Category: Restaurants

Linda’s Diner – Narragansett Rhode Island

By now our search for places that serve breakfast to late risers was getting a little thin. We had to spread out a little bit, drive somewhat further to Narragansett. For whatever reason we hadn’t spent a lot of time in this town even though it was close by. All I knew about it was that this was where the famed Narragansett turkey breed was from. Laugh all you want but this is where the Pilgrims (or Puritans?) realized turkeys could be domesticated and eaten without having to go out hunting them. This was no small thing. A whole new species of livestock!

So did we eat turkey? No, I said we came here for breakfast not Thanksgiving. There were a few wild special options on the wall including a S’mores Pancake with marshmallow spread and chocolate. I decided not to court the diabetes demon today. Instead I looked at their choice of toast which included pecan and cranberry toast, and built a breakfast out from there. I had an omelet, home fries, and some pecan and walnut toast! I do not remember what my companion had and I sadly forgot to take a photo. The omelet was loaded with veggies just like I like. The potatoes were alright. The toast… was different and very thick but honestly, I wasn’t all that impressed by it. It was a lot like wheat bread with chunks. I’m not sure what I was expecting but it wasn’t really that. It wasn’t bad though… just a little odd. My feelings on this place were kind of lukewarm but I’m open to trying it again to see if maybe I just came on an off day for myself.

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Pasta Beach – Newport Rhode Island

On this particular night, several weeks ago, we were inundated with snow and there wasn’t exactly a lot of places to park. My companion chose a place he knew had a parking lot but when we got there we realized that it was for the building behind the restaurant and the parking was $30 an hour. I almost spit out a few teeth sputtering when I learned that. That also explained why the lot was nearly empty.

I hoped back into my trusty car and we nearly ripped off the bumper on the entrance to this parking lot which had a big old bump on a steep decline. Sometimes I hate having such a low slung car. I then went on to piss off traffic as I tried and failed at parallel parking before driving up the street and finding three open spots that allowed me just to slide in all cool-like. We walked back, me hoping the $30 parking wasn’t an inclination of how expensive the food would be because WHEW, that would be bad.

This place was bustling. There almost was nowhere to sit but we lucked out and got one of those tall tables for two next to a breezy door behind the fireplace. I looked around. Yuppies. So many yuppies. You know… college students and like-aged individuals who clearly were of the upper middle class and likely living on stipends from their parents or trust funds or whatever. Came with that weirdly tacky beach vibe decor. I raised an eyebrow. Maybe it was the bar. Maybe people came here to get too drunk to notice. But even that seemed unlikely. Though not my normal crowd everyone seemed to be behaving themselves.

We ordered a flatbread pizza and shared a side of potatoes. Both were OK. Just like the rest of this place. We weren’t displeased but not thrilled either. It was just the epitome of mediocre. I will say however if I were a college student who drank I’d probably be more enthusiastic about it.

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Big Mike’s Smokehouse BBQ – East Providence Rhode Island

I’m so backlogged on these on these entries I don’t even remember why we were in East Providence, but it must have been for something. ANYWAY. There was this lovely little BBQ place near the comedy club, so close in fact that one of their specials was named after it. We had come here looking for some BBQ food with signature sauces because why else? Sometimes you just know what you want (which is so nice compared to the usual of having no goddamn idea at all.)

As we walked in there was a few people there including a kid who I believe probably belonged to one of the staff who reminded me of my own childhood following my mother to the sweatshop. I know people these days tend to look down upon this, but I actually find it kind of heartwarming these institutions still exist especially in this cruel economy. I often feel like Americans have no idea what community is – it’s this, everyday people coming up with novel solutions and being able to rely on each other. On the tables were little ring toss games for the patrons. The TV was broadcasting trivia night questions being played in the bar side. I really liked the atmosphere of this place. It was warm and welcoming.

