Last night I had the distinct pleasure of attending the Anna's Vesuviano Tonno dinner…read more This dinner was conceived when Chef Anthony got some beautiful tuna from American Seafood, based out of Stonington, CT. It was a menu created around the relationship between bread and seafood in southern Italy. As a culinarian by trade, I love dinners like this. I love seeing how a chef's mind works, the flavor pairings, and going on that journey with them. Last night was a wonderful example of that. I attended the dinner solo, my usual cohorts at a different dinner taking place in the city. But I don't mind solo dining. The best part about being solo last night? I was sat at the bar front and center, a veritable chef's table without the high price tag I paid the extra for wine pairings, and they were generous with those pours all night. Our glasses were filled before every course. The hospitality was warm, the service team made everyone feel at home. The interior had a retro feel, with pressed tin ceilings, counter seating along the windows and a tall bar by the kitchen. The first course was a tuna croquette, a smoked yellow fish canola (cone) and tuna crudo with pickled yellow tomatoes. The croquette crispy outside, and so, so creamy inside. The yellowfish cone had lovely textures, the pistachio crunch coming through nicely. The crudo was delicate and tender, the picked tomato bringing the perfect level of acidity. The second course was a Caserta style pizza. No, not the icon on Federal Hill. But pizza montanara - one that is fried and then baked, popularized in the Campania region of Italy and in the town of (you guessed it) Caserta. The first thing you taste is the Sicilain oregano. The crust is crispy but still had give. No flop if that matters. The tomatoes blanched and precisely peeled so they gave easily when you bit into it. The olives and capers paired with the tuna was like an Italian Nicoise pizza. A great eating experience. Next was the Tuna Fattoush, the salad course. The tomatoes tasted like peak summer when I bit into them. Tang from the lime, the mint almost floral with the sumac, the vinegar soaked bread buttery, tart. The tuna coming in the back end bringing the dish together in a magical way. The Mrs Tuna pizza intrigued me. I didn't know what to expect when I saw black dough. But what I experienced was wonderful. Soft dark bread with creamy stracciatella, and the tuna tartar on top sang against the creamy base. You can taste the burnt notes from the mayo but only in the background. It accented the dish, deepening the flavors in an unexpected way. Bufala mozz course was bright, tangy, salty. I didn't think I'd describe mozzarella as bright but here we are. It was a burst of flavor as soon as it hit my tongue. My taste buds lit up immediately. It was made by Lucas at Mozz in Newport. Go find some and try it immediately. Vesuvius pizza. Wow. I had only experienced Anna's through their various seafood pizza specials. This was my first time trying a classic. San Marzano tomatoes from Mt Vesuvius. 48 month aged Parmesan, the same beautiful fresh mozzarella we had in the previous course, basil and a hefty drizzle of high quality Palestinian olive oil. If you ever wondered what the most perfect Margherita was like, this is it. It's like it was cut out of a textbook. The crust was delicious as always, it's sourdough. The cook was crisp and even with the edge still soft and chewy. And finally dessert. Lemon and basil make sense on savory but I realized how special it can be in sweet. The sumac adding floral notes to the smooth custard and the cool basil gel, a study in flavor conception. Every time I go to Anna's, I continue to be impressed by Chef Anthony and his culinary genius. I know to most, this menu would seem odd or outside of the box for pizza. To a certain extent, that is true. But if you are brave enough to take a leap of faith, I have found I'm often rewarded with the most scrumptious landing. And to say I was rewarded last night for my leap would be an understatement. Thank you again for an incredible dinner, Chef Anthony, Michelle and the team at Anna's Vesuviano.

This is the best pizza in the area! Cute little spot with a couple tables outside as well. They…read morealso have Coca Cola in a glass bottle so points for thatif I want pizza this is where I'm going

I made a 4:00 PM reservation for two on Open Table…read more We arrived a few minutes early and were sat at a booth in the indoor dining room. We ordered appetizers- Arancini and Calamari. Both were delicious. I had the. Chicken saltimbocca and my mom had the veal parm. The food was delicious and we had no room left for dessert. Side street parking was a quick walk away. No coffee.

