La Gran Parada Restaurant — Restaurant in Providence

2/25/25—-they take credit cards now 💳💳💳

I decided to try a Dominican breakfast, but I wanted a place with a good ambiance where I could sit and enjoy the Tres Golpes breakfast with mangú. I had been craving this meal because when I visited Puerto Plata and went to Cayo Levantado in the Dominican Republic, I arrived too late for breakfast, and I had to return to my cruise the same day on the explora 1 . MSC so I didn’t try breakfast there only lunch !

I chose La Gran Parada after reading that they now accept credit and debit cards, as well as the usual cash—something they didn’t do for years. Because of this, I’ve only visited once every ten years. When I walked in, Las Chicas del Can was playing in the radio . Unlike Colombian restaurants, where the staff greets you with a smile, here, the first thing you hear is, “What do you want?” But I didn’t let that bother me. The staff isn’t expecting a tip, so there’s no real incentive to go above and beyond and people usually if they don’t own the business will never go beyond and above cause you know they don’t have to pay overhead .

This restaurant has been around for years, and I’ve always liked how it looks. As for the coffee—it’s passable. I had amazing coffee in the DR, but here, not so much. It’s drinkable, but imagine if they invested in a proper latte machine. A secondhand one would probably cost around $500–700, and it could really make a difference, it would be a nice change

Anyway, the breakfast was great. If you come here expecting friendly service, don’t. But if you don’t mind that, you’ll survive.

This is not how people in the Dominican Republic are—the restaurant I visited people were very courteous, and in turned got great tips from us . Allowing employees to accept individual tips makes a big difference, rather than using a tip jar where everyone gets the same amount. I don’t agree with that system. If you treat me well, I’ll give you a good tip—that’s just how I am.

That being said, the food here is great, and the place looks clean. Since it was morning, there was no rush, which made for a nice,...

First, I had a minimal wait (5 mins)on a Wednesday at about 5:30pm. The service was friendly. I pointed to a rice & my server told me the name of it & explained all the ingredients in the ‘Chofán’ rice: chicken, shrimp, longaniza (a particular sausage that I hadn’t eaten in years!), salchichón/salami (similar to a summer sausage), peas, corn, AND fried sweet plantains—-Whoa (I’ve never had sweet plantains in a rice dish). When she said platano maduro- it was like “You had me at hello!” She asked what size I wanted “medium or large?” I selected medium. She asked if I wanted a salad and gave me 3 choices- I went all in and got the potato salad and added 3 BBQ wings. No drink, my total was $16 & change (?) When I ordered the wings my server noted that there was meat in the rice so adding more meat would be extra $. I was not leaving without some of those wings and I’m glad I didn’t- they were delicious. The potato salad was good. My favorite part of the chofán rice was the chunks of sweet plantain. The chicken was dry and the salami/salchichón was extremely dry, a bit burned. The shrimp was just ok. The rice itself was very tasty which didn’t surprise me given all the flavorful ingredients. This rice dish must be amazing when it’s right out of the big pot it’s made in. Overall, this restaurant offers A LOTA of authentic Dominican/Criolla food. Definitely worth a visit. I used to go often when it was a smaller joint. I’m no longer in the area often, but when I am its hard not to stop in. It’d been way too long since I’d been here. I’ll have to visit soon with the kids-although I can hear them now saying how their Mamá (grandma) & aunts cook way better. Well, I don’t, so...

La Gran Parada was an unexpected experience. We were looking for a place to eat near the Roger Williams Zoo that served Spanish food. The first thing to be said is that the food is amazing and the prices were good. There were six of us so we decided to order several dishes to eat family style. We ordered white rice, yellow rice with pigeon peas, roasted park, barbecued chicken wings, steak cubes in brown sauce, stewed cod fish, and other dishes with a total of about ten dishes. Now the interesting part was the process of ordering the food. Think Subways style with hot delicious food. You stand in a line (which was quite long). When it's your turn, a server will ask what you'd like to order and you go down the list of dishes that you want which she plates You then find a table and she will bring them to you. You can also order from the table but you have to have at least seven people and wait til a counter server is free to take your order. We were told that ultimately, the line was the best way to go because it would be faster. The cost for all this food for six people was $80.00 plus tip. All of it was a bit confusing for us since we were looking forward to a sit down lunch with minimal stress, but overall it turned out to be a fun, adventurous experience. The place was packed with people, and the atmosphere was pleasant. With upbeat Spanish music playing in the background, and a table stacked with delicious food, we left with full bellies and cheerful hearts. Sorry, I was soooo busy eating, I forgot to...