I ordered some sort of dark meat chicken with corn and a salad. My companion had chicken, pulled pork, mac n’ cheese, potato salad, and a piece of cornbread which I think was supposed to be on my plate? It ended up there in any event. I’m not going to lie the salad was underwhelming. A small tin of lettuce with some wilted cherry tomatoes but I can give this a pass since no one in their right mind comes to a smoke house for salad (I was just having a craving for greens.) The rest of the food though? Amazing. The chicken was moist, the signature sauces were delicious, and the cornbread… oh my god the cornbread. Best part of the whole damn thing. So crumbly and warm! My companion was also happy with his pulled pork. We both decided this hit the spot and was well worth checking it out.

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Yiayai’s Cafe – Newport Rhode Island

This was another one of those surprising finds. It was in a part of town (one of the touristy parts) that I rarely go to so neither one of us had any idea this place was here. Of course, it’s off season being across the beach in the dead of winter so I really enjoyed having it all to ourselves on this particular day, save for one patron who came in later and gushed about how great this place was. And it was!

The counter had some fresh baked pastries and baklava as we walked in. I made a mental note of this. Cravings. They just come out of nowhere sometimes. The woman running the place was very sweet and took our order. We were here for breakfast but the lunch menu seemed far more intriguing. I like to order different things wherever I go to feed my endless need for novelty (thank you ADHD!) and on this particular day I noticed she had an eggplant dish. I’d grown eggplant in my garden before but then realized I had no idea what to do with them. Perhaps today I could learn. I also ordered a side of spanakorizo in case the eggplant went sideways. My companion ordered the Souvlaki. Being on the touristy side of town this place was more expensive than we were accustomed to buuuut DAMN was the food good!

The eggplant pita was just perfect. The eggplant was roasted just right, wasn’t too mushy, wasn’t spongey. And the fresh warm pita it was on? Oooh, bread heaven! So even though this was a peculiar choice for even myself I really enjoyed it. And I also got to try my companion’s Souvlaki which oooooh, I would order that next time for sure! So good! But the best part funny enough was the side of spanakorizo. That was divine! I would have been happy with just a plate of that!

We didn’t really have the cash or the room in our stomachs for dessert but if it’s anything as good as the main menu I would love to try sometime. Maybe for a dessert date. Still eying that baklava. What a wonderful little place. There must be so many happy memories here.

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Kellie’s Cafe- Newport Rhode Island

This is going to sound absolutely bonkers but a few winters ago I was driving at night past Kellie’s Cafe and I saw a velociraptor in the parking lot. A fucking life-size dinosaur was just chilling there on a trailer at 3am. Now, I know from previous instances in my life that it’s best not to ask questions buuuut the next morning the damn velociraptor was gone and I was left wondering what glitch in the matrix I’d just witnessed. I made note of which parking lot it was and kept this story to my damn self until over a year later my companion excitedly explained there was a life-size bronze velociraptor living in the yard at Aardvark Antiques just down the road. I KNEW IT!! I DID SEE A DINOSAUR!

What does this have to do with the little British cafe whose parking lot was once infested with prehistoric beasts? Not much. I doubt they had any idea. But seeing as I now knew about this place why not check it out? I like British things… especially Doctor Who. Fucking love Doctor Who. This place had a big old Britishly colored teapot as it’s sign outside so this seemed like good indication it’d be interesting…

Inside the cafe was absolutely tiny with only a few tables. Two servicemen and a single English dude were the only customers here on this particular day. We made our way in quietly and sat down while looking at the back wall which had a HUGE teacup display behind a life size cut out of the queen. I mean I get it, I know y’all have a king now but he has the charisma of a frozen cod fish soooo… I’ll accept this weird tribute to the former queen. My English friend tells me this is customary and everyone has one to mutter loyalties to once a day. Pretty sure he’s fucking with me there.

