Hemenway's Restaurant — Restaurant in Providence

I cannot say enough good thing about Hemenway’s. I first visited here in 2013 and every single meal I have ever had here has always been first-rate. This is gracious white-tablecloth dining at its best, one of the finest restaurants in Providence. The staff is superb and well-trained. From the hosts and hostesses to the oyster shuckers, servers and waitresses, everyone on the staff is always friendly, polite and professional.

I always look forward to my visits because the space is beautiful and open, the staff welcoming, the food and drink superb. Tonight, I was seated in the side front area, with views out to the adjacent park through the huge windows. The Christmas decorations were festive.

Homemade warm soft rolls and sweet butter arrived immediately upon being seated. I began with a large bottle of Pellegrino ($6) and a classic cocktail, the Old Fashioned ($12). With dinner, I drank a delicious dry French Sancerre G-Pascal Jolivet ($14).

My waitress Kira is a charming and attractive young lady. It always amazes me that women in their 20s can be so poised, professional and well-spoken, yet friendly and down-to-earth. Her polite attentiveness made my dinner even more special.

I dearly love oysters and I stopped by the shucking station in the front of the restaurant on my way in to see what was available today. I began with three briny fresh Barnstable, Cape Cod oysters ($1.75 each), the largest of the day. I also had three good-size Cherrystones from RI ($1.75 each). Hemenway’s always serves oysters and clams with two sauces: mignonette as well as the classic red cocktail sauce.

Next, another classic, the Wedge Salad ($8) with delicious blue cheese dressing & crumbled egg. Simple, fresh and well-prepared. I choose the Grilled Octopus Special ($34), served with sliced Andouille sausage, Brussels sprouts, small roasted potatoes and crispy small chunks of sunchokes in a beet vinaigrette. The octopus was grilled and slightly charred, but tender and delicious. All the other ingredients were roasted or grilled to perfection. I have had octopus and squid prepared many ways. I have never had this combination nor would I have ever imagined it. Executive Chef Max Peterson’s choice of ingredients was inspired!! This dish was superb and deeply satisfying.

I always get excited when I have an excellent dinner. So, let’s keep going! I opted for the Lemon Pudding Cake ($9), a small 3-inch round dessert, garnished with sliced strawberries, orange zest, candied pistachios and a Grand Marnier tuile (I had to look it up. Tuile is a small French wafer-cookie.) Accompanied by a pot of French-press decaf coffee ($5.50). My total bill was...

I know you're reading this thinking a 3 for Hemenway's. And also the atmosphere a 2. If you sat in the seat we did, you would think the same thing. You have an absolutely stunning, beautiful restaurant with amazing ambience yet you have one seat in the entire house that sits in front of the bathrooms, the grill/cooking area door and see-through glass to a waitress station that makes it so 150 people cross by you during the time it takes you to eat a dinner, quickly. This changed the entire night for us. On our 15-year anniversary. A big one in todays throw-away world. This table spot caused us to eat as quickly as we could, get out of there, and enjoy ourselves elsewhere. This seat should have some type of column or block put up with a nice bouquet of flowers or some type of statue or something that blocks that area even more so that that doesn't happen to anyone else. I understand it's all about profits and maximizing the square footage of your restaurant, but not at the expense of somebody having to sit there and watch a 150 people RUN past you, while you're trying to eat. It ruined every bit of romantic opportunity of the night. Furthermore, we looked forward to being in this beautiful establishment all week. My wife chose it as her fifteen year anniversary restaurant choice. She was deeply saddened and wanted to make sure that I wrote a review in hopes that this didn't happen again. The food was good. Some menu items are better than others. It's not as amazing as I remember it. My paella was nothing special. My wife said her salmon was excellent. We got the hot appetizer appetizer, and the bacon wrapped scallops were the smallest they've ever been. The calamari was excellent, and the Quahogs were terrible. It tasted like they fried bacon and chaurice together and made as much grease as humanly possible and then threw them in the shell. Grease was running over the inside of the shell. Very odd. I've had better on the side of the road, in North Kingston. I hate having to write this as We were so excited to go ! Hope this helps another guest. You don't want the seat in front of the...

Maybe we got the wrong server. After all, Hemenway's used to be good. This night, however - a birthday celebration - went steadily downhill from the start. The server was missing in action immediately after providing the menus. We had questions and wanted to order, but she stood in a corner ignoring all her tables while engaging in chat with another staff member. My wife signaled her several times, and received a blank stare.

We ordered a green salad to start plus grilled fish and tuna to follow. Twenty minutes later, the salad arrived. The salad was nondescript lettuce, nuts, pink pickled onions (not green) and bereft of anything interesting like a variety of salad greens. And since when are tomatoes considered green? This was the kind of unimaginative salad that you would get in the local diner.

We finished the salad and waited, and waited, and waited. The server was again missing in action. We spotted her in intense conversation with another staff member. We were able to eventually get his attention and pointed to our server . She came back. "Where is the food? We've been here an hour." She replied it was coming - just a minute or two. We told her if its not here in three minutes, we are leaving. The server disappeared again. Three minutes later - time's up! We got up and left, but not before expressing our dismay to a very gracious front-of-the house hostess who said she was mortified to hear about our experience.

Ok, this may have been a server issue, but it was definitely more like a management issue - poor training, poor execution, and an unimaginative menu with equally mediocre food presentation. And as far as their renovation is concerned, how can you tell? It looks very much the same as before.

If you want a pleasant evening out and good food well presented, I would give...