Noshing in Newport

One of the benefits of staying in a timeshare is that you will at least have a partial kitchen so that some meals can be prepared in. This is one benefit that I decided not to profit from. I wanted to relax and let someone wait on me for a change. There are two things to consider in Newport when doing this: cost and location. The closer you are to the harbor, the higher the price. What this can mean is breakfasts for two and dinners. I took my cue from Rachael Ray and picked up the local newspaper and looked for coupons. I also asked locals for their favorite suggestions.

I have some favorites in Newport, and I returned to two of them: Annie's for breakfast and Brickyard Pub for dinner. To read about them, check out my previous Newport journal.

We began our 4-day visit with a buy one get one free deal at the Marriott Hotel Restaurant. This was because we were staying at a Fairfield timeshare resort. We could have had dinner two-for-one every night if we had chosen to; the only catch was that we needed the desk clerk to make the reservation for us.

Quick Tips:

Our first morning, I did exactly what I knew I shouldn’t: I ate at Ocean Breeze Café on Thames Street. There were really a couple of fairly good reasons for this. One, it was on Thames Street, and second, it has its own parking lot. I know that doesn’t sound like a very good reason, but after you have visited Newport, you will realize what a very good reason it is.

We ate twice more on Thames, once for lunch and once for dinner. We lucked out on parking both other times, but that is something you can’t count on. Learn where the parking lots are and park there. Tickets can get expensive, and there is very limited, and I mean really limited, metered street parking. One of the restaurants we choose on Thames was Salas, which is a small restaurant on the second floor, and this was a local suggestion. The other was the Red Parrot, which I would call a tourist trap, except that the food was terrific and the service was friendly and efficient.

My favorite restaurant in Newport was the Rhumbline. We found it on our last morning there and had a fantastic brunch. It was located within walking distance of the resort, and had we found it sooner, I’m sure we would have had more meals there. Another favorite was the Coddington Brewing Company. That was also a suggestion we got from the owner of KC’s restaurant where we had lunch one day and breakfast another. Here was a real lesson: prices went down about 30% when you got into the town of Newport, away from the tourist area.

Best Way To Get Around:

Newport has an extensive bus system not only in the tourist areas, but, since it is a college town, to other parts as well. You can pick up both a map of the city and bus route maps at the visitor center on Thames. In order to park at the visitor center, you need to part in a parking garage. This is only free for 30 minutes; after that you have to pay. If you plan to drive, you will need to locate the parking lots. All of the mansions have lots, some of them are across the streets from the houses and involve a bit of a hike.
There are lots of one-way streets in Newport. Thames, for example, is one-way. It is a great eating and shopping street, but a parking nightmare. It is narrow and crowded and only really enjoyable if you are walking.
T.F. Green Airport in Providence is the closest airport to Newport. It is an east 25-mile drive. Logan Airport, in Boston, is 75 miles away. Amtrak runs into Kingston, RI, and Providence. From the visitor center you can catch an interstate bus to New York City or to Boston.
For a parking map of Newport, go to Newport Maps.

Located in Middletown Rhode Island, this is a great place to grab a bite to eat and drink a locally produced brew. The atmosphere is very typically brew pub, with the big shiny vats visible through the glass walls. We had a booth facing the fireplace, and it was a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

The most popular of their brews is the blueberry. I am not a fan of fruit beers from my experience with strawberry beer in Belgium, so I decided to try the sampler. You have your choice of six from among their seven choices, and of these, three are seasonal brews that change. I did take the blueberry as one of my choices, and son of a gun, it was by far the best. It was light but full of flavor and had a small scoop of blueberries in the glass. Sounds a bit weird, but tastes great. I do have to warn that 6 7-ounce beers is a whole lot of beer. I was very grateful that I wasn’t driving, because I had a serious buzz, even though I didn’t finish them all.

This being New England among the usual pub fare, you will find an appetizer of little neck clams, New England Clam Chowder, and a full array of Italian dishes. It you are starving, try their Brewmasters feast: grilled chicken breast, half rack of ribs, 5-ounce grilled tenderloin, and fries.

I was in the mood for something a little different, so I started with salsa and chips. The chips were served warm and the salsa was very warm (spicy); it set my mouth on fire. Thank goodness for that 42 ounces of beer. For my main course I had the shepherd’s pie. I know this was carb central, but it was a cold, rainy day, and this certainly is comfort food. It was served with a nice romaine salad, grape tomatoes, red peppers, and onions, with what looked and tasted like homemade croutons. I had it topped with a very good honey Dijon dressing.

My serving of shepherd's pie was huge and much more than I could eat in one sitting. The hamburger was served with a tasty gravy, creamy potatoes, and, of course, corn. Al ordered The William Coddington Turkey Platter. It had all the fixings: stuffing, cranberry sauce, and mashed red bliss potatoes.

We shared a piece of key lime pie for dessert. It is baked on-site. They claim it is the best around, and I am hard-pressed to disagree; it was tart and creamy, just the way anyone would like their key lime pie.

Service was better than just good--it was great. I knew I would love this place when I read their menu. “Life is uncertain, eat dessert first.”