RHODYLIFE

Two restaurant icons reopen

By Don Fowler
Posted 11/5/20

By Don Fowler TWIN OAKS Cranston's Twin Oaks restaurant has survived prohibition, fire, flood and pandemic, serving its classic meals through good times and bad. The iconic establishment served take-out and offered patio dining through the spring and

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RHODYLIFE

Two restaurant icons reopen

Posted

TWIN OAKS

Cranston’s Twin Oaks restaurant has survived prohibition, fire, flood and pandemic, serving its classic meals through good times and bad.

The iconic establishment served take-out and offered patio dining through the spring and summer and reopened to limited-seating indoor dining, only to be closed for a week due to COVID-19 complications.

The DeAngelis family took the proper precautions and the restaurant reopened this week.

We have been “regulars” since 1965, when a quahog pie and salad with Roquefort set us back a buck and my daughter’s favorite meal was toasted cheese and fries.

While prices have risen with the times, quality and service have remained high.

Over the years, we have ordered just about everything on the menu, including their daily specials.

While open steak and baked stuffed shrimp and are favorites for Joyce and I, respectively, we also enjoy the following less expensive menu items:

Provini veal cutlet ($11.95 for half order). Tender real veal with red or brown gravy. I prefer brown with mashed potatoes. Joyce likes red with pasta.

Fried shrimp (five, $19.95). Large, tender, tasty.

Baked scrod with seafood dressing ($15.25). Perfectly cooked. Served piping hot with Ritz cracker and butter topping.

New England boiled dinner ($13.95). Thursday special with tender corned beef, potato, carrots, and onions. Huge serving. Add a little hot brown mustard.

Meatloaf ($13.95). Tuesday special. Not the yuppie gourmet kind. Old-fashioned meatloaf like mom used to make, with mashed potato, brown gravy and coleslaw.

Wild Oaker ($9.95). A gigantic sandwich of white turkey meat, dressing and a dab of cranberry sauce.

Burgers. Ranging in price from $9 to Joyce’s favorite Canadian burger ($11.25). And you can get it the way she likes it: rare!

Twin Oaks is one of the few restaurants that serves a fried smelt appetizer ($8.75). It’s enough for two, served hot, with tartar sauce.

And for that special lunch, how about calves liver and onions ($10.50)? Joyce ordered it once and everybody in the Founders Room turned to see who that crazy woman was.

My favorite Friday night meal is their fried fish ($13.95), which literally hangs over the large plate and is enough for another meal. A side of pasta makes for a perfect combination.

WRIGHT’S FARM

Every year since our now-married grandchildren were in pre-school, we have held a May get-together at Wright’s Farm. Traveling from Connecticut and parts of Rhode Island, we have gathered for food and fellowship at the humongous facility with its many rooms and long tables.

This was the first year we missed. But thanks to Wright’s Farm’s reopening this week, a few of us will be able to carry on the tradition. (Sorry, Connecticut, you’re not included.)

With so much room in the barn-like structure, Wright’s is able to social distance and still serve more people than most restaurants.

Service is fast and efficient, and asking for more food is expected.

Pitchers of water and soda, and perhaps a drink from the bar, start things off.

No need to look at a menu, as with the exception of substituting a steak for chicken (at an additional price), you know exactly what you are going to be getting.

You start with the salad bowls and a dressing, sold in their gift shop, that is as good as it gets. Fresh rolls and butter do a good job of filling up the young ones before the main meal arrives.

Bowls of hot, juicy chicken are brought to the table, giving you the choice of legs, thighs, and breasts. My son still holds the record for number of pieces consumed.

Bowls of shells and sauce and fries accompany the chicken.

There is something about the fries and how they are prepared that make them taste better than those served in other establishments, causing the waitpersons to return with many refills.

Before you know it, the meal is over and everyone is stuffed.

Now is the time for adults to relax with a cup of coffee and kids, no matter how full, to enjoy a dish of ice cream.

We often return to the huge waiting areas to visit a bit longer, while the younger ones (they are not so young now) head for the gift shop.

Welcome back, Wright’s Farm!

restaurants, Twin Oaks, Wright's Farm

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