Al Forno
Order A grilled pizza Margherita and the baked penne with tomato cream sauce.
Al Forno on South Water Street invented grilled pizza in 1980 under Johanne Killeen and the late George Germon. Wood-fire kitchen, baked pasta.
9 splurge places in Providence, editor-picked. Tasting menus and the full big-night-out treatment in Providence. All Providence food.
The splurge list
9 places
Persimmon
Order Whatever Champe is plating from the Rhode Island shellfish run.
Champe and Lisa Speidel's Persimmon on Hope Street runs four-night seasonal French-leaning cooking. Foie gras, RI shellfish, the city's special-occasion room.
Gift Horse
- ★ 4.8
- Seafood
- $$$$
Order An oyster flight across the nine Rhode Island growing regions; the kitchen's seasonal raw bar plates.
Ben Sukle's downtown raw bar where 2025 James Beard winner Sky Haneul Kim cooked until October 2025; new menu under Sukle and John Robinson.
Book food experiences in Providence
Gracie's
Order The seven-course tasting menu with pairings; ask for the chocolate dessert flight to close.
Ellen Gracyalny's Gracie's on Washington Street has been Providence's special-occasion room since 1998. Five- and seven-course seasonal tasting menus.
Mill's Tavern
Order A wood-grilled fish of the day, with a glass off the deep Italian section of the list.
Mill's Tavern in the old Pilgrim Mill building on North Main is downtown's regular business steakhouse. Wagyu, wood-grilled fish, award-winning wine list.
Hemenway's
- ★ 4.3
- Seafood
- $$$$
Order The shellfish platter from the raw bar plus a one-and-a-quarter pound Maine lobster.
Hemenway's reopened March 5, 2025 after a refresh of the bar, raw bar and lobster tanks. Downtown riverside seafood since 1985 on South Main.
Camille's
- ★ 4.2
- Italian
- $$$$
- Federal Hill
Order The veal chop, with tableside Caesar to start.
Camille's, in a Bradford Street mansion since 1919, is the oldest continuously operating Italian dining room on Federal Hill. White-tablecloth.
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