Providence Dining Experiences and Reviews

[Frankie811]

i, personally, LOVE smokey bones. the bbq there is actually really good. i worry, though, that they aren't drawing enough customers. i've gone in there at the "busy" restaurant times and there's never been a wait. there's also never been a large crowd there. i think part of it might have to do with their location. they have the most remote location in the mall. they're directly across the street from the gtech construction, and that highway entrance ramp right next to it doesn't really help either.

i assume you're talking about the one in the mall and not the one in warwick...

My thoughts exactly. I was there for the noon lunch crowd and they weren't too busy. The restuarant before them (Hops) had the same problem.

[runawayjim]

My thoughts exactly. I was there for the noon lunch crowd and they weren't too busy. The restuarant before them (Hops) had the same problem.

i really think it's the location... if they swapped with uno's, i bet they'd have a much better business.

regardless, the place is great and i hope they last. the decor is awesome, the food is awesome, and you can hear the tv's from any table in the house.

my favorite is their cornbread with pecan butter... it's awesome. i also got the smoked sausage and pulled pork combo the last time i was there... both outstanding.

[basachs]

I have been to smokey bones twice, each time I see them opening up bags of bbq. They boil bags of other stuff too, this is quite a turnoff to me. Do they really bbq there? Or is it shipped in boil bags from a central location like I suspect.

[Frankie811]

I have been to smokey bones twice, each time I see them opening up bags of bbq. They boil bags of other stuff too, this is quite a turnoff to me. Do they really bbq there? Or is it shipped in boil bags from a central location like I suspect.

Hmmmm I wouldn't doubt it. Perhaps that explains why I received my BBQ order so soon, which did surprise me. At Wes' you have to wait a while for your food. Did you notice what they did what the food after they opened it? Oven/microwave/grille?????

[Cotuit]

I had dinner at Red Stripe over the weekend. I was rather unimpressed, I much prefer Bravo.

[eltron]

I had dinner at Red Stripe over the weekend. I was rather unimpressed, I much prefer Bravo.

Huh. I went to Bravo on Friday and was pretty disappointed. Great decor and feel, but the food was only so-so. Incredibly salty, overcooked, and somewhat burnt. Too bad.

[basachs]

As far as Smokey Bones, the specifics were that I ordered bbq chicken nachos. I was sitting at the bar, so I had a great view of the kitchen and as everyone is mentioning, place was not busy and I was able to tell quite easily when my order was being prepared.

Guy weighed out a portion of chips on a scale, opened a bag of cheese and sprinkled some on, opened a bag of bbq and measured out some and threw that on and then threw the entire thing in a microwave.

Ordered ribs, taken out of the boil bag and put in something out of sight, my guess is an oven.

Not really appetizing, which is why I wont go back for that stuff. The quick food I expect to be previosuly frozen and fried, etc. The bbq I dont. THe exact portion control is to be expected from a chain, but I still did not like it. Why they have an open kitchen when they dont really cook is beyond me.

I hear raves for Red Stripe for brunch, never dinner.

[Frankie811]

I also ordered the Appetizer Combo plate which was good and very filling. It includes chicken fingers, bacon and cheese potato slabs and beer battered onion rings. A meal in itself. If your drinking the waitstaff kind of pushes you to order more.

[runawayjim]

As far as Smokey Bones, the specifics were that I ordered bbq chicken nachos. I was sitting at the bar, so I had a great view of the kitchen and as everyone is mentioning, place was not busy and I was able to tell quite easily when my order was being prepared.

Guy weighed out a portion of chips on a scale, opened a bag of cheese and sprinkled some on, opened a bag of bbq and measured out some and threw that on and then threw the entire thing in a microwave.

Ordered ribs, taken out of the boil bag and put in something out of sight, my guess is an oven.

Not really appetizing, which is why I wont go back for that stuff. The quick food I expect to be previosuly frozen and fried, etc. The bbq I dont. THe exact portion control is to be expected from a chain, but I still did not like it. Why they have an open kitchen when they dont really cook is beyond me.

