Chicken sandwich was delicious for a fast food place and who doesn't love root beer !

A&W root beer floats take me back to being a kid and always enjoy grabbing one when I have a chance. Stopped in here as part of RI Food Fights for the Big Burger Blowout and the hamburger was a run of the meal A&W burger. The float was the star of the show food wise as it normally is for A&W. The real stars of the show are the staff here. Younger team, very engaged, positive and welcoming to quickly get your items to you and ensure your experience is enjoyable. Of course ring the bell if it is a good experience! Cash is king here, 4% charge for the use of cards so recommend bringing some crisp bills to spend if you want to save a few nickels. Classic sit in your car or small covered (yet open) seating area outside to enjoy the dining experience. read more

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What a complete and absolute joke this place is! I wasn't expecting In n Out burger but, fuck ... this was worse than any microwavable burger I've had. A combo meal (burger ... upgrade to onion rings ... and a root beer) was almost $26 after tip!! The burger alone was around $15. This holds the records for: 1. The most expensive fast food I've ever ordered. 2. The worst fast food I've ever ordered. If I paid $10 for this meal, it would have been $8 too much ... but $23 pre-tip? What a fleece! Look at the actual/advertisement side by side I added. That is probably the worst false advertising I've ever seen at a burger place. You literally couldn't have two burgers further from each other than the picture vs. what I got. The 'Papa Burger's' meat is as dry as cardboard and tastes very similar. The cheese was melted and bland. The only real flavour came from tons of ketchup and the pickles. Everything else was like eating a fake burger. I added onion rings for $2 extra in the meal. A small bag with 4 onion rings was what I got ... 4 onion rings! If you add the upcharge to what the original price of the meal was, that's like $5 for a tiny bag. They tasted like burned oil. Without ketchup, they were inedible. Even the famous root beer, which was advertised as 'made fresh daily' tasted like vanilla syrup mixed with soda water. I didn't get any of the levels of flavour one would expect with even a Barq's of IBC root beer. It was just vanilla sugar water. I guess this is the oldest operating 'drive up' restaurant in RI. It looked like any old snack stand to me. I guess you flash your lights and someone will take your order. I just ordered at the window to save time. Seriously, I thought all the other reviews might be exaggerated at how bad this was. Skip this one ... it really is just bad (Dairy Queen-level) fast food. Really expensive for what you get ... I'd take Burger King at over half off any day. The food sucks ... the prices are borderline what you'd find in midtown Manhattan ... and I'm happy to now have no need to go back. read more

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I've been writing reviews for a while now, and unfortunately this may be my first truly bad review. My wife and I stopped into the A&W in North Smithfield for lunch and left wondering what happened to a brand that used to be known for good burgers and root beer. The service was underwhelming from the start. The young server wasn't rude, but she seemed completely uninterested, inattentive, and gave the impression that she'd rather be anywhere else. As for the food, it was even worse. We each ordered burgers, and both were bland and completely lacking flavor. The onion rings were severely overcooked--dark, hard, and unpleasant to eat. My wife ordered the fried cheese curds, which were acceptable, but so heavily salted that they overwhelmed any actual cheese flavor. We also ordered a sugar-free root beer, which ended up being the most memorable part of the meal. The restaurant itself had virtually no atmosphere, and the bill for two combo meals came to over $40 before tip. Despite the experience, my wife still left a generous tip because that's the kind of person she is. To make matters worse, my stomach was bothering me for well over an hour after we left. Poor service, bland food, overcooked sides, and a surprisingly high price tag. There is absolutely nothing about this experience that would make me return. read more

I drove all the way to Rhode Island since this is the nearest A&W and I wanted their pumpkin pie shake. It's a good shake. Good pumpkin, not too much spice. They have outdoor seating and actually offer waitress service at the outdoor seating. But since we had our dogs - we had to sit at the outdoor tables that were NOT under cover. The burgers were typical fast food. Nothing special. Next time I'll order at the window and pick up my own food to save myself the tip. read more

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Started off the RIFoodFights WienerFest this Month at A&W, because not much is open on the holiday. We were also trying Chepatchet Deli, who did not indicate they were closed on their FB page but they were... Let's just say that A&W probably is not going to win our vote this year. And probably not yours either. The young ladies that work there are very nice though.very good service. Everything came out super fast. Probably because it was sitting there. The wieners were tasteless and bland, and actually more like cold wieners than hot wieners. The onion rings followed suit by being tasteless, a little crunchy though. The vanilla milkshake was basically vanilla milk. No evidence of ice cream or any thickening agent whatsoever being added to it. Overall, very disappointing. I wasn't expecting anything spectacular but I expected average at least. read more

