Restaurant Review, Marchetti's: A Rhode Island Institution

If you are visiting Rhode Island you may be looking for a good place to eat. You will undoubtedly want to sample some seafood and maybe some "chowda", but quite honestly some of the best food around is courtesy of Italian ancestry that dominates the state's population.

For years Marchetti's, at 1463 Park Avenue in Cranston, has benefited from portion sized word of mouth. If you are confused by the use of "portion sized", allow me to explain. One of any entrée on the menu is enough for you to eat in the restaurant, have lunch the next day, and still have enough to share with someone for dinner. Every pasta dish comes with at least a full pound of pasta. If you order chicken expect two full breasts. If you order prime rib expect half a cow. Even the more expensive seafood items are laden with muscles, calamari, little necks, scallops, and chopped clams. One mild complaint here, like all high volume restaurants some dishes contain a bit of "seafood medley" sometimes known as "seafood sections" and commonly found in sandwich shops billed as "seafood salad". Not to worry though because it is not in every dish and it is not the bulk of the ones that do contain it. The descriptions in the menu are complete so you can avoid it if you like. Though I have to say while not adding anything to talk about it certainly didn't detract from the dishes it is in either.

I tend to become too involved with the family sized salad that is delivered to the table to actually be able to eat any large portion of my meal. Sounds dumb, I know, but I can't help it. They have the second best salad dressing I have ever had. This white zinfandel vinaigrette is to die for. It only gets better as it sits on the table and sinks into the croutons. After three plates of salad it's a little hard to find room for the meal.

Not to be outdone by the salad is the bread, nicely crusted around a soft airy center and delivered to the table with a garlic and olive oil dip. You have to be careful or you'll be taking a nap by the time the server arrives with the entrée. We add Parmesan cheese to the oil and ask for butter for the kids though they usually have two or three slices of bread hollowed out before it arrives.

I will take this space to comment on service. We are pretty good about going during off peak hours because there is no way you are going to just waltz in on a Friday night after five and get seated without a reservation unless. If you want to attempt this dance be sure you are prepared to wait for about two hours. Make no mistake about it, there are local people who show up without reservations at peak times. They fill the indoor waiting area and spill out into the parking lot where they will be able to hear their name over the speaker. I liken it to winning the lottery because having once waited for forty-five minutes watching and smelling the food go by I could have jumped up and down screaming when I heard our name called. The wait staff is prompt and knowledgeable about the menu. On the rare occasion that they aren't sure they are more than happy to go back to the kitchen and ask. I have never been disappointed. My kids have always been catered to when they wanted to make menu changes and the price is always right. We generally spend less money here on quality food than we do at some of the casual dinning chains.

My husband is partial to the Chicken Parmigiana. He loves the red sauce, which is tangy and sweet and often asks for some on the side to take home with his leftovers, as the microwave will tend to dry them out. Again, the staff is always more than happy to oblige. One son has ordered pasta with meatballs on several occasions. He was unable to finish one giant meatball. The other son is a steak and potato boy, while he has never gotten the prime rib, he is quick to comment on the size of the meat that is not delivered on a regular plate but on a small platter. I am partial to the seafood dishes. My favorite is Calamari Siciliano. This is a pound of pasta with garlic aioli tossed with fried calamari, black olive slices, and hot pepper rings. Other standouts have been Chicken Saltimbocca, Chicken Marsala, Veal Parmigiana, Stuffed Mushroom Caps, and Manicotti.

This is not a romantic, atmosphere-laden place. The walls are decorated with the Hollywood elite in one room, European advertisements in another. It is loud and filled with laughter more often than not. Everyone knows someone else in the room and there is a sense of a giant family gathering centered around food. People continue to come back because it suits them; it caters to the majority of the population delivering a good meal at a decent price, with friendly service. If you can't make it off peak hours or get a reservation, have no fear because you can call in your order and pick it up instead.