Glad you enjoyed it as well! I can't believe they never heard of Chelo's. It's a Rhode Island institution!

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Chelo's Restaurant
45 Newport Ave Ste D, Rumford, RI 02916

Cranston

I have eaten at Basta and it was excellent. For an anniversary dinner outside of Providence though, my first thought is Spain in Cranston. Beautiful decor, excellent food and service, very romantic, although not quite as intimate as Basta or Cafe Itri. Antonios, near Cafe Itri, is quite good as well.

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Basta
1006 Chapel St, New Haven, CT 06510

I'm looking for a decent Cajun or Creole restaurant to take my husband to on Father's Day. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

I'm looking for a decent cajun or creole restaurant to take my husband to on Father's Day. We're in Rhode Island, but I'm willing to travel down to CT or up to Boston if needed.

Thanks!

I'm not sure what the vibe is at Aqua lounge at the Marriott, but Aspire is lovely. The food is good but not great. But the place itself is beautiful. I would check it out.

I couldn't agree more with everything you just said. (Although I do think those of us that live here take DePasquale square on The Hill for granted. I remember when I first moved here absolutely falling in love with it. It's not a "view" per se, but it is beautiful and incredibly charming.)

I'm with you. It's definitely good. Solid and reliable. But it doesn't blow me away. (I'm still freaked out by the practice of RI chinese restaurants putting dinner rolls on the table.) That said, it's less than 5 minutes from my house, so it works for me :)

@sarabean, yep, the asian market, which has had a few different names but is now called Phu Lam Market, is a block or so up from King's Garden.

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King's Garden
1231 E Main St Ste 12, Meriden, CT 06450

King's Garden, in Rolfe Square, in Cranston. :-)

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King's Garden
1231 E Main St Ste 12, Meriden, CT 06450

I agree that Ted's has amazing bison burgers. Truly out of this world. Unfortunately, whenever I've strayed from the bison burgers I've been let down. I agree it is nowhere near Applebee's. But definitely hit-or-miss, unless you are going strictly for burgers. If you are, you won't be disappointed.

That was my 1st thought on "fun", but definitely not middle-of-the-road price-wise.

Maybe CAV? The food is generally good, although not to-die-for. The atmosphere is probably right though.

If you're going to head to Newport, I'd suggest Salvation Cafe. It's fun and funky, has a great patio, and great food. Definitely more upscale than college kids would be used to, but tshirt/jean friendly too. The eclectic atmosphere would be something I would think college kids would get a kick out of. (FYI, it's called the Salvation Cafe because it is decorated with items found at the Salvation Army next door.)

I agree Caffe Itri is lovely. A completely different feel than Spain. I think of Caffe Itri as more intimate Italian, whereas Spain is more grandiose, if that makes sense.

Both have excellent food though. You wouldn't be dissapointed with either choice.

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Caffe Itri
1686 Cranston St, Cranston, RI 02920

Spain ALWAYS has meat and potatoes on the menu. You can check out the menu here:
http://www.spainrestaurantri.com/Docs/entrees-menuforweb.pdf

And, it's a straight shot down route 10, according to mapquest, 11 minutes:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Provi...

For graduation weekend, I would highly recommend leaving the city. In fact, you might be hard pressed to find anywhere you could even get a reservation at this point.

I would recommend Spain in Cranston. Beautiful inside, absolutely wonderful food, excellent service, and only 10 minutes from downtown. But far enough out that you might be able to get a reservation.

Good luck!

Where are you staying? That might help for recs

Definitely stay away from Fire & Ice.

Anything around there is going to be crazy on a Waterfire night. At some point, if you want to walk, you'll just have to suck it up and deal with it. Local 121 might be a nice place for cocktails. It's not a really long walk, but enough away from Waterfire that it might be okay.

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Local 121
121 Washington St, Providence, RI 02903

Fire & Ice
48 Providence Pl, Providence, RI 02903

Are you referring to Phu Lam Market in Rolfe Square?

Second vote for Frankie Feds!

"consistently mediocre" is the perfect phrase to describe Andreas.

In Monmouth County, Squan Tavern, in Manasquan, has some of the best pizza around.

Due to the flooding, we've had a change of plans for Easter, and are now looking for a nice place for my family of four to have dinner, including our 9 year old and 6 year old children.

Open to price & cuisine. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Any idea how they fared in the flood?

according to the website, they will let you pick another restaurant.

Definitely depends on the area. There are lots of really good Rhode Island restaurants on restaurant.com. But I know there aren't a lot in Philly. I usually stock up when they go on sale. Def. worth it. I don't find the restrictions that prohibitive. And I've also found if you're nice, a lot of times they'll waive them. (We've used them on the cost of food &alcohol, when the coupon specified just food. Also came up short of the $$ requirement to be spent first once, and they let it go.)

I do as well. Easy-peasy and delicious.

I really love Antonio's. But I also really love Spain. It's one of my favorite restaurants in the state.

Can you give me the link? I looked for a website but couldn't find one. Thanks!

I was hoping to try it for lunch this week with a friend. Do you know if they're open for lunch?

We really love Solmar in East Providence. Never had a bad meal there.