A&W Restaurant - Burgers Near Me - Smithfield, Rhode Island

When you're far from home, A&W is the classic roadside pit stop. Nothing fancy just a charbroiled burger, some fries and a Prilosec chaser. Good or bad is largely irrelevant as you're looking for a quick dose of carb contentment under a brand banner not looking to Shake or Shack your expectations or rent money. A&W fits the bill nicely although it's a drag since my Prilosec rolled under the front seat. Four basic stars. read more

Service is quick and the girls are always so nice/friendly. This is a cash only spot so to avoid ATM fees make sure you grab cash before coming here. Outside seating only so watch for weather ! It was a little chilly when we came but still enjoyable. A bit over priced BUT you get what you pay for.. they make up for it in quality and quantity (large portions, everything is cooked to order, fresh and delicious!) read more

A&W Restaurant - Burgers Near Me - Smithfield, Rhode Island

So I never tried A&W and I was craving a burger so I stopped by. First off they are cash only - sometimes this is good because you think it will be a little cheaper - wrong assumption. Next they promote their onion rings- bad decision- 5$ and they are flimsy and greasy and in pieces! The mushroom cheeseburger was greasy and soggy! And to be honest there was no flavor. The two came to 16$ and change and wasn't the best. Wendy's definitely beats this place. But the service was nice and she had a great smile. But overall thanks for the one visit. read more

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5 stars for nostalgia and living proof onion rings of yesteryear still exist. TG! Burgers were charbroiled goodness, the root beer was made fresh, and the car hops were friendly. A great day in Rhode Island, thanks to A&W! Find this place, and go taste the flavors on the 70s. read more

2 hot weiners all the way. I dont know if they were microwaved or days old, but the weiner was not edible.

Stopped at A and W , haven't been in a few years glad to see it's still open. Got the double cheeseburger combo with fries and frosted glass mug of root beer. The root beer was fantastic, the burger was very good and fries were good. The service was terrific, sat outside and girl brought trsy out to me, She was wonderful. Little pricey but worth it Definitely will return read more

Years ago food was good not great but ok? Now with these owners it sucks and making you pay cash is awful should sell out to nice new owners? read more

I asked for a #3 combo without cheese to go . I should have checked my food before leaving because all i got was a burger with sauce. I told the woman taking the order i wanted everything else lettuce, tomatoe,onion,pickles bacon and sauce. I drove 1 hour because the one I use to go to in capecod closed. read more

Fantastic food, done right, no frills, just good. Root Beer the way it was meant to be. Good people behind the counter and on the grill! Who said great has to be fancy? Good old fashioned American yum! read more

I stopped here today because I haven't seen an A&W in 30 years!! So classic, tray on the window, waitress comes to the car. Our waitress was Alyssa an absolute doll and she was the best part of the experience. The food is ok but it's a little over priced. Solid 4 stars! read more

A&W Restaurant - Burgers Near Me - Smithfield, Rhode Island

Horrible ! I hadn't been to a&w Root beer in years but driving by I thought I'd stop in for lunch. I asked a girl at the counter I think carried something I got years ago. She replied no only on Mondays. This was a Wednesday so they didn't have it. Again I asked her if she had anything like it, the answer no. It became an argument. So I looked up for something different, a hamburger $10, a hot dog 8, prices through the roof. I tried to engage in a conversation, but the girl was just unbelievably rude, I asked for the owner. She replied I am. I will never go to that place ever again. There's a big problem when the place has been there for 50 years and only has a two stars review. read more

I've been wanting to give this place a try for a while now. I stopped in for a soft serve ice cream, which came to $6.53. There could not be more than half a cup of soft serve, no toppings just the ice cream for $6.53. I was literally shocked when she handed it to me. That's robbery and I'll never go back there. Edit: the soft serve was all ice and no cream. read more

It's a fun spot if you are feeling nostalgic but with that in mind I don't think the recipes or menu has changed in the past 100 years. My last visit wasn't so pleasant as I felt the employee was trying to rush me through my order and just wasn't listening to my order but pretty happy with the root beer floats! Pro tip: Get chili cheese fries. Add then on top of your burger. You can thank me later. read more

