Aleppo Sweets is a syrian restaurant in Fox Point, Providence.
Youssef Akhtarini's Aleppo Sweets on Ives opened in 2019, three years after his family resettled from Syria. Eight baklava plus a mezze menu.
Why locals love it: Refugee-owned Syrian baklava bakery a block off Wickenden, often missed for the louder Federal Hill scene; named to Bon Appetit's Top 50 in 2019.
Tip: Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Order the pistachio baklava and a Turkish coffee for the counter.
Address: 107 Ives Street, Providence, RI 02906
Why locals love it: Over 100 Belgian beers from a wood-panelled Fox Point dive that has barely changed since the 1990s; not on any tourist map.
Tip: Take a bartender's suggestion off the Belgian list; the menu is too long to read cold.
Why locals love it: Providence's quietest Cambodian kitchen sits in a Public Street strip mall well off any visitor map; the food runs Khmer, Vietnamese, Thai and Lao.
Tip: Closed Wednesdays. Order the nime chow with peanut sauce and a fiery Singapore noodle.
Why locals love it: Providence's only serious Peruvian and Bolivian room sits on Chalkstone Avenue across town from any visitor circuit; the koi-pond patio is worth the cab.
Tip: Wednesday to Sunday for dinner; Sunday lunch from 15:00. Book the koi-pond patio in summer.
Why locals love it: A Yorkshire pork-pie recipe carried to Fall River in 1900, sold out of a Lincoln storefront in the Providence suburbs. No seating, takeout only.
Tip: Closed Sunday through Tuesday. The original pork pie is best eaten the next day, room temperature with mustard.
Why locals love it: A specialty coffee roastery in a restored 1850s train depot in Riverside off the East Bay Bike Path, ten minutes from downtown but invisible to most visitors.
Tip: Cycle here from downtown on the East Bay path, eight miles each way; the cafe closes at 15:00.
Why locals love it: Over 100 Belgian beers from a wood-panelled Fox Point dive that has barely changed since the 1990s; not on any tourist map.
Tip: Take a bartender's suggestion off the Belgian list; the menu is too long to read cold.
