Pat's Italian Restaurant in Downtown Johnston RI

Pat's Italian Restaurant is one of our family's top five choices for close to home dinning pleasure. Right in the heart of downtown Johnston on a main road and tucked inside a nondescript brick building with several other businesses it is certainly not the most elegant or ambiance filled location you'll ever visit. In fact even the interior is somewhat cliché Italian with a bent toward utilitarian. While you may not want to linger long after your meal in the metal chairs surrounding small Formica topped tables you will most certainly enjoy the actual eating experience.

Thinly sliced fresh bread with a significantly crisp crust and soft center is delivered to the table with butter while you peruse a fairly extensive and decidedly Italian menu. Don't expect to find a burger and fries as a fall back item because it's not there. Though I do recommend the chicken soup as a suitable standby for the limited diners in your party. My fourteen year old swears by it and will order two bowls for dinner.

Choice appetizers include a bed of lettuce with fresh mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, basil and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, or traditional antipasto. Mozzarella triangles fried to golden perfection with sweet tomato basil marinara for dipping are pleasantly pleasing to those used to previously frozen sticks.

Pasta's of course lead the way in entrées. Several are homemade and there are three fantastic sauces to choose from. My favorite is potato gnocchi swimming in pink vodka sauce. I always order it swimming because the portion is too big to be eaten in one sitting and the extra sauce is key to a decent re-warming for lunch the next day. My husband stands by his perennial favorite of chicken parmigiana. When choosing from three-course mealfor $25 per person specials I opted for the chicken marsala were the sweet wine and earthy mushrooms are perfectly married by the tender chicken breasts.

Desserts come in many shapes, sizes and flavor combinations. While the ones by Bindi are displayed on the table in all of their frozen symmetrical splendor, some touting a take home glass, I urge you to try something different. I stepped outside of my usual chocolate dessert ritual and discovered a delectable berry and mascarpone cake that was sliced so large I enjoyed part of it for breakfast the next morning.

At a slightly higher price point with appetizers from $7 - $13, entrée's from $11 for pasta with house sauce to $27 for filet mignon, and desserts averaging $6 Pat's won't be an everyday choice but for those once in a while dining events it's reasonable and delicious.