I hear raves for Red Stripe for brunch, never dinner.

here's my thoughts... the bbq is not made there since it's a chain. they probably get it delivered. i think the bbq sauce is their own though, but probably made by some central location and shipped to the restaurants.

regardless of how it's made, i still think it's quite good. not as good as other bbq i've had (certainly not as good as the homemade pulled pork my boss made for our christmas party a couple weeks ago), but still good in its own right and i like their food better than most other chains i've been to.

[basachs]

Everyone's entitled to their opinion. Still dont understand the open kitchen concept for microwave boil in a bag cuisine.

Just because you are a chain does not mean you have to get all your stuiff from a central factory already cooked. Outback is bigger than Smokey Bones, but still make almost all of their stuff from scratch. Sure its the same menu in every locale, but everything starts off in raw form and is prepared, even the salad dressings. Hell, even Boston Market roasts their chickens in every location.

I guess what really perturbs me is that open kitchen. May as well have microwaves on the bar next to the audio controls so people can microwave their own Q.

[Frankie811]

As long as were on this subject, does anyone know how The Cheesecake Factory prepares food. Please, don't break my heart.

[basachs]

As long as were on this subject, does anyone know how The Cheesecake Factory prepares food. Please, don't break my heart.

Everything there is fresh and mostly prepared to order, they have a lot of kitchen equipment in their kitchens. Lots of ranges, ovens, grills, etc. Pasta stations, salad stations....

However, the food preparation itself is generally lazy and chaotic. Menu descriptions are poorly written and suggest the food has more sophistication and nuance than it actually does.

The reason I know a lot of this is because my wife has a gluten intolerance (celiac disease) and we research this stuff throughly, talking to chefs and in the case of chains, corporate HQ. The CF does not rank high on our list since cross contamination is so high and they are not able to accomadate us. We have eaten there before and my wife was assured the meal would be free of cross contamination and she has gotten sick. Response from HQ is do not eat there. Nice. Talking to the chefs at the PP location has shown that an increasing amount of food is coming in packaged from some location and the ingredient list reads like a medical journal.

The cheesecakes are not baked on premises for any of the locations, but are still pretty good.

So if you dont have a food allergy, it is okay. But I am generally leery of any menu that is spiral bound and has that many choices, no way all of it gets the same level of attention. Especially when you consider how packed that place is all the time.

[Cotuit]

Huh. I went to Bravo on Friday and was pretty disappointed. Great decor and feel, but the food was only so-so. Incredibly salty, overcooked, and somewhat burnt. Too bad.

There really wasn't anything on the menu at Red Stripe that struck me (I wasn't feeling well, so maybe I was just being picky). I ended up having the Tofu Steak and it was bland and actually rather annoying, the way it is prepared and served in a 'tea bag.' I should have gone with the Portuguese mussels but I had just had that at a Christmas party recently. I suppose it was OK but certainly not worthy of the amazing amount of buzz I've been hearing about it. There's a couple things on the menu at Bravo that I wanted to go back and try when I was there. And as a personal matter, Bravo is a less than 10 minute walk from me, whereas Red Stripe is all the way across town. I won't go out of my way to go back (next time I'm in Wayland Square I need to finally try Twist, which is were I wanted to go in the first place but I was overruled ).

Oh, and the meal wasn't comped, but that had nothing to do with it, I swear!

[brick]

And as a personal matter, Bravo is a less than 10 minute walk from me, whereas Red Stripe is all the way across town. I won't go out of my way to go back (next time I'm in Wayland Square I need to finally try Twist, which is were I wanted to go in the first place but I was overruled ).

Oh, and the meal wasn't comped, but that had nothing to do with it, I swear!

I liked Red Stripe because they had decent wine and a decent scene which I think Wayland Square needed.

I went to Twist a couple weeks ago and it was good. Not spectacular, but good. The problem with Twist is that it is so far removed from the rest of Wayland Square. This was also a problem with the PBC, IMO.

I also liked Bravo. Maybe I'm just easy to please.

[basachs]

I ended up having the Tofu Steak and it was bland and actually rather annoying, the way it is prepared and served in a 'tea bag.'

