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~

What a delightful little gem tucked away in Fall River, MA . Just a stone's throw from Battleship…read moreCove. Stumbled upon this place and discovered it was worth coming back. My initial visit was on a Monday night when they had all kinds of cheese specials for $10. Including a delicious cheese pizza. However on my second trip I discovered the real value was on their Sunday specials where you get a soup or salad, 1/2 portion of lasagna, a choice of chicken entree and a special pasta. All for $29. Needless to say there were doggie bags coming home with us. Dani our server was a sheer delight and most punctual with her attention to us. Needless to say I will be returning for a third visit soon!

We were here last night with a party of 17 for a birthday celebration. We had a 7:30 reservation…read moreand weren't seated until about 7:45, which wasn't a huge deal. Unfortunately, that's where things started going downhill. It took 30 minutes before anyone even took our drink orders. During that time we weren't offered water, bread, or asked if we had any questions. Drinks, which were just water and soft drinks, took another 15 minutes to arrive. Around 8:45 our server finally came to take our food order and told us the kitchen had asked her to wait before putting it in. By that point, one person in our group had already left to get Wendy's because he was tired of waiting. Once we finally ordered, there were still no drink refills. We asked for waters for the table and were brought five glasses with, "I have five waters, who wants one?" We had 17 people. It was just kind of unbelievable. Our food didn't come out until almost two hours after we arrived. By then everyone was hungry and thirsty. There were two kids in our group, and it would have been nice if their meals had at least come out earlier. Or bring us bread or something to hold us over. We also had to ask for salt and pepper because there wasn't any on the table. They brought one set for all 17 of us. We asked for another and eventually got one more set. I understand large parties can be challenging, but if the restaurant can't handle a reservation that size, it probably shouldn't accept it. The one positive was our server. She was very nice and seemed to be doing the best she could. I really wish I could say the food made up for the wait, but it was just average. Nothing was bad, but nothing was memorable either. Overall, it was a really disappointing experience.

We were in search of a better crisper pizza and we found it at Fiorentina's. We had the meat…read morelovers pizza and it was very crispy and tasty. The crust was coated with butter and garlic? Not sure but added to the great flavor. It was cooked so that the crust was crispy as well as the toppings. It's a typical pizza place with 5 booths to eat in at but mostly take out. Service was good. We would suggest you give it a try!

Order steak no cheese......cheese on it…read more Another sub with no onions (allergic) came with lots of onions Thanks for that

Brunch review! I've been going to Black Salt since they opened. You come for the food but stay for…read morethe people. We came for brunch in on Sunday. I had my first ever bloody Maria and it was delicious. I had their brunch burger on a bolo and it was perfect. The side of truffle fries was exactly what it needed. They've updated things since they initially opened so if you haven't been in a while, you should definitely check it out. The food is great, the drinks are amazing and the vibe is really what Swansea needed. Looking forward to their continued success in the opening of their new restaurant in Westport!

Hello, 2nd visit here and very pleased. Our meals were prepared expertly. The Cuban sandwich I had…read morethe 1st time was very original and tasty. The salmon with rice was awesome, and my wife's lamp pops were tender, juicy, and done very well! Josh and Tanya are awesome hosts and servers,, they make it a good time! Black Salt definitively on our favorite list.

One of the friendliest pizza shops around. Stop in at lunch time for an amazing $5.99 meatball or…read moreItalian grinder. Upgrade to a large for $2. Pizza and fries are excellent and often times I ll get a fresh Greek salad. Always parking out from one on the side of the building. Such a friendly staff, food is prepared quickly and with consistency.

I ordered a Italian grinder, crazy they make a grinder with 1 piece salami and a 1 piece ham with…read morerotten lettuce Excellent should be ashamed to serve this as a Italian grinder to customers

Really comfortable place that's modern & classy yet relaxed and welcome . Food is ridiculously good…read more, borderline addicting . The mesa steak is next level good. Amazing side dishes as well. Staff is always friendly and attentive . Drinks are always poured correctly and I always feel staff genuinely wants you to enjoy your experience!

We had a group dinner here in their upstairs area. Place is overall clean and nice. The food was…read morevery solid as well. Service was good to accommodate our large group. Parking is difficult though and you have to go well across a busy road.

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.

Great family run restaurant with amazing service and food! Love the eggplant parm especiallyread more

Went to MA Raffa's for lunch today. The restaurant was clean the service was exceptional but the…read morefood was simply just ok. I had the shrimp scampi that came with a salad that was fresh and garlic bread. The scampi was edible but lacking in flavor and really salty. I enjoyed the salad and garlic bread more than the main course. I then ordered a diet coke that had a strange flavor and flat. I could not put my finger on what it tasted like. I couldn't say it was bad, but definitely unidentifiable and I wouldn't want it again. The lunch special prices were good, I just wish the pasta had more flavor. I would probably try it again and give it another try but would order something different. I should have gotten the small cheese pizza and not changed my mind.

The way this restaurant treats potential customers deserves to be called out…read more The biggest problem isn't the food--I never even got the opportunity to try it. The problem is the complete lack of customer service and the dismissive attitude of the staff. This restaurant doesn't offer online reservations, so I followed the instructions on their voicemail exactly. I called before they opened, left my name, phone number, party size, and requested time as instructed. The message clearly stated that someone would call back to confirm the reservation. That call never came. Thinking it might have been an oversight, I called again after they opened. No answer. I called a third time. Once again, voicemail. We decided to take our chances and drove to the restaurant anyway. After standing at the entrance for several minutes while multiple servers walked past without acknowledging us, someone finally came over and asked if we had a reservation. I explained everything that had happened. Her response was, "Yeah, if you don't get a call back, you don't have a reservation." I replied that a call letting us know that would have been helpful since I had followed their instructions exactly. Her response? "Yeah, when you called we didn't have any tables available anyway." That simple statement summed up the entire experience. No apology. No acknowledgment that their reservation system had failed. No attempt to make things right. Just a shrug and an attitude that suggested our time didn't matter. If you know you can't accommodate a reservation, pick up the phone or return the call. If your voicemail promises a confirmation call, honor it. And if a customer shows up after doing everything they were told to do, the very least you can do is treat them with courtesy instead of indifference. My family lives in town, and we make a point of supporting local businesses. After this experience, this restaurant won't get another opportunity from us. There are WAY too many restaurants in town (actually several in the SAME PARKING LOT) to tolerate that treatment.

Everything is EXCELLENT. The experience and food are exceptional / the staff charming and don't…read moremiss a thing in service or commitment.

Nobody wants to take the time to leave a nice review, but Swansea would crumble if Plaza closed for…read morea long weekend... Sure it's not the sexy new pizza up the road, But where else are you getting a grilled chicken salad this good, 7 days a week until 10 pm, ready in 15 minutes, for $12.39? You're not! This humble establishment has become critical infrastructure here, yet never gets the appreciation it deserves for tirelessly feeding our community day in and day out for decades. Also love a small bacon, onion, tomato, pizza with marinara to dip the crust. And would highly recommend their square catering party pizza (ordered ahead), it is very different from their standard pizza. The bbq and buffalo chicken are huge crowd pleasers

Ordered online and was given a 50 minute wait for delivery, called after 90 minutes and was told…read morethat the driver was on his way, but never showed up.