Red Door — Restaurant in Providence

I just want to start off by saying that I really liked the Red Door before this experience. I’ve been a few times and never had any issues and I have had a pleasant time enjoying the DJ sets and atmosphere. It was really awesome!

The reason for the 1 star was extremely upsetting to my friend and I. My best friend turned 21 a couple weeks ago and I promised to take him to a restaurant then we were going to go to Play arcade. After the restaurant (we were stone cold sober btw) We were passing the Red Door and we decided to go in for a drink and that way he could see this cool place that I had been before and maybe he will like it for the future!

Now my friend is blind at night and he’s deaf, so he couldn’t really see in the place. I helped him into a bar seat everything because the place is very dark. He insisted we stayed for a drink even though his senses were compromised.

It took us really long to get our drinks even ordered. And when we did it just seemed like the blonde lady at the bar didn’t want anything to do with my friend and I. Handing me a menu and calling me some sort of weird term that’s demeaning based on our age (I don’t even remember what she said it was just a weird thing to say) I ordered, my friend ordered. She was incredibly rude for no reason at all other than she probably thought we were two drunk kids and totally off the rip, dehumanized us instead of realizing we were just two friends having a night out together. And he’s deaf so he’s quiet! He hasn’t been to many bars (maybe like 1 other in his life) so he doesn’t know! The lady at the bar was so mean to us! She says the amount we owed was 14$ my friend pulls out his card and he can’t see where she is and I’m not going to baby my friend and take the card from him and hand it to her but her hand was out and my friend slides the card near her. She had this disgusted and almost “disrespected look.”

Anyways I try and tell her that he is deaf and blind. She doesn’t want to hear it. Gets the two other bartenders to yell at me, they don’t even want to hear it and they blew up the entire situation and wouldn’t even hear me out. When they finally heard me when I said “he is blind at night and deaf” they were like “how was I supposed to know that?” Well I don’t know about you but maybe don’t treat us badly right off the rip? Maybe you could’ve talked to us and been more accommodating? They said I was talking badly about them but they chose different words. I was never talking trash I said “she is incredibly rude” to my friend which she was. Anyways they kicked us out for that and the bouncer was like “cmon babies” demeaning us on our age again. Meanwhile as I’m walking out people are staring at us, the bar goes quiet, and I’m helping my friend out of his chair and out of the building…again because HE CANT SEE. The way it escalated so fast was just so ridiculous it was like the most emotionally immature people just dog piling.

I really think if you are going to be in the service industry (which I am I worked in a bar up until a week ago) you CANNOT judge a book by it’s cover and treat people badly for no reason. The Blonde bartender continued to blame me saying she didn’t give him a dirty look, all that. I know you’re reading this and karma is probably going to get you back and you know it. No accountability. I can’t wait to see how they try to...

A Hidden Gem in Providence

The Red Door in Providence is the kind of spot that makes you fall back in love with going out. From the moment we walked in, the vibe was 10/10. Warm, welcoming, and full of personality. It reminded me of The Eddy in its heyday: flavor-forward, service-minded, and confidently cool without trying too hard.

The food? Incredible. The happy hour truffle fries were less than $4 and came out in a portion so generous it felt like a mistake (it wasn’t), with the two of us we still needed a box to take home for later. Perfectly crispy, aromatic, and addictive (and not too much truffle oil). The sliders were next-level... juicy, flavorful, and gone too quickly. The hummus plate was rich, vibrant, and beautifully plated, and the tacos? Absolute knockouts. My only concern/recommendation is the falafel on the hummus plate were very crunchy, so be careful; though they were so incredibly flavorful, I'll certainly be ordering again!

And then there’s the bar. The bartender was an absolute force... running the bar and tables with speed, grace, and a killer attitude. Friendly, focused, and faster than anyone I’ve seen in a long time. The cocktails were balanced and well-crafted, with a full bar, and so many well-crafted signature drinks.

It’s rare to find that perfect trifecta of great food, great drinks, and genuinely great service in Providence right now, but The Red Door nails it. I’ll be...

I will be dreaming of the coconut shrimp tacos and sweet potato tots for a while, but unfortunately will never visit the Red Door again. The food was beyond amazing, but not worth the negative service experience we encountered. It wasn't just lacking, it was bad. We were greeted after a delay, and when the bartender brought our drinks, we ordered our food. While we were enjoying Food Fights tacos, we made sure to also order a reasonable amount of food and beer, to show support for the restaurant. When the food arrived, one of the dishes was entirely misprepared. We pointed out the discrepancy between what we had ordered and what we had received and the bartender said "Oh yeah. But will it kill you?" We pushed a little harder to have it remade and he relented.

Aside from the initial order and the food/drink drop, the bartender never came back to the table. He walked past our empty glasses for two hours and didn't respond when we tried to flag him down. Despite wanting to order more, we were unable to. We never received napkins or silverware with our food and finally gave up trying to ask for it. After we finished eating, it took another 36 minutes to flag down our check.

As a positive: The food we finally received was incredible. I'd consider ordering takeout if I ever regain any semblance of faith in this restaurant. We ordered the coconut shrimp tacos, steak tacos, the steak crostinis, and the sweet...