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~

Came here with my sister who lives in the area Everything was fantastic. The ambiance , the…read moreowner, the waitress, The food. 10/10. Will definitely be back soon.

I was on a date, so I regret not whipping out my phone to photograph our food (I can't let him see…read moremy culinary quirkiness just yet! ;). But this is my second time at Cucina 38, and it remains SPECTACULAR--like Boston, Prov or NYC spectacular. The mistletoe martini was fantastic and my favorite thing is their sautéed calamari appetizer. The Caesar salad dressing is one of the best--I could bathe in it. The birthday boy had the Bolognese and I had the special--short rib tortellini. Both were excellent. As it was a BD celebration, the pistachio torta was delivered with lit candle, a nice touch for a very yummy cake. Kevin, the chef/owner, even sent over a complimentary plate of house made tiramisu truffles, which were decadent and delicious. Can't forget Olivia, our server. She was amazing and chatty and just really a special addition to a great evening. Make a reservation and go! It's a small place (closed Sunday & Monday) and if you get chilly, best to bring a sweater in the winter.

Steak and mushrooms were absolutely delicious. Pricey, but worth the money…read more The bar has alot of flys so that was uncomfortable; next time I'll sit at a table. I definitely recommend this place!

My wife and I have been fans of La Familia for years. The Cumberland, Rhode Island location has…read morebeen our special place for anniversaries and Valentine's dinners, so we already knew how wonderful their food and hospitality could be. Today we had the opportunity to visit the Taunton location for a bereavement luncheon after a family funeral, and I was truly impressed. The luncheon was held in a beautiful private room upstairs that was set up perfectly for our gathering. Everything was elegant, comfortable, and thoughtfully arranged. The meal was served family-style buffet, and every dish was outstanding. The quality of the food was exactly what we've come to expect from La Familia--fresh, flavorful, and clearly made with care. What really stood out, though, was the staff. They were incredibly welcoming and attentive to everyone's needs, yet never rushed our group. Considering the emotional circumstances of the day, their kindness and professionalism meant a lot to all of us. And I have to mention the bread--whoever makes it deserves special recognition. I would happily buy a loaf or two every week if I could. A sincere chef's kiss to the entire establishment and especially the function team who handled our event so beautifully. La Familia continues to prove why it's such a special place for our family.

Great experience. Small intimate setting. Large portions. Our waitress warned us when we were…read moreattempting to put to many apps in. 6 people split 2 apps. Everyone took leftovers home. Great wine selection as well

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!

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.

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.

Meadows Frozen Custard has easily become one of the few places I trust completely for my daughter,…read morewho has a peanut allergy. The staff is not only incredibly friendly, but they take allergy safety more seriously than anywhere I've ever been. From the moment we walked in, they treated us with genuine care and went above and beyond to make sure my 3‑year‑old could enjoy her treat safely. What stood out the most was how intentional and reassuring they were. They didn't just say they understood her allergy--they showed it. They used a clean scoop, took her custard directly from the top of the machine, and explained each step so I knew she was safe. No other place has ever taken the time to do that for us, and it made such a difference. As a parent, that level of caution and kindness makes life so much easier and so much less stressful. The staff's warmth, patience, and attention to detail were unmatched. They made my daughter feel special, included, and safe, and that means everything. Meadows Frozen Custard has earned our trust and our loyalty, and I couldn't recommend them more highly.

My cousin & I visited The Meadows as it was advertised as a frozen custard shop. Located in a small…read morestrip mall in the wilds of Rehoboth, MA, there is ample parking. The establishment is cute & clean, and the staff is very nice. Indoor seating is available I ordered a regular cup of chocolate; my cousin a hot fudge sundae with vanilla. While both were tasty, we didnt think our choices had the richness or creaminess of true frozen custard. It tasted exactly like soft serve ice cream to us. Plus, although it tasted fine, there were sugar crystals in my cousin's hot fudge... hot fudge shouldn't be crunchy. Weird. Since this was a bit of a drive for both of us & since there are many soft serve places closer to our homes, we probably wouldn't make a special trip to return.

Excellent service, food, and all around great experience! Well priced and friendly atmosphere.read more

Food: everything was really good. Service: was special,…read morethe server was attentive and well paced. The owner stopped by to see how things went. Old school touch. Ambience: very well done. Not over the top. Well appointed.

I stopped in for the food fights sandwich on a Thursday at 5:20. The sandwich was a chicken cutlet…read morewith lettuce, tomato, lemon, and banana peppers. I didn't think I was going to like it because it wasn't anything I would ever order. The chicken was cooked perfectly and the lemon and vinegar from the banana peppers was a perfect combination with the chicken. I am very impressed!

This place is serving top notch Italian food and has market items galore. It reminded me of…read moreweekends at my great aunt's house which is saying A LOT of good things! The sandwich and Italian soda I had were perfection. I will def be back to try more from here! The owner was super friendly and I loved chatting with him. He really has a wonderful business and it is truly a gem! I'm so glad best sandwich RI brought me here. It's a cute spot for sure!

Best portions around! Super friendly service. The servers treat you like family. I love the prime…read morerib, it's huge and delicious. All the food is great, I promise you won't leave hungry. Lots of Portuguese food options if you like that. Drinks are also very generous!

I was really looking forward to trying this restaurant. I wish I could give a good review I…read moreremember Joseph's restraunt fondly. The food was subpar, also there was a fly flying around the table our entire meal my husband said the sauce on chicken parm was inedible. The Mozambique dip for bread was Very Good but that's about all that was good.