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An classic old style A & W !!!! Turn on your lights as your car pulls in and a server comes to the driver's window for car service. Our server was very polite patient, and professional. Want an old style very cold mug with frost on the glass? They have them for dine it, and for purchase. They also have homemade onion rings. There are other less common sides including clams and corn dog bites. For those who want something other than a car dinning experience, there are picnic benches in a covered area. These are close to the bathrooms. The parking lot has more than ample parking. We loved our classic root beer floats, homemade onion rings, hot dogs and corn dog bites. We will be back ! That says a lot as we drive a good distance from Massachusetts to Rhode Island to this pleasure. So for some classic old time fun and food try the Smithfield A & W ! read more

A&W Restaurant - Drive up area at the Smithfield A & W. - Burgers Near Me - Smithfield, Rhode Island

We had seen from another local shop that A&W was open and doing car side orders. My son swears he has never been - but he has, we've gone like four times together when he was little (at least) after our Apple picking trips - maybe he was too young to remember. But anyway - he had requested a trip a while back, and today seemed like a good day to fulfill that. I got a Bacon cheeseburger combo - and the burger was so good I wish I had ordered a second, even though I'm pretty sure I would have regretted it. I guess it's for the best. My son got the chili cheese dog combo - and loved it. He LOVED his fries - he said to me "wow these fries are great, you think Wendy's fries are good? These are so much better" (he knows Wendy's is usually my fav fast food fries) That real cane sugar root beer hit the spot. Our server was working her butt off - it was packed and hot out today (well, hot as compared to some days this week) and she was out there moving quickly to cars, trying to pay attention to which car came first, bringing menus and taking orders like a champ. I recommend this place whenever they are open - but they are handling the quarantine excellently, so maybe take a ride and park your car and throw on a mask and sit comfortably while you wait for your food. read more

A&W Restaurant - a woman standing in front of a sign - Burgers Near Me - Smithfield, Rhode Island

I visited because of the RI FOOD FIGHTS Big Burger Blowout. I had not been there in years, so was excited to go back. Service is fast and there is a nice outdoor seating area. In addition to the burger, I tried the root beer cream freeze and was not disappointed. read more

A&W Root Beer Stand is still the best Restaurant around ? 100% better than MC Donalds and Burger King and wish their were still A&W Root Beer Stand in the Attleboro Area and open All Year round i would always be going their every so often and so would hundreds of other people now matter where you go in the area people talk about the Days at the A&W years ago when A&W was on County Street in Attleboro when they enjoyed going for Burgers and Hot Dogs and the Best Root Beer in the world read more

What a disappointment. Came here with my son & husband for lunch. We were greeted quickly with one menu. The girl came over way too many times in a hurry to get our order before we could all look at the one menu. We sat at the outside picnic tables & never was seen by anyone again. Almost $50 for 3 burgers, 2 fries and 2 drinks. Cash only which is ridiculous for the price and almost cashless world today. Food was sloppily made and small portions for the money. Thought it would be fun experience but just expensive for below average food. read more

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Nostalgia has a price and boy is it expensive. Like others have said, over $23 for a 5 piece chicken tender meal... Throw in a root beer float and we're over $25. The math works out to exactly "we'll never be back" read more

Prices are outrageous here for just five chicken tenders it was $21 nostalgia can only go so far.

I just ordered a fish and chips and 2 chicken sliders. "food" was absolutely disgusting. Sliders were two, dry chicken nuggets on a 2 inch diameter bun. Fish and chips tasted like they were cooked in week old oil. All this for a whopping $25 and change. How are you still in business. read more

A and W Smithfield RI We have driven down for years. Recently it is - off. Today the 30th we drove down and were there around 11:30... not busy. A young girl was car hopping and we ordered off the menu (which has pictures on it) Coney Footlongs, which are a hotdog that comes with chili and cheese, and onions. And Root Beer Soda, EASY. Well, not so easy. She was difficult and seemed confused. 'They don't come with chili, or cheese, just catsup and mustard... do you want that.' So, we showed her the picture... and still - not so easy. Knowing this (a very small thing became overly difficult) we passed and said "Thank You, but, we'll pass." Knowing it wasn't going to get any easier. The owner (who I'm assuming was the manager or owner - an older woman) was at the window on her elbows as the girl and she looked at us and discussed it. No one came over and said - anything. Nothing. No one else was there. They didn't care. Just didn't care and the young girl had quite the attitude. One could have come over and said... 'How can we help you... or, sorry for any misunderstanding... or, let me repeat the order... or, can we start again." NOTHING. We thought it would be a nice drive - about 45 minutes for us one way, and then we could just enjoy and take some time heading into Connecticut. Here's my take... my personal opinion. They don't care. They take cash only and have figured someone else will stop. Well, with businesses doing like they are doing in the day of COVID it seems alienating customers who were willing to take time to drive and spend isn't a good idea. But, hey, not my business. By HUGE contrast they usually have an older lady car hopping and she's nice, and friendly, and easy going. No problems. A and W is one of the last... and they have fair pricing and good product. But, who wants to have difficulty over a 'hotdog.' It was just ridiculous. And this young kid just didn't seem to even want to be there... BUT hey, no worries, someone else will drive in - BUT it won't be us. read more