ANYWAY… we were tended to by a sweet lady whose accent sounded American for a few sentences and then not so much. Cracked me up. I love British accents. She offered us tea with our breakfast and I accepted. My companion stuck to coffee. We looked over the menu and realized there was fun options here to play with. A Full English Breakfast was one. My companion took that. I on the other hand I was morbidly curious about the Scotch Egg. I’d seen one being eaten on Broadchurch and heard people talking about them several times since but my grasp of what it actually was was…. poor. One way to find out! Our hostess seemed delighted I wanted to try one and she asked if my companion would like the blood pudding with his English breakfast at which point I think his brain shuttered. He struggled to answer for a moment but then said no. I on the other hand would have said yes to the iron-addled hockey puck I assume to be blood pudding. You only live once after all. And “you have to have blood pudding” says the guy who claims everyone has a cardboard cutout of the queen. (I know this entire blog entry screams unreliable narrator but I swear to god…)

My companion was very happy with his full English breakfast which he found to be very filling. I stole some of his beans which I remarked were tomato-y because British baked beans are different than Boston baked beans which rely on molasses. Still, they tasted good and I think our odd conversation was being listened to by everyone else here, especially when I received the Scottish egg and set about dissecting it for science. Mind you, it was egg-shaped and I supposed an actual egg, but that says very little doesn’t it? I cut it in half with a knife I stole from my companion (as my tomato sandwich did not require cutlery.) Inside was indeed a hard-boiled egg. On the outside it seemed to be some sort of sausage-filled batter, deep fried of course. It was filling! And I guess great for shoving in your pockets for later if you happen to work in a Victorian coal mine. I do not. And I’m not the biggest fan of sausage or hard-boiled eggs but that being said it wasn’t bad and I’m happy I tried it. I’m also happy I figured out how to use the odd plate and utensil that came with my tea. I hope the weird stick/spoon thing was to retrieve my tea bag because that’s what I used it for. I have to thank anyone who has ever called me “worldly” because I am 100% faking knowing anything. Please do not leave me unsupervised.

Finally, we ended our little meal and went to the counter which was apparently a danger zone because it was covered in English sweets. Chocolate covered digestives, Turkish delights, Jaffa cakes, numerous candy bars and the like. We took some home to keep on experimenting. I’ve never actually had a digestives with my tea… will it kick it up a notch? Guess we’ll see!

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Taqueria los Compadres – Boston Massachusetts

Since we had some time to spare waiting for our slot to open in the Boxaroo escape room we decided to wander a bit and find somewhere to eat. We’d naively believed that Faniel Hall would be open after dark but I guess in the winter months they’re not. So, we disappeared into our sweaters and headed out for a brisk walk in the sleet and snow. We were relieved to stumble upon a tavern but upon entering the bouncer was not buying I was forty years old, carded me, and then seemed annoyed I had a valid driver’s license. Thank you, by the way. These days you got to take a compliment where you can. That being said this place was bursting at the seams and there wasn’t a waitress or waiter in sight. So, we walked back out into the dreary weather where we stumbled upon an absolutely empty little Mexican restaurant which was decorated to the hilt in Cinqo de Mayo decor. Even the benches were painted with idyllic Mexican scenes. It was kind of cute.

“…Are you open…?”

Yes! Yes, they were! But they required a key to use the bathroom. I’d rather die than ask for that so I waited. And in the meanwhile, we ordered. I had the burrito bowl, my companions had soft tacos, nachos, and some other things I didn’t quite understand. I do apologize here that I am not particularly experienced with Mexican food.

The chicken burrito bowl was huge. I ended up taking it home and making two more meals of it. And it came with fresh guacamole which… if you’re not me you might enjoy! (It’s a texture thing…) The chicken was good, the beans were wonderful, the entire bowl mixed up really well. My companion’s tacos looked lovely and the nachos I taxed were so crispy-crunchy that it lit the neurons in my brain up like a Christmas tree. I didn’t even know I wanted something crispy-crunchy but after I bit into it that’s kind of all I wanted. That and the limes. I’m not sure why we got fresh lime wedges but I ate them by themself and remembered fondly how much I like fresh lemons and limes. The AuADHD brain is a funny thing.

