Olneyville New York System ★ 4.8
Open until 02:00 most nights, 03:00 weekends, the 1946 Olneyville hot wiener counter is Providence's late-night feed. James Beard America's Classics 2014.
Try: Hot wieners 'all the way'
History
Coffee milk traces back to the 1920s, when southern Italian immigrants in Rhode Island brought their tradition of heavily sweetened coffee. Eclipse Food Products of Warwick (founded 1914) began selling coffee syrup to consumers in 1938. Autocrat of Lincoln (since 1895) countered with its own product in the 1940s; the two slogans (Eclipse's 'You smack your lips if it's Eclipse' and Autocrat's 'A swallow will tell you') ran in parallel for half a century. On March 30, 1993, the Rhode Island State Legislature designated coffee milk the official state drink, beating coffee cabinet (a coffee-milk milkshake) and Del's lemonade in the vote.
Common allergens: Dairy
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 240ml cold whole milk
- 2 to 3 tbsp Autocrat coffee syrup (or Eclipse)
- Ice cubes (optional)
Method
- Pour cold milk into a tall glass.
- Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of coffee syrup to taste.
- Stir vigorously until the milk turns the colour of a light caramel.
- Add ice cubes if you want it cold. Drink immediately.
Tip from the editors. Autocrat is bolder, Eclipse a touch sweeter. Both ship nationally; the bottle keeps in the fridge for months.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Where to eat coffee milk
Coffee milk in Providence
Iggy's Doughboys and Chowder House ★ 4.6
Gaetano 'Iggy' Gravino's Oakland Beach clam shack in Warwick, founded 1989. Award-winning RI clam chowder, doughboys, clam cakes; the year-round counter.
Try: Doughboys, clam cakes, chowder
More cities are in research. Want coffee milk covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.