I'd always heard wonderful things about Pomodoro, yet it took me so long to try it! It looks so…read moretiny from the outside, but goes further back than you'd originally think. I love their Arancini appetizer - the sauce it comes with is the perfect tomato flavor without being too heavy on garlic, and is well balanced. The balls themselves are always so creamy and fresh. I've always loved my pasta meals here, and have sadly yet to try their pizza. Despite its small size, I haven't had to wait too long for a dinner table for two here. The food is always fresh and tastes authentic and rich. My only gripe is that I'm always seated in the first 'greenhouse' looking section, that only fits about 4 tables, and the acoustics are just awful. My boyfriend and I joke that we always seem to be sat next to the loudest and most insufferable people when we come here - you feel like you're in the middle of everyone else's conversations and can hear every word, and there's always, somehow, a person right near us going on some rant or political tirade, and to be honest it kind of ruins the meal for us. Due to the proximity and small enclosed space, it's impossible to tune other people out. There's also no sense of privacy for your own conversation, which always gives me the ick to have others so on top of me at a restaurant. Perhaps next time we come we just need to request a table in the further back part, and hopefully that would improve things because I do love the food here. Free street parking is not too difficult to find in this area, although you may need to go a little ways down Wood Street or even take a side road. There is a bit of reckless driving in the area due to this being a business essentially in a neighborhood, so be vigilant when crossing the street or picking up your order - people doing takeout have a habit of blocking a whole lane to put their car there with the hazards on, but it's a pretty dangerous and inconvenient place to do this. Please just find a real parking spot if you're grabbing takeout.

I stop in here quite often. They have great, prepared food, sandwiches and items for purchase from…read moreItaly. It is always busy which is great, but you may have to wait in line a bit. They have a small seating area and a couple of tables outside making it nice for lunch. The pizza slices are delicious and so is the snail salad.

Cutting Crew was playing over the speakers…read more At an Italian deli with a brick oven and an Italian flag hanging in the front window. (I Just) Died in Your Arms, 1986. Whitney Houston a few minutes earlier. Taylor Dayne before that. Huey Lewis somewhere in the rotation too. Somebody behind that counter was a kid in the late eighties and built the playlist around the songs they grew up with while the food their grandparents brought over from Italy came out of the oven twenty feet away. Lou Umberto opened this place in 2017 after graduating from Johnson and Wales. His family is from Cerreto Sannita, a hill town in Campania. He set up shop on Cranston Street, just outside Knightsville, on the edge of one of the oldest Italian neighborhoods in the city. Lauren and I went on a Monday afternoon. Gray skies. One of those quiet Rhode Island days where lunch slowly becomes dinner without anybody announcing the transition. Before we got inside, one of the guys working there was helping an elderly woman through the side door and walking her back toward her car with her groceries. That told me most of what I needed to know. Walk in and the room is doing four jobs at once without any of them getting in the others' way. Shelves stacked with imported groceries. Rummo pasta. Loacker wafers. Baci chocolates. Bottles of olive oil lined up beside jars of tomatoes and peppers. Along the opposite wall sits a long deli case full of prepared food. Eggplant parm. Broccoli rabe. Pasta in vodka sauce. Stuffed banana peppers. Pasta salad. Roasted vegetables. Then the bakery case. Tomato pie cut in squares with red sauce all the way to the edge and enough seasoning on top to perfume the whole counter. Potato pizza. Calzones. Spinach pies stacked on black trays. The kind of food that makes people walk in for one thing and leave with six. Near the front, bags of pizzelle tied shut with twist ties sat on a wire rack underneath a hanging sign that read Welcome Family and Friends. Normally signs like that feel decorative. This one didn't. And behind all of it, through the opening in the back, sat the brick oven. That being said. The pizza. The pepperoni pie came out raised on a metal stand by the window, the Italian flag moving outside in the gray afternoon behind it. Good looking pizza immediately. No stunt toppings. No overloaded nonsense. Just confidence. The pepperoni was placed, not dumped. Natural casing cups charred dark at the edges. Maybe fifteen slices total across the whole pie. Somebody understood restraint. The crust landed somewhere just outside classic New York style. Slightly thicker, but only enough to give the inside some chew. The outer rim puffed up high in spots and blistered dark from the oven. Flour still clung to the bottom and the back edge from the peel. The sauce tasted bright and barely cooked. In some bites it pushed forward sharp and fresh. In others it melted completely into the cheese. Sometimes all you tasted was crust, and that worked too. The cheese browned into amber patches across the surface that pure mozzarella usually doesn't create by itself. Probably some provolone mixed in there. I didn't ask. I should have asked. And the slice held beautifully. Crisp underneath. Enough structure to fold slightly at the front without collapsing. You could see the care in it immediately. Nothing rushed. Nothing overloaded. Nothing trying too hard. Just a very good neighborhood pizza made by people who seem to understand exactly what kind of place they want this to be. The kind of place where somebody helps an elderly woman through the side door before getting back to work. The kind of place that makes you think living nearby might not be the worst idea in the world. Don't forget to grab a bag of pizzelle on the way out.