Anyway, it was a nice little place. Quick service and fun Mexican beverages (which I did not try but perhaps should have.) We were quite full when we waddled off down the street to continue our evening, my companion scolding me to put my sweater back on which I only obliged because it was sleeting. As of late I’m pretty sure my blood has been transformed into lava because I can’t handle being anywhere that’s above 40F degrees. SIGH.

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Bluebird Cafe – Narragansett Rhode Island

As of late we’ve been riding around looking for sweet new breakfast spots to haunt and today was no different other than the fact we got a very late start and most places don’t serve breakfast in the afternoon. No matter! Google insisted this place did.

It’s weird, Narragansett isn’t far from my RI base in Newport and yet we hadn’t poked around there until today, specifically to find this little Mardi Gras/Southern themed plaza cafe. By now we’d just slipped in half an hour before closing. Most of the chairs were already on the tables. Still they were friendly and welcoming so we sat down.

The art hanging in this place was wild. A poster hung on the wall with several crayfish pinching towards the sky, reading above something about being boiled alive. The menu was no less eyebrow raising. Today’s special was a crunchy blueberry pancake with granola. I almost went for that but was too intrigued by the butter pecan pancakes. Meanwhile the rest of the menu had a bit of creole and Cajun flair. Even some of the breakfast items showed a spicy side. My companion went with the chicken and waffles which came with a side of beans. He said the chicken was fresh (and not pre-made or frozen as some of these establishments use) and that the beans were really good. I did a mandatory tasting of the beans to make sure and he was right! My pancakes were great too. They came out covered in chopped pecans, made with a fluffy and somewhat creamy batter. A short stack was more than I could eat.

A woman came in after us and made the cut 5 minutes before the kitchen closed. Having been told this she tried to leave but the staff insisted it was fine so she came in, ordered one hell of a BLT and enjoyed the music with us, happily singing along to Queen and smiling. I love Queen but to be honest it was hearing the Muppet’s Phenomina song that made me smile ear to ear. Can’t say I’ve ever heard it played in public!

There was enough on the menu here to want to come back and try something else. I think we found a winner.

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Hamilton Diner – Seekonk MA

This week was another amazing food find. We were on the road searching for a birthday present (which proved stupidly hard to find) when we decided to stop at a new place for a late breakfast. This place said it served breakfast until 3pm. That’s my kinda eatery.

A day earlier my companion was teasing me because I said I rarely crave sweets but my usual choices for breakfasts suggested otherwise. I protested these were not cravings but whims. And despite the fact this place had a slew of more reasonable options I couldn’t help to go glassy-eyed with wonder when our waitress started rattling off their breakfast specials from the day. I couldn’t keep any of them straight but they sounded like the most whimsically deranged breakfast themed dessert cart one could dream up. Oreos were mentioned as were chocolate chips, a variety of sticky sweet syrups, and even cinnobuns. My resolve was tested and it suffered a resounding failure as I ordered the stuffed Cinnabon French toast. My companion on the other hand chose a more savory option, the Hamilton Kitchen Sink which came out looking like a garbage plate (and I say that with love, not judgement.) It was a pancake, bacon, sausage, eggs, a biscuit, and a truck load of home fries smothered in white gravy. We’re both very chosey with homefries but I’m happy to note I tried one with gravy and it was goddamn delicious to the both of us.

Meanwhile my plate was a war crime to diabetes but ahhhhhh, it was so good! The cinnobuns were made into French toast, stuffed with cream cheese and jam and topped with a truly indecent amount of whipped cream. I didn’t even have to put any syrup on it.

Our waitress joked it could be made better with chocolate chips. If I had only had a tiny white flag to wave back at her. I ate most my meal, was stuffed to the gills and couldn’t take on the last few bites but wow. Do I regret my heart challenging option? Nah, no other place has made me want to yell ‘you only live once’ like this place! I have learned nothing.

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Grilled Cheese Gallery – Hyannis Massachusetts

What better way to follow up a visit to the pirate museum than to find ourselves a rocking grilled cheese joint?