This restaurant is always good and has been good since I was a kid and lived nearby. I've always found the service to be very friendly and this was no exception. We went here as part of the Rhode Island food fighters burger challenge. We could choose between a regular burger and a cheeseburger and we chose cheeseburgers. They really were excellent and the root beer was excellent and if you're looking for a just a cheeseburger that taste good with nothing fancy about it then this is your place. Add to that a root beer and you've got a great meal. read more

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The food it fine, but nothing special and very overpriced. The building and dining area are really old and run down. Family of three. Times are tough. We started going to fast food places for weekend dinner because cheap. The only seating is at picnic tables, but apparently if you sit there they require that you get a server which you definitely don't need. It's a fast food shack with a window that you walk up to. Why can't I just walk up myself? I have nothing against servers as I used to be one, but you don't normally expect to have to have to tip someone at a fast food place. One kids meal, one adult combo meal, one burger & a drink. $40. Forty dollars! It was nice to go to someplace different I guess, but probably not going to go back. Which is a shame because I went to an A&W in Canada a few years ago and it was fantastic. I thought these guys would be similar or something. At least they were friendly. read more

I love A&W and the nostalgia it brings has a special place in my heart. The car hop service is great- you pull in and put your lights on and they come right up to the car and serve you! My son thinks it's cool- although I think it would be cooler if they did it on roller skates! This was actually my first job as a young teen so I appreciate the hustle the car-hops have as I remember it was always hard work and we constantly were running around during the busy season. My son and I like coming here and he enjoys the little hot dog (mini corn dog's they call it I think) kids meal. I don't like root beer but they offer other types of soda which works for me! I don't allow my son to drink soda but I let him have a root beer float on a rare occasion and he enjoys it! I would say they are a little pricy (for fast-ish food) costs around $30 for 2 and a half people (the half being my 3 year old) and it is a seasonal place so they are only open like March to October? They also only accept CASH- but they do conveniently have an ATM on site that charges you like 3$ so it's not that big a deal. Overall I think the food is decent & I always use to enjoy the A&W fries (they were thinner and crispy) but haven't seen them here in a while sadly! Bring them back! read more

Root beer is the bomb. Cheese curds are the bomb too. Onion Rings, delish. Chili Cheese fries, epic. Bacon cheeseburger was good, but nothing exceptionally amazing. FYI, in keeping with the old time-y theme...cash only. read more

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Came here yesterday during an afternoon cruise. Note that during the pandemic, there is no window service, so just stay in you car and they will come to you. It is cash only per the menu. Got the #1 combo. Food was excellent. Draught root beer was good as always. Waitresses were very good. FYI..the bathrooms are not open at this time due to the pandemic. read more

I go here once every few years for the nostalgic experience, I loved A&W as a kid. It's VERY expensive for what it is but tastes really good. The cheeseburger, cheese curds and root beer float hit the spot perfectly. I felt the service was pretty good, but we ordered at the window and sat at a table. It'll be another few years before I go again, but I'm glad this restaurant is still open. read more

Food is not good, over priced. Worst part of all is the service is not good at all. Place is dirty and not maintained. Kind of an eye sore to the area. read more

Its been awhile since I have felt this ripped off!!! I just took 3 girls here for ice cream. We got 4 medium "Oreo swirls". Which is similar to a Mcflurry or a blizzard except its mixed by a plastic spoon rather than a machine so it basically vanilla soft serve with Oreo crumbles in the middle and top. Although it tasted good as any ice cream would I think $26 for 4 little ice cream is really just taking advantage of the public! The ice cream wasn't even all the way to the top. I will never set foot there again. read more

A&W Restaurant - Oreo swirl - Burgers Near Me - Smithfield, Rhode Island

Came to try the burgers with the Rhode Island Burger blowout passport. A&W today was offering their bacon cheeseburger it came out in like 3 minutes it was hot fresh nice thick slice of tomato and fresh lettuce. It was well worth the trip here. They have lots of specials otherwise and they also gave coupons. So that'll bring me back. I unfortunately missed the car cruise night but I will go back for that as well. Right on Route 44 off of 295 read more

