Bar Tabs: Remington House Inn

What are the good parts of Rhode Island? Well, Providence is the center of what culture and class the state has. Pawtucket is the Billy Carter to Providence's Jimmy. Newport is its tourist hub. Bristol is Newport for the natives. Warren is the ever-so-slightly edgier version of Bristol, because there are two square blocks that feel blue collar. Jamestown and Block Island are where you go to dream of a different lifestyle. Westerly is that town you go to once a year and say 'why don't I come here more often?'

The point is, all these towns have an identity that draws at least some of us to leave our own and visit them. I could have gone on: Narragansett, Gloucester, Little Compton...all have their strong points. But then there are the towns that people are leaving to go to all these Rhody gems. And while there are actually quite a few (Johnston and North Providence, I'm talking to you), the Warwick/Cranston complex is the beating suburban heart of our state. So the question becomes, what do these towns have to offer the rest of us? What, besides Garden City and Twin Oaks, would draw us in?

In an attempt to find out, I asked my wife, who worked in Warwick for a while, if there were any places that she would recommend people check out. After a pause, she said simply 'The Remy'. A little later, we were on our way to the Remington House Inn, a bar and restaurant that is worth braving I-95 for.


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I posted this under Bar Tabs because we went for drinks and a few appetizers. But by the time we left at 6:30 on a Saturday, the restaurant was packed. It seems the Remy is not exactly a hidden gem. However, I would definitely recommend the bar experience. The drinks are very reasonably priced, and they have a nice selection of beers on tap. What's more, they have a good selection of happy hour appetizers that, at least the day we were there, were available until 6:00. (I had the impression they might have extended this an hour.) We got the bruschetta and the potato skins, which were both a step above the typical bar fare and more than filling enough.

But the real reasons to go are the location (in a cool old building by the water) and the crowd. The people there tend to be a little older than your average Providence crowd, and for whatever reason, this made the people-watching and eavesdropping spectacular. I was priviledged to hear two complete strangers debating the details of the Catholic sex abuse scandals of a few years ago, with one inebriated orator stating emphatically that, "the nuns are just as bad as the priests, and everyone in my school knew it." I only wish he had been together enough to explain where that came from. Another group of 40-somethings looked like teenagers sneaking a drink out of their parents' liquor cabinet, so thrilled were they to be ditching the kids and throwing down a few with some friends. After too many nights of hipper-than-thou bar patrons in the city, it was refreshing to see people letting loose and enjoying themselves, and observing the wild results.

I won't be making the Remington House a regular stop (I've become too much a Rhode Islander to take 95 that often), but I'll always keep it in mind when I need some tasty bar bites and a break from the regular scene.