Mike's Kitchen

Posted By Michael Stern on February 3, 2012 6:11 AM

If you happen to drive past Mike’s Kitchen, you probably won’t notice it’s a restaurant. Located in a VFW hall with only one little sign outside other than the Post Number, Mike’s doesn’t need to advertise. To those who seek out great Italian food at low prices, it is a appetite-stirring magnet. At mealtimes, its tables are always crowded. (Be sure to call ahead; when the Vets meet or when private functions are held, it is closed to the public.)

The menu, posted on the wall, is extremely appetizing: a catalog of dishes that are mostly Italian, a little Portuguese, and very Rhode Island. You can begin a meal with a stuffie (a stuffed quohog clam) or the unique Ocean State appetizer known as snail salad, then move on to perfectly broiled swordfish or scallops; or it is possible to indulge in such delectable old-world favorites as sautéed broccoli rabe (or a rabe and provolone sandwich), gnocchi Sorrentino, sole Florentine, and chicken with cannellini beans. On the side of anything, you want polenta – a cream-soft block of steamy cooked cornmeal available with fennel-spiked sausage, meatballs, or a blanket of thick marinara sauce.

Many of the Italian dishes are familiar: veal cutlets in a variety of sauces, Parmesans galore, scampis, and even spaghetti and meatballs and linguine with nothing but oil and garlic. Seafood pastas are especially wonderful, offered with a choice of red or white sauce; at $16.95, the top of the line is seafood Diablo – lobster, scallops, and shrimp spread out across a bed of noodles.

To drink with your meal, wine and cocktails are available from a bar at one side of the dining room. You will pay for these separately, as the bar is run by the veterans who own the building.

polenta

stuffed artichoke

chicken a la Mike

snail salad

Stuffie

Pork Loin over Rice

Chicken Parmesan