A rising tide of restaurants in Narragansett

JOE PAGLIA, owner of Arturo Joe’s in Narragansett’s Mariner Square, recently gave his restaurant a facelift. He is shown above in the lounge. /
JOE PAGLIA, owner of Arturo Joe’s in Narragansett’s Mariner Square, recently gave his restaurant a facelift. He is shown above in the lounge. /

If your idea of dining out in Narragansett consists of clam cakes in cardboard containers, you probably are not one of its 16,000 year-round residents. At the same time, when the locals return home at night from work up north, they are not about to turn around and head to Providence to dine out. And with upwards of 50 restaurants in town, they don’t have to.
In fact, the big question going around town this spring is, are there just too many restaurants in town for them all to survive?
The smart money is on the savvy owner-operators in Narragansett’s three Restaurant Rows – along Ocean Road in the shadow of the Point Judith lighthouse, in Mariner Square on Route 108, and in the Pier adjacent to Town Beach, with all due respect to the venerable eateries in Galilee.
“Rhode Islanders are educated eaters!” says restaurateur Joe Paglia. He is referring to his regulars at Arturo Joe’s in the Mariner Square center, one that houses six restaurants.
He and his casual Italian spot are primed for a successful summer season and with good reason. This summer will be the first in two years that Arturo Joe’s will be open.
A devastating fire and a slow rebuilding process kept the restaurant closed for 16 months. Judging from the 45-minute wait on a recent Saturday night, Arturo Joe’s has a lot of fans who had been waiting for the reopening.
Reaching out to year-round residents is a recurring theme in Narragansett. Bob Baker is the new general manager at the Coast Guard House near the oft-photographed Towers, one of the most picturesque spots in New England. Baker says, “We’d love to see more of our [year-round] neighbors between Memorial Day and Labor Day.”
The classic seaside restaurant has stood the test of time and tide since 1945. This season, the outdoor deck, indoor dining room and the menu all have been freshened to entice locals and summer vacationers alike to make repeat visits.
Spring brings growth, and just like plants in the natural world, restaurants are springing to life. Joining mainstays such as Pancho O’Malley’s and Spain, Charley O’s and Amalfi are newcomers like Cheeky Monkey, imported from Newport.
In addition, the Newport Restaurant Group is opening Trio in the Pier neighborhood. Projected to be a large chef-driven operation with an emphasis on local ingredients, Trio also nods toward the current steakhouse trend. And Jamie d’Oliveira’s company is installing his Red Stripe brasserie concept in the Salt Pond shopping center across Route 108 from Mariner Square where the Newport Creamery used to be. Jeff Cooke, managing partner of Mariner Grille, has been watching Red Stripe’s progress. He says the secret to success in such a competitive marketplace is to return to the basics. “We are in the hospitality business,” he reminds his staff and us. This means being a good neighbor to the restaurants literally next door to him – “They can come to our door on a busy Saturday night and borrow something they ran out of!” – as well as being at the front of the house on those busy nights to give his regulars some special treatment. Cooke draws from a wealth of experience at some heritage eateries in the South County area. He spent time at the beloved Red Rooster, as well as at the now-closed Hanson’s Landing. Some artifacts from those spots, in Mariner Grille’s dining room and lounge, add some familiar touches to the two-year-old seafood/American bistro.
So, another summer is about to begin in Narragansett, and the local restaurant scene is ready for the festivities to begin. And for the record, there is nothing better than clam cakes in a cardboard container after a day at Scarborough Beach. •
Dining Out with Bruce Newbury (bruce@brucenewbury.com) can be heard on TalkRadio 920 WHJJ-AM Fridays at 6 p.m. and Saturdays at noon.

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