morenext day because we wanted it again! But honestly, our waiter Eric made the whole experience. What an amazing human. He was so kind, genuine and just one of those people you don't forget. He remembered it was our son's birthday and surprised him with tiramisu with our take out order- candle included!! Those little things are what make a place special. Amazing food, great atmosphere, but even better people. It's rare to come across someone who genuinely makes an experience better just by being themselves. Thank you, Eric! We'll definitely be back the next time we're in Providence!

My wife and I reserved a table for this past Saturday…read more We got our table on time but there seemed a lot of rushing in getting us to order our starter and drinks. The bread that was brought to the table was very doughy so I asked the server to arm it up. It came back burned. I let this go and tried to it eat it, but in the end I left it and we ordered our drinks and an antipasti. The antipasti was very good, absolutely no complaints there. We ordered our main course and that is where it really went downhill. I was very disappointed with the service we got from that point forward beards and the food was just not up to par as in our previous visit. I even told the server about the veal I ordered that was tough and overcooked and he just said I'm sorry about that and left the table. He never came by to ask us if the food was OK after we first started eating. To top it off the drinks were really expensive. $15 for a glass of red cab, and then to charge you for using a card vs cash, and to suggest a 20% tip.. We are not going back and would not recommend this place again. There are plenty of other Italian restaurants on Atwell Ave to try out.

Food very good, full entrees around $20-23 with soup/salad and pasta. Friendly service, busy with…read morelocals. Great value

Every time we come here it just gets even better! Drinks and variety are fab. Love their peach…read moresangria so fruity and light. Really crisp flavors. The salad is excellent served in an ice cold plate and the dressing is served to the side so you can add in as much or as little as you want. The chicken parm-hold the cheese lactose intol :( Was really and truly perfectly spiced. I asked for extra sauce and got it. Their soups are flavorful and hearty. The service is always top knotch!! Joyce is friendly, fun loving, sweet and very knowledgeable. I'm not a sit at the bar kind of gal but here I insist upon it! This is a hidden gem, highly recommend Bella!

I was expecting to be blown away considering all the amazing things I have heard about spaghetti…read morelane.. here's why I just couldn't give 5 stars.. We had a reservation for 5pm.. we arrived around 440.. to find out we couldn't sit in the "restaurant side" meanwhile there were vacant tables. We asked politely if we could just stay in that room considering it was our first time there, we were clearly for our res and didn't plan staying too long (just a quick early dinner) .. we were told no and next time to "request" that room.. oh well.. so we sat in the "cafe".. definitely not the vibe we wanted for our dinner but we still had high hopes.. it was awkward- people in and out.. standing around us getting coffee/pastries etc while we are "having dinner" however, our waitress was great, very polite, knowledgeable about their menu.. the food wasn't anything special but it was delicious!! I really wanted to LOVE this place so I will be coming back to give it another shot!

Had high expectations for this place and it still managed to exceed our expectations! We had such…read morean amazing lunch here with amazing service - one of the chefs even came out and shared the specials with us. The restaurant is very small, so definitely recommend making reservations especially for dinner. Food was extremely fresh and portions were big! Loved how they had olive oil, red pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese set up at the table. Will definitely be back here soon!

Absolutely amazing dining experience from the grilled mushroom pizza to the apple crisp tart with…read moreour server Donny C. as a fantastic ambassador of Al Forno. My sister in law lives in Jamestown and has spoken highly of Al Forno for years with us, but every time we came to visit we couldn't get a reservation. Not this visit! She planned well in advance & the three of us enjoyed a delicious Vermentino wine with our octopus fennel salad and a Caesar salad. Both bright flavors! The entrees were spectacular with a Baked Eggplant and Venetian Chicken that were so plentiful we had to take some of both dishes home. This space is beautiful and Donny made the dining experience very special!

Disappointed... A good friend who goes to Providence…read morefrequently told me I HAD to try Al Forno. We have friends in the area who had heard of the place, but had never gone, so we made a reservation (2.5 months ahead for a 4 some on a Friday, so it must be special...) and finally got to see what the fuss was about. (Still wondering.) We started with what ended up being a high point, "beets and frites." A very interesting take with a lot of frites, not enough beets (5 slices under the stack), and about 2 tablespoons of the lemon aioli. The few tastes of the 3-part combination were great. The frites, crisp and soooo thin, were good on their own. The olive oil that came with the bread was very green (young), with a strong flavor but I was surprised that there was no pepper grinder. I had the (special) cod, which came with a lazy prep of broccoli rabe and OK potatoes. The fish was cooked well, moist and fresh, but I'm still not sure what the flavorless green topping was. Our table also had oxtail ravioli, which consisted of tasty little purses of thin pasta and nicely flavored meat inside. (Probably the best entree, and gained the second star.) The eggplant was unremarkable in terms of flavor of the sauce, and the veggies that went into it did not seem to be very fresh. For dessert, we had rhubarb peach tart and chocolate bread pudding. The tart was mostly crust and very shy on the rhubarb. The bread pudding apparently used Hershey's chocolate powder which was not a great flavor and left a grainy texture. The server was not very friendly, somewhat pushy, and insisted that we order the dessert when we ordered everything else. Allegedly, this was because the dessert is made to order, but we had the impression that it was to expedite our table time. Even so, with all that "careful planning" only 3 of the 4 entrees made an entry and we waited quite a while for the 4th to show up, even after asking. Overall, not a good experience and not a place I'll plan to revisit.