Avenue N Providence — Restaurant in Providence

A foodie friend invited me to try this place that had great reviews. It was early on a Tuesday in cold weather, so the place wasn't full yet. The location is nice, there is street parking, and the wait staff was great. I had a pearsuassion cocktail that had all the right notes and was yummy.

I ordered a steak medium well and asked that it be a little pink in the middle. I also asked to get regular instead of truffle fries. I ordered a grilled little gem salad too.

My friend's soup arrived which he enjoyed. My grilled little gem arrived and looked interesting. However, when biting into it, I was sorely disappointed. The dressing tasted like mayo and was squirted all over the top. The lettuce that was grilled had all the tough parts at the end and was bitter. There was no taste of grill on it. I love a grilled romaine or other type of salad because the char flavor usually offsets the sharpness of the dressing and cheese. This tasted terrible, like a mouthful of bland mayo and soggy lettuce with the only saving grace being the sprinkling of candied nuts.

Although my friend loved his scallops, my steak was very well done, hard to cut, and tough. The "fries" were absurd very thin shaved fried strips of potato that one could neither stab with a fork or scoop up. They were neither fries or chips which was sad because I would have enjoyed either much more. I've never been sure why anyone likes broccolini, so I won't rate that in case someone loves it (I'd never include it on any menu if I were choosing). I'll have to give them another try since It does get good reviews. If you are there, avoid the steak, the grilled little gem, and any version of "fries" that they say they are serving. Being fancy shouldn't mean forsaking good and...

Don’t skip this place. I plan to come back.

First, I was placed at the bar as a single and the tender was nice and friendly. Even helped me with my selection. I asked about and ordered the Little Gem Salad and Massachusetts Cod dinner. I like to eat local fare if possible.

The salad was amazing. The dill dressing was subtle and contrasted perfectly with the candied nuts and orange peel. I will get this again. See picture.

Then the Cod came out and was beautiful! See the picture. However, I wish I could say it tasted as good as it looked. The tender asked me how it was and I honestly said “It’s ok, but not as amazing as it looks on the plate.” She asked what made me say that so I took a few minutes to really analyze and taste each item, even separately. Two things. First I thought it needed a bit more pop. In my opinion it was not seasoned enough. The beautiful sauce was very mild. The veggies were mild. The fish was mild. Get my point.

Then, and I have to say this could have been me or perhaps one bad delivery, but the fish tasted a bit fishy, like when it’s older. But that could be a day to day thing. As far as the cooking, it was perfectly cooked, flaky and tender.

Overall I loved the atmosphere, the service and the salad. When I come back I will try something other than the cod. So a 4 because of the Cod, but a 5 on everything...

Super cute and intimate (read: small) restaurant. The staff was very friendly and efficient, especially our server, Rachel. She provided honest recommendations and was so nice to chat with. I was celebrating my recently defended dissertation so she comped me a drink and she also didn't hesitate to switch out my friend's drink when my friend didn't like it. My group shared a few appetizers which we all enjoyed.I wasn't a fan of the empanadas but that's a personal preference. I really enjoyed my meal, which was a special of the day, however the steak was not cooked properly. We think the kitchen messed up the temps because my other friend got a medium steak and I got a well steak which were opposite orders. The other girls got a salmon dish and burgers which they all enjoyed. Then we shared one cheesecake and one tiramisu which we all loved. I personally think they could have added more espresso flavor to the tiramisu but the texture was perfect. Overall we had a great time over a great meal. Rachel made the experience...