No offense meant here. However, could you tell me where you have had Tofu that was impressive and not bland. Try as I might, tofu is not something I am into. And to order it out in a restaurant would never cross my mind, even in an asian place.

So if you have had tofu that knocked your socks off could you tell me where?

[Cotuit]

No offense meant here. However, could you tell me where you have had Tofu that was impressive and not bland. Try as I might, tofu is not something I am into. And to order it out in a restaurant would never cross my mind, even in an asian place.

I was hoping they would do something interesting with it. I was dissapointed.

[Cotuit]

The decor bored me too. I felt like I had been there before.

[runawayjim]

i've been to the cheesecake factory a couple times (here and at the cambridgeside galleria). i've never been impressed by it. the menu is huge, which means they can't specialize in anything. the prices are too high for the average quality of the food. and who on earth wants to wait 2 hours for average food? i'd rather go elsewhere for any of the various things on their items. generally other places specialize in them and they're cheaper with a shorter wait time. for the record though, i have never had dessert there (of course i'm not a huge cheesecake fan to begin with...)

[Frankie811]

i've been to the cheesecake factory a couple times (here and at the cambridgeside galleria). i've never been impressed by it. the menu is huge, which means they can't specialize in anything. the prices are too high for the average quality of the food. and who on earth wants to wait 2 hours for average food? i'd rather go elsewhere for any of the various things on their items. generally other places specialize in them and they're cheaper with a shorter wait time. for the record though, i have never had dessert there (of course i'm not a huge cheesecake fan to begin with...)

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh But there is a reason why people wait up to 2 hours to be seated. The food is good and the portions enormous. Not bad for a chain restuarant. Nobody's saying that their a 4 or 5 star rest. But it is decent.

[runawayjim]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh But there is a reason why people wait up to 2 hours to be seated. The food is good and the portions enormous. Not bad for a chain restuarant. Nobody's saying that their a 4 or 5 star rest. But it is decent.

everything i've ever heard about it people say it's amazing. the portions weren't much larger than i've had elsewhere either. i just don't see why there's so much hype about it.

[bloodyrocker]

Disclaimer. the statements below are my OPINION. not an attack on anybodys taste

Cheescake Factory is CRAP

Outback is CRAP

Smokey Bones is CRAP

I try and avoid corporate establishments like the above whenever and wherever I can. Granted its not always doable but I'm usually able to get a better meal at an independent restaurant.

If BBQ is what your after the only choice in town is LJ's BBQ. Its so much better than anything you can get at a chain restaurant. its better than Wes' ribhouse as well.

[CtownMikey]

my waitress at smokey bones was laughing the entire time she sat us down. The place smells like a mcdonalds playground (FEET) but the food was good.

[Frankie811]

If BBQ is what your after the only choice in town is LJ's BBQ. Its so much better than anything you can get at a chain restaurant. its better than Wes' ribhouse as well.

I'll be the judge of that!!!

[eltron]

Disclaimer. the statements below are my OPINION. not an attack on anybodys taste

Cheescake Factory is CRAP

Outback is CRAP

Smokey Bones is CRAP

I try and avoid corporate establishments like the above whenever and wherever I can. Granted its not always doable but I'm usually able to get a better meal at an independent restaurant.

If BBQ is what your after the only choice in town is LJ's BBQ. Its so much better than anything you can get at a chain restaurant. its better than Wes' ribhouse as well.

Yep, gotta agree.

Cheescake Factory Blows.

I will say though, I go to outback on occasion to satisfy a rare need for suburban crap, cause for suburban crap, its somewhat tasty. There, I've admitted it. damn, I'm going to hell...

To repent, I MUST go to LJ's immediately.

[bloodyrocker]

Yep, gotta agree.

Cheescake Factory Blows.

I will say though, I go to outback on occasion to satisfy a rare need for suburban crap, cause for suburban crap, its somewhat tasty. There, I've admitted it. damn, I'm going to hell...

To repent, I MUST go to LJ's immediately.

Oh my sinful friend. If your going to hell then save a seat for me cause its a human condition to have guilty pleasures. I have to admit that once in awhile i get serious cravings for taco bell that will only be satisfied by a drive through visit.

there. I admit it.