Restaurants in Killingly Center

One would be hard pressed to find a can opener anywhere in the kitchen of Cilantro Mexican Grill. That's because the restaurant's chefs don't need one; they never cook with anything that's been canned. Instead, they purée the nutty flesh of ripe hass avocados into jalapeño-laced guacamole, slice fresh tortillas into triangles to be fried and sprinkled with fresh lime juice, and grill fresh, adobo-seasoned chicken, steak, and tilapia. Local growers supply the restaurant with tomatoes and onions. At the Providence, Coventry, Warwick, and Rumford locations, patrons can sip from glasses filled with margaritas or craft beers.

After years in the restaurant business, Ramon and Armando Ruiz were ready for a change. Tired of the gimmicky marketing that characterizes many Italian franchises, they joined with Ramon’s son Enrique to open Andiamo Italian Ristorante—an intimate, neighborhood joint that emphasizes the family orientation of Italian culture. “We don’t want to say this is who we are, deal," Enrique told Eagan Patch. "We want to build relationships with our customers and encourage and welcome feedback.” To that end, their menu of mostly Italian entrees, pastas, and pizzas also includes nontraditional cuisine such as walleye fillets and burgers. The dining room’s decor remains 100% Italian. A mural of rustic wine barrels sweeps across warm orange walls, and a tricolor sign glows above its outdoor patio. Ruiz and his staff also venture beyond the restaurant’s confines to cater various events.

Cafe Gianna's freshly constructed dishes reflect flavorful Old-World Italian recipes served morning, afternoon, and evening. Executive chef Dave Thomas melds seafood, veggies, and succulent carne into pastas, pizzas, and children's songs about lost meatballs and pairs globally inspired à la carte eats such as the popular sesame-encrusted ahi tuna with gourmet desserts. The courteous wait staff, food-laden plates in hand, navigates through a cozy dining room or a private event room that holds 20–40 guests. During warmer seasons, outdoor seating offers mealtime views of Coventry and its roving wildlife imported straight from Tuscany.

Featured by Paul Stern on Mansfield-StorrsPatch in 2011—just months after its opening—Coriander Cafe & Country Store has hatched quite the name for itself in Eastwood. According to Stern, brothers Scott and Brett Laffert run the show with Brett, a former chef and self-proclaimed “country person at heart,” transforming local ingredients into gourmet sandwiches, burgers, and straw hats. The shop makes all their breads—from ciabatta to whole wheat—in-house before stacking them with fresh-carved turkey and cranberry sauce or homemade black-bean patties. Yet the cooks don’t stop at handheld fare; the menu changes daily and can include anything from pan-seared haddock over corn-and-chive griddlecakes to braised pork belly with a side of chipotle grits.

Coriander Cafe also welcomes early risers into its country confines for a cup of fair-trade and organic coffee from Red Barn Coffee Roasters, a homemade bagel, or a decadent pastry such as a raspberry scone or cinnamon-sugar donut muffin, which guests can enjoy inside or amid fresh-picked oxygen molecules on the backyard deck. A fully stocked country store outfits fleeting customers with all the necessities, from homemade cookies and Red Barn coffee to gourmet jams and hot sauces.

Owner Randy Price curates a creative menu of New Haven–style "apizza" in more than 30 styles. His team crafts fresh dough daily using unbleached flour, creates sauce from handpicked Italian and Chilean tomatoes, and sprinkles pies with cheese from home-schooled cows. The famous Challenger—a 22-inch pizza stuffed with a mélange of vegetables and meats that weigh in at nearly 10 pounds—presents the hungriest visitors with a challenge to conquer the hot wheel in an hour or less, a feat that has earned a place on the Travel Channel's Man Vs. Food roster of surmounted food battles.

Liberty Elm's menu unites breakfast and lunch options in culinary harmony unseen since the California Raisins dominated the airwaves. Breakfast boasts a crowd of breakfast crowd-pleasers, including coffee ($1.85), fresh-baked muffins ($1.95), scones ($2.50), omelettes made with local cage-free eggs ($8.95), stacks of buttermilk pancakes ($6 for three or $4.50 for two), and unlimited bacon aromas (free). The Liberty Elm serves lunch classics such as burgers ($6.75–$9.95), salads ($3.75–$6.95), and a house-roasted turkey-breast sandwich ($6.95), among others. Multiple vegetarian options are also offered, including roasted tofu veggie, a concoction of spiced tofu w/ roasted sweet potato, grilled onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms ($6.75), and the marshmallowy, peanut-buttery grilled fluffer nutter sandwich ($3.50, add $0.50 for banana).