Restaurants in West Warwick

By setting his restaurant at the less congested end of Atwells Avenue, Ken Turchetta has stayed under the radar in Federal Hill—a status he enjoys because it keeps his restaurant intimate. That’s why even after 12 years in business, it’s common to see him make a stop at every table.

Since the beginning, chef Hector Madrid has been Ken’s go-to artisan for creating authentic Italian dishes from fresh, local ingredients. The resultant spread is impressive: chicken and veal marsala, fish fillets, and rings-only calamari, all easily paired with red or white wine by the bottle or glass.

A pink ‘59 Cadillac flips on its headlights and a waiter strides to the window. “What’ll be, Mac?” This was the golden age of carhops, when root-beer cost a nickel, and Joe Fanning built A&W of Smithfield with a hammer, saw, and a little elbow grease. Today, it is still a family operation under the ownership of Stephanie Mosca, whose sisters and kids have all slung sarsaparilla among the eatery’s carports. Those servers and their compatriots have dispensed more than one million dogs and 97,000 frosty mugs of A&W root-beer at the location. Every year, beginning on the second Saturday in March, diners drive up and flip on their lights to signal to a carhop that they are ready to order. Hot dogs made from American beef pair perfectly with root-beer floats laced in cool tufts of froth, and burgers match up to pamphlets about not feeding the cassette deck no matter how hungry it looks.

With recipes that call to mind the towering spires of the Khmer Empire’s antique capital, the chef at Angkor Restaurant recreates modern Cambodia’s favorite dishes. Nam yaa, the restaurant's most popular dish, is also known as medicine soup for the restorative qualities of its lemongrass, ginger, and garlic and the tradition of serving it in a tiny childproof bottle. Distinct Cambodian sauces, such as tamarind and spicy garlic, douse crispy fish, and peanut sauce tops banh hoi, whose steamed noodles are accompanied by lettuce and mint.

China Inn's menu is like a gustatory balloon ride over China, exploring different regions and culinary traditions to gain an understanding of the country's myriad subcultures. Cantonese-style dishes, such as sautéed lobster with a garden-fresh medley of snow peas, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts, demonstrate favoritism for veggies, whereas the Sichuan and Hunan entrees re-create those cultures’ characteristic spices and chilies with incendiary sauces. Mu shi, a traditional Mandarin dish, presents diners with pork, shrimp, or beef and vegetables as well as four Chinese pancakes to scoop up and wrap each bite or envelop a love note to a date.

In contrast to the complexly assembled menu of pan-regional specialties, China Inn's dining room embraces a more elegant simplicity. The airy space features a large, central skylight that allows ample sunshine to wash over tables and plates. Chinese pottery adds a distinctive and authentic touch to the decor, whereas leafy plants create a calming, natural ambiance and an ample supply of oxygen to last through the dinner rush.

Named a Top 100 Overall Excellence winner at the Top 100 Chinese Restaurants Awards Show, Shanghai Gardens' fiery woks beget a diverse array of traditional Asian cuisine. Szechuan, Shanghai, and Cantonese recipes suffuse sizzling meat and vegetarian dishes with powerful flavor as sushi artisans craft delicate maki and sashimi selections. The dining room accents its marigold walls with framed art and decorative checkered flooring as bartenders mix Polynesian-style cocktails atop the lounge's sleek curved bar, adding a tropical element to Asian cuisine, such as stir-frying on a steel drum.

Each dish that leaves executive chef Robert Hennemann’s kitchen is made from scratch. He ladles housemade sauce over breaded chicken breasts and puffs up ravioli with a hefty infusions of cheese. Servers cart platefuls of broiled scallops and house-cut sirloin to tables topped with lace cloths that can double as veils for impromptu weddings.