Red Stripe

Well, it looks like the old Red Stripe location will now become a T’s breakfast place.

I am a huge lover of Red Stripe on Wayland. I feel the need to qualify my review with the fact that I have never had an issue with their menu, their approach towards food, etc. On the contrary, I quite appreciate their food — which is why I made the mistake of bringing a group of out of town friends here one Saturday night in August 2011.
We arrived and were told that there was an hour wait. Irritated at the fact that anywhere in Narr has an hour wait (except the Matunuck Oyster Bar), we decided to go to the bar. The service at the bar was excruciatingly slow. We asked for our tab as soon as we received our drinks — a pitcher of sangria. We received the drinks not the tab, and had to continue asking for our tab… repeatedly, for 25 minutes. We finally were so tired of asking that when a table opened up, we simply walked away. We figured that if the bartender ever cared enough, she could find us.
The food service hit an all time low. It was comically bad. Like — my friends and I still joke about the insane manager and terrible service. First off, we had to clear our own table because the hostess took us out to the deck, realized that the table hadn’t been cleared and only had 3 seats, and then just walked away. We were standing for about 15 minutes before we just moved the plates away and grabbed a chair from another table. From that point on, it took us an hour to even get our food. Our waiter just stopped showing up and, instead, the manager was handling our table.
If they ever get their act together on service, it might rise to the level of the Wayland Red Stripe. I certainly will never waste another night trying to figure out if it’s improved, though. Not with so many other great restaurants.

Even though it’s in a big shopping center, the food at Red Stripe is good. The service seems a little undertrained, but that didn’t bother me too much. The restaurant specializes in classic dishes with a Rhode Island twist, like moules frites (mussels & french fries), fried calamari, etc. The décor is interesting and a nice step up from the other greasy spoon burger joints in the area. Not a bad option for South County, with slightly better fare than its competitors.

I am not sure why people are so confused about this place. The sign on the outside says ‘An American Brassiere’.
Granted, there is some Red Stripe beer branding on menue and table adverts… but the external & internal decoration is very a bland American style. There isn’t anything to suggest Jamaican about this place other than some association with a beer. It is like going to a restaurant called Big Ben’s and expecting it to be English food.
To the reviewer that complained about how their steak was pre-​cut. READ THE MENUE. The description is plainly obvious this is how it is served.
I had a chicken Cesar which had good flavor but it was a tad dry. I would much rather face this than too much dressing though. Anchovies are optional… I requested them and what I was given was a nice fillet resting on top. I had never seen one that was big enough to produce such a cut. VERY tasty and a great addition.
My wife had the open face steak frites sandwich. The steak was cooked as requested and very tender. It had great flavor too.
The wait staff was a little disengaged but it was a slow night.
My biggest problem with this place was how 20 people celebrating a birthday at the bar could fill the entire place with noise. I would hate to be there on a busy night.

Strange, No Bob Marley on the radio, no beef patties on the menu and no black people in the restaurant, and this is supposed to be a Jamaican bar??? maybe not, but I
left pondering the affiliation with the beer of the same name–
For those who may not be aware– Red Stripe is the name of the national (if not official, definitely defacto) Beer of Jamaica.
Its also not «at the beach as the