It was a gorgeous summer day but there was an alarming lack of tourists around. I suppose a sign of the times. Even so I parked in a super easy parallel parking spot in front of the JFK museum having no idea the next half a mile had oodles of parking spots. Oh well, can’t complain too much about getting a little exercise, especially when the stoner-friendly sandwiches we were after were probably about a billion calories each. On this day I did not care.

When we finally arrived we found a vendor and an outdoor cafe space. A woman was already at the window waiting for her order when we ambled up to look at the menu. She turned around to tell us, “Everything is great here! You’re going to love it!” High praise, we both laughed and thanked her for the unsolicited review.

I wanted fries with my sandwhich so we decided to split a poutine and each get a different weird sandwhich. Pretty sure my companion got the Country Boy and myself the Veggie Daddy. The cashier on this day was having a day, for sure. He was straight from a wedding in Florida and clearly very tired. He couldn’t remember the order and asked my companion to repeat Veggie Daddy until it was uncomfortable but luckily we were both laughing at this because it was hot, we were being a pain in the ass taking forever to decide, and we could empathize with a little brain fog. Our reward for being a sport about this was being able to sample their home made hibiscus ice tea and lavendar lemonade. Both were really good but the tea was amazing so the pitch worked!

We sat at one of the tables and waited, our server clearly as entertained by us as we were of him, yelling, “I’m going to take care of you!” And he did. Even drew smiley faces in our dipping sauce. It was fucking adorable.

And the sandwiches… oh my god. Totally worth the fact they probably went straight to the arteries! The dipping sauce was another fun touch. They were SO MESSY and sooo good. I got it all over my shirt and sighed. Can’t bring me anywhere.

I was so full by this point. Even so my server came back out to offer a refill on my ice tea as we were cleaning up. I was tempted but then I’d have to carry an open cup to the car. Instead I thanked my server and smiled. He said, “You guys are great!” Before returning.

So yeah. DEFFINATELY would recommend this place.

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Super Sandwiches – New Haven Connecticut

After our visit to the Yale University Art Gallery we hopped back into the car and tried to find somewhere to eat. After a minute we found a place only a block or so away so we stopped teasing the people looking for a parking space and hopped out of the car. I wasn’t going to parallel park again if we could walk!

Sure enough, a short amble away, past some lovely murals, we found an empty sandwhich parlor and wandered in.

The art on the walls were iconic images of mostly famous people with brightly colored sandwiches pasted into the scene. I chuckled.

The menu here was pretty extensive and a little wild. They had some unique and creative takes on sandwiches up there. We were both torn between two or three separate options each. I eventually settled on their pretzel coated chicken cutlet and my companion got the Chicken Bahn Mi. His was far prettier than mine but mine was a comfort food extravaganza and I bit into that thing like a rabbid werewolf. The dressing was a spicy mustard which I honestly don’t usually appreciate horse radish but it seemed to pair well with the pretzel.

My companion slipped me a pickled radish from his Bahn Mi. I’m an idiot so with little investigation I popped it into my mouth and immediately regretted every decision that brought me to this point in my life.

“It tastes like feet!” I mean I’ve never eaten feet but I feel like this is what a chalky callused ill-washed foot would taste like. I tried to swallow it to be polite but it was so gross I couldn’t get it to the back of my mouth. A quick drought of soda only proved to wash this foul flavor around my mouth even more. I was reduced to shoving french fries in pie hole like a starved raccoon trying to replace the aforementioned taste with glorious fried potatoes. This worked, thank God.

I am so happy I ordered my sandwhich, which was goddamn amazing and not whatever the hell my companion just haplessly consumed. This is NOT me complaining about the food, this entire experience was really just me being way over sensitive to how repulsive pickled things are and too dumb to remember my intense hatred of fermented foods.

So yeah, if you’re hungry and looking for something both familiar and a little adventurous check this place out! It’s a gem.

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