One word, AWful! One Thursday afternoon on our lunch break my coworker and I decided to try something different as we were in the mood for burgers and hot dogs. I thoroughly regret suggesting A&W. Our experience was inexcusably terrible from the moment we arrived until about a day later, when we still didn't quite feel right from the food. We pull into the parking lot excited at the idea of getting waited on from the car. A sign says to turn your headlights on to be served. We park and turn the lights on. About ten minutes goes by and we come to the conclusion that no one is coming to our car. Not wanting to waste our break time, we just decide to walk up to the window and order. We walk to the window and proceed to stand there while a younger man and older woman loudly argue with one another regarding an employee who had called out and them being understaffed. They are arguing about whether or not to call another employee in, right in front of the ordering window. The young man begins to take our order and in the middle of taking it CONTINUES ARGUING with the woman! We couldn't help but laugh, this customer service was atrocious! Having never been to A&W and planning on bringing some food to our coworkers we ordered a large mix of things. We tried the 2 cheeseburgers for $3 deal, 2 hot dogs, 1 order of the cheese curds, and 1 order of chili cheese fries. We also ordered two sodas. For this it came to over $25! Pretty pricey for a burgers and fries fast food joint if you ask me! The wait for the food was pretty long...I'll chock that up to them being understaffed (as we were so gracefully informed). I approach the pick-up window to the get the food and feel quite uneasy, (considering how awful the experience had already been) and as I walk up to the window, I notice they have plenty of papers and advertisements taped for customers to read. I soon notice that stuck under the tape next to many of the advertisements are fruit flies, LOTS of them. GROSS. For whatever reason, I still ate the food. Damn my stingy-ness, but $25 bucks on burgers and hot dogs is not something I wanted to waste. Completely not to my surprise at this point, our order was wrong. I was given a regular root beer when I ordered a diet coke, my friend was given a diet coke float when she ordered a root beer, they put no condiments on our cheeseburgers, and forgot the mustard on my hotdog. I have NEVER thrown away a cheeseburger in my 24 years of life after just one bite until this day, it tasted freezer-burnt. The hot dog was edible but I can make better at home. And the cheese curds just tasted like grease and oil. The way the bag was packaged, my friend's chili-cheese fries were a complete mess at the bottom of the bag. I truly hope the other A&W locations are much better than this one but our experience will forever stand out in my mind as one of the worst restaurant experiences I have ever had. We also felt sick into the next day after eating here. We will not be returning. read more

A&W Restaurant - Having to eat the Chili Chees Fries out of the bag because they were packaged so poorly - Burgers Near Me - Smithfield, Rhode Island

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I wanted to like this place, it has so many kitschy, 1950's touches that the stars earned are for those and those alone. Located near Smithfield Commons on Rte. 5, this a is the classic American drive-up. There is a sign reading "Flash lights for service", and the A&W chicas will actually run out to your car. There is a two boothed order counter, a series of picnic tables, and a "Ring the bell of the service is swell!" cowbell. The service was pretty good. Unfortunatley, the food was pretty shitty. When you go to a place like this, you know what you want. It fell short. On this glorious, early-summer-feeling Saturday, me and the fam trekked it out to this place. The missus is a Rhode Islander, and has fond memories of the joint, and it sounded pretty cool, so we went. First flaw, cash only. Now, I have seen modernized A&W's all over the country, and they are Root Beer robber barons, so get a fucking card machine. So, we went and got cash, lost our place in a monster line and then the sun started to hide. But we wnet back, got a table and waited for the grub. Tons of Rhode Island people watching: some bikers, some hicks, some Gino's with their skanks, some obese aunts eating fried foods with their balooning nieces, you know what I mean. We got burgers, onion rings and root beers, and a kiddie chicken finger and fries for the lil' man. His food was good, the fries were bomb. My burger was a Jr. Whopper with stale bread and no condiments. It was also $6 dollars. The onion rings (up-sized, mind you) had only 4 rings total! Fuck me, that was weak. Her burger was identical. So, for $20 or so, we got $5 worth of worse than Burger King value menu food. Ehhh, disappointing. The root beer was tasty. The ambiance is pretty cool, except that while this was once probably a by-the-side-of-the-road place, it is now an in-the-middle-of-a- parking-lot place by a dry cleaners, optometrist and law office or some shit. Good for sentimental kitsch, but stick to a root beer float read more

A&W Restaurant - Logo - Burgers Near Me - Smithfield, Rhode Island

Quick and friendly drive-up service, tasty food (I had the Papa Burger combo), and come on, draft root beer? What's not to love? My only regret is that I've worked nearby for years and this was just now the first time I've ever been. I have a lot of lost time to make up for. read more