Directory of Diners: Rhode Island

If you would like to add a comment, please feel free to mail me anytime, day or night. As always, I greatly appreciate any reviews that you may wish to write.

Back to the regional listing.


Rhode Island

Haven Brothers
(mobile grease unit parked late nights next to City Hall) The bill of fare is limited and you can't eat inside the joint, but every Harley rider in Southern New England migrates here. "It's a chopper, baby"

8/13/98: Zacharie Maloney was appalled at the scantness of this review, and added the following.
Dragged nightly to the edge of Kennedy Plaza next to City Hall, this classic stainless-steel diner serves up simple food all night long to weary clubgoers, bikers on the prowl, Providence police, and a host of assorted insomniacs. Sure, you can eat inside -- there are two barstool-style seats at a short counter, if you don't mind being jostled by people coming in to order. Accepted fashion involves sitting on the City Hall steps and talking with the bikers while eating. The food is greasy, basic, and a bit pricey, but it's the last best chance most nights, unless you've got the stamina to hit the Silver Top. Grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches are de rigeur; the coffee is watery, though -- stick with the hot chocolate. Haven Bros. traces its lineage to the first-ever diner (the night 'lunch-wagon' which sold sandwiches and coffee to journalists working late at the Providence Journal building), and though the food's nothing to write home about, they're always in the right place at the right time.

Louie's
240 Brook St., Providence. Only open for breakfast and lunch, serving eggs, eggs, and eggs, however, they also have an old fridge full of cheap beer. Balanced diet? You can ask Louie, himself, or his brother, Vin; both of them man the grill.

Re-review: Louis (the "diner", although it does not call itself that) is in Providence, Rhode Island on Brook Street (on the East Side) and is quite possibly the best diner I have ever had the pleasure of dining at. It is a family-owned establishment with a collage of family pictures on the walls. It has a small counter and many tables and although the diner is small (thus somewhat cramped) it is a very happy experience. The coffee is continually filled to the brim and I highly reccommend the American cheese omlette, which is always perfectly cooked, never runny in the middle. The homefries are yummy with or without katsup (the true test of good potatoes) and the price for this gastronomic pleasure is cheap, cheap, cheap. The food, while somewhat greasy, certainly sticks to your ribs can fill you up for days. Totally unpretentious, the diner boasts a corner of video games and the owner Louis, a true character, waits tables when the place is busy. I have eaten there a million times and never had bad service. I have been told that the Italian lunch specials are to die for.

Although it is not open 24 hours, it is certainly worth a trip for breakfast, but you may have a bit of a wait on weekend mornings. The fabulous food, homey atmosphere and cheap prices make it a haven for the Brown and RISD students in the area. I give it five stars!

I too am a diner lover and am hoping to write a book about the diner experience, hence I stumbled onto your page while doing some net research. I am a former diner waitress originally from Providence now living in New York City. As time permits, I will send more reviews of some of my favorite (and not so favorite) spots!-- Addendum by 'Karen'

The Modern Diner
1400 Hope St., Providence. Tauted as,'America's first Diner', the modern looks like a train derailed (next to a parking lot, several small dining rooms, and a bar). Despite this claim, apparently it is NOT. It is, however (according to Roadsider) the first diner to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Probably the only diner with a liquor license. Actually, it isn't open 24 hours, so I wonder if it can still qualify as a true blue American diner. You decide. One note: they try to be gourmet, but don't let it fool you. It's the same grease and batter with mismatched food groups thrown in. Stick to the eggs.

Seaplane Diner
Allens Avenue (around 500 or so), in historic Providence.
10/30/97: Tania Z Samantha Kamensky and I headed out in search of a hitherto unreviewed diner one brisk fall afternoon. After passing several strip clubs, we found ourselves at the Seaplane Diner. When I first saw it, I was dumbstruck. It was a true mobile diner in every sense of the word. The outside (and inside, I might add), was utterly resplendent in chrome, and even the very sign seemed to beckon,"Come in, weary traveler." I should mention, however, that the bathrooms made no such offer. There was a large counter, with many gambling options available (Keno, scratch and win, lottery tickets), a veteran waitstaff, and jukeboxes at all the tables. The hours were somewhat quirky. They're open from 5am-3pm during the week, and additionally from midnight to 4am on the weekends. I'm pretty sure that they're closed Sunday.

After recovering from the initial beauty of it all, we settled down with what can only be called a lilliputian menu. It was a single double-sided card, which contained many of the standards, but nevertheless was shocking in its brevity. Tania pointed out that it did contain basically anything that she _would_ order in a diner ("they've got, like, the diner fare"). The prices were equally petite, which I think is somewhat more important. As it turns out, there are many hidden surprises and nuances in their offerings. Many of the dishes include sides and extras which cannot be anticipated by actually reading the menu. I had some very tasty fish cakes, which I got with mashed potatoes (decidedly powdered), and green beans. Tania had eggs (scrambled) and toast ($1.77). Her potatoes glistened with grease, I was actually able to fix my hair in their reflection. They were greasy, but spicy, which she liked.

The service was terrific. Our waitress called us "hon", "sweety", etc. It was one of the best relationships I've ever been in.

The Silver Top Diner
13 Harris Ave., Providence. Open 11pm-10am, and located in the warehouse district. Although the top is not actually silver, the stainless steel interior is breathtaking and often times blinding. The STD (a name not at ll alarming to the Board of Health) is not the oldest diner in R.I. but the cheapest. The charmingly hostile waitresses sling hash like you wouldn't believe, and the jukebox serves up the best scrapings from the 80's. (journey?? Van Halen? They want you out in a hurry) -Most R.I. reviews by Jenn "puppers" Sparrow

Wampanoag Diner
East Providence. A real throw back to what diners used to be. Not open 24 hours, but does open about 4 or 5 am, lots of locals with a big counter and about a dozen tables. Breakfast is great, specialty Mame's pancakes and the meatloaf dinners are something to behold. Prices are cheap. ambience is strictly missing, but the service and food are good. -- Review by Marvin Greenberg.


Back to the regional listing.