I've been to Antonio's Pizza several times when I was younger at the other location, but this was…read moremy first time visiting this one. The setup is pretty much the same, with a few seats if you want to eat in and just about any kind of pizza you can think of available by the slice. I love that you can grab a single slice or order a whole pie, which makes it super convenient. They've definitely stepped up their pizza game since I last visited! They now have a Sicilian truffle mushroom pizza that's similar to a Detroit-style pizza, and that's what I went with this time. Let me just say, it was AMAZING! Definitely a must-try if you're visiting. Customer service was great, too. The only disappointment was that the fountain soda machine wasn't working because, let's be honest, fountain soda and pizza just go hand in hand! Parking is also pretty awful, with very limited spots available, but that wasn't much different from the other location. Overall, I was really happy with my visit and will definitely be back for that truffle mushroom pizza!

I'll be honest, we usually end up at Antonio's when we're already out doing one of our brewery and…read morecocktail crawls around Providence. At some point in the evening, the sensible part of your brain starts suggesting that you should probably eat something, and Antonio's is a pretty damn good solution to that problem. There's a huge variety of pizza sitting behind the counter, which is probably the first thing you notice when you walk in. You can stand there and stare at the different combinations trying to decide whether you want something traditional or one of the more creative offerings. There are plenty of options, and that's part of the fun. It's not simply cheese, pepperoni and sausage lined up in a case waiting for you. Antonio's has built a reputation around unusual combinations and a pretty extensive selection, and the Wickenden location has everything from classic slices to Sicilian and Detroit-style options. The pizza itself is really good. The crust is probably my favorite part because it has enough structure and crunch to keep a heavily topped slice from becoming a floppy mess. The toppings are flavorful, and there's enough variety that you can come here several times and order something completely different each time. It's also exactly the kind of pizza that works well as a quick meal. Grab a slice or two, have them heat it up, and you're on your way. The price is another big positive. You get a substantial slice without feeling like you just financed somebody's retirement, and the service is generally very fast. That makes this a particularly good option for a quick lunch, especially given the location near the colleges. You can get in, choose from the lineup, eat, and get back to whatever you were doing without turning lunch into a two-hour production. The current menu has basic slices starting around $4, with specialty slices somewhat higher, which is still pretty reasonable for the portion. The Wickenden location itself is small, so don't come here expecting a spacious Italian restaurant with white tablecloths and a leisurely dining experience. This is a pizza-by-the-slice shop, and it knows exactly what it is. The line can move quickly, the selection is right in front of you, and you're basically making your decision while standing there looking at a wall of pizza. Honestly, that's part of the charm. One useful little tip: if you need to use the bathroom, ask at the counter. They'll give you a key. It's one of those small things you might not realize until you actually need to use the restroom, so consider yourself warned. Now, is Antonio's better than Pizza Marvin or Nice Slice? No, I wouldn't go that far. Those are still my picks when I'm specifically in the mood to seek out great Providence pizza rather than simply needing a really good slice. But that doesn't mean Antonio's isn't worth visiting. It's a different experience, and there's something to be said for walking into a place with a dozen different pizzas staring back at you and being able to grab exactly what looks good at that particular moment. For me, Antonio's is a very solid four stars. Great variety, good crust, fast service, reasonable prices and a convenient location in Fox Point. It's especially good when you're already wandering around the neighborhood and realize that your cocktail crawl has reached the point where food is no longer optional. We'll definitely be back for another slice or two.

We had a great meal tonight at Nicholena's. We loved the pizza and grinders! Lisa was friendly…read moreand the service was timely. It's a great spot for a quick, delicious dinner!

Came here with some friends /work colleagues and our families for a small celebration…read more --it was empty .. I'm assuming it was because we got there right when they opened- there were few to go orders we noticed during our visit - (and they deliver!) We ordered some pizzas, a few small apps, fries, chicken tenders,etc.. and drinks of course. Everything came out in a timely manner, hot, fresh and delicious! We all devoured everything. The two young men working were fantastic- service was on point - Overall - we loved it and all decided this was our "new spot" we had many laughs here, kids enjoyed it as well, playing chess/ dancing to the juke box and just spending some quality time all together. Can't wait to come back!

Always a solid pizza! Best Greek style pizza around. Friendly staff and you can't beat the price.read more

Food is always great !! Service accurate. Local business that has a chill ambiance. They have great…read moreprices!

I can't Beleive I never reviewed this place as we have been a few times already. It's a great place…read morefor date night and they also host your bday , baby shower , etc. . It is easy to get to , right off of mineral spring ave. Parking lot has plenty of room. The inside is very modern and makes it feel like this is a special place to eat. The staff are all wonderful and make sure our drinks were kept full. I typically get the pizza because ifs fabulous but also had a hankering for a burger and it was one of the best I've ever had. I really like it here and hope you do too !

Stopped here while visiting my son who goes to college in the area... The restaurant was decorated…read morenicely and seemed like a good fit for our tight schedule. While our server was bartending and handling tables in the dining room, she was personable and attentive. She constantly topped off our drinks and made conversation. We had high hopes for the pizza, meatballs, and wings. Unfortunately, the pizza missed the mark. The toppings were loaded up on a thin crust which buckled over when you tried to eat it by hand. Instead, I had to use a fork and knife, but it was dry and tough to cut apart. Not sure why. The meatballs were ok, and my son enjoyed the wings. The restaurant of their menu looked good. Perhaps we will give them a try again in the future.

The food was so good I'm planning to go back tonight - just 2 nights after finding the place and…read moreeating the best beef shawarma I've had in a long time. The owner was an incredibly friendly and accommodating host and served up the food with a smile. The friendly regulars who were there added a nice touch to the experience. Great place!

Being in a pizza community group means I'm always craving pizza…read more Living on the north end of Providence, I have my fair share of choices. But there was one spot nearby I hadn't been to since November and it was high time I went back. That place is Zesty bites. They're located on that last stretch of Smith St before you cross over in North Providence. I always manage to find street parking in the front but there's more around the corner as well. Imad was in there cranking out a HUGE catering order! There were covered pans everywhere, ready and waiting for the client to come and pick up. But that didn't stop Imad from taking a moment to shake my hand and ask how I was doing lately. I didn't want to take up much of his time as his Friday night was just kicking off but he is genuinely a warm and friendly person, you can't help but smile when he smiles. I took home a Pesty Chicken, house pesto with turkey bacon, onions and chicken, plus a hefty slice of his gorgeous baklava. After my 5 minute drive home I got to it immediately. The pesto is herbaceous, salty from the Parmesan. The turkey bacon is not what you find Butterball making but rather, this was of a much higher quality and was an actual piece of sliced meat instead of a formed amalgamation of ground turkey. All of those ingredients sang while being supported by the incredible crust. I don't quite know how to describe it. It's light, fluffy, but crispy. Crunching into the crust scratched a part of my brain I didn't know needed it until I bit into this little slice of heaven! The baklava looked as good as it tasted. Sweet, spiced, and it had this deep flavor I can't quite put my finger on but it's probably top 3 best I've ever had. If you haven't visited Imad and his shop up over on Smith Hill, then you are missing out on a unique and delicious experience. 10/10, great pizza. Great food all around, no matter what you get you'll love it!