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.

Very disappointing experience at Benjamin's in Seekonk. I went in with a gift card that was…read morepurchased when the restaurant was operating under the same name, but they refused to honor it. I was told the restaurant has gone through three different owners and that there were issues with the previous owner not paying out gift cards. As a customer, that's extremely frustrating. The restaurant still operates under the same name, and there is no notice on the website or posted anywhere in the restaurant letting customers know that old gift cards are no longer valid. Customers shouldn't be stuck with the loss when ownership changes, especially when nothing is communicated ahead of time. Just something others should be aware of before going.

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 .

Yummy food,I ordered the fried mozzarella,pasta chicken parm and pasta Fagioli. The fried…read moremozzarella was mozzarella with red sauce slapped on top of it sooooooo good. Lots of people, service was good the place was good there were lights everywhere you looked it was like edaville roadway lol. Overall loved it coming back soon. Update the pasta is very sweat soup good buts like chili parm was very scrumdilly yum yum

Have you ever heard of a restaurant that won't do a takeout order over the phone without requiring…read morea credit card number for " security purposes" That might be the most petty cheapest thing I've ever heard of. So I plan to pay with cash now I have to give a random person my credit card information over the phone just because they don't believe that I will show up to pick up my to go order?!? absolutely ridiculous. Such a shame because the food is so good

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

My go-to for Italian. They have this ravioli fish in the fall with apricots and many other yummy…read morethings that I wish I could eat year-round. Otherwise the mushroom tortellini does the trick! The butternut squash soup during the fall is also fantastic. They serve bread, and the pomegranate martini I had was pretty good. Ample parking! Very no-frills locals-joint vibe. Wait staff is pretty friendly!! Last time they helped to wrangle someone's loose toddlers. Dinner and a show!

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.

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!

Had breakfast here one Sunday! Food was delicious (my friend and I both had coffee, mimosas and…read moreLorraine omelets), and the service was attentive and polite. Will definitely dine again! Highly recommend Avenue N in Rumford.

My partner and I recently visited Avenue N in Rumford, which has become our go-to spot for elevated…read morebrunch in the area. When we're craving something a little more thoughtful than the standard eggs-and-toast routine, this is where we land. The menu is creative without being over the top, the flavors are usually dialed in, and it consistently feels like brunch with intention. This last visit, however, turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag. We sat at the bar around 1pm, which is our usual move. The service was great. We were welcomed right away and had drinks in front of us in no time. I ordered a draft Blue Moon and my partner went with a glass of wine. Both were cold, fresh, and exactly what they should be. We started with the lemon ricotta donuts. These were delightful. The texture was spot on, tender and light thanks to the ricotta, with that perfect sugar coating. I would have loved a slightly more assertive lemon flavor in the dough itself, but they smartly included thinly sliced lemon rind on top so you could dial it up yourself. A thoughtful touch and a really nice way to begin the meal. My partner ordered the avocado toast for her main and it was as beautiful as it was flavorful. The sourdough had a great chew and structure, the avocado was well seasoned, and the sprinkle of cotija brought just the right salty pop. Bright tomatoes, pickled onions, microgreens, everything worked together. This dish absolutely delivered. I went with the Eggs Benedict Florentine, which I've had before and really enjoyed. Unfortunately, this time it missed the mark in a few areas. First, the poached eggs. The whites were a bit loose in spots and the yolks were slightly overdone. I know poaching can be tricky, it took me a while to master at home, but it was surprising to see the interior more cooked than expected while parts of the white still lacked structure. It was manageable, just not what I've come to expect here. Next was the mustard hollandaise. I was really looking forward to that punch of mustard, especially since I've had it shine before, but this time it felt muted. It was also looser than I prefer in a hollandaise. I love a good hollandaise, even better a béarnaise, and this one just didn't have the richness or body I was hoping for. Then there was the tomato. I understand we're not in peak tomato season, but even so, I can usually find more flavorful options at local markets and grocery stores. It appeared to be a standard beefsteak, and it just didn't bring much to the plate. A Campari or another variety with more natural sweetness and acidity would have elevated the dish and complemented the nicely cooked, flavorful spinach far better. On a positive note, the bolo was excellent. Such a great choice over the traditional English muffin and a perfect fit for a local spot like this. It had great texture and the slight sweetness usually balances the mustard hollandaise perfectly. Overall, Avenue N remains a place we truly enjoy. This visit just didn't quite live up to what we know they're capable of. I'm confident it was an off day, and we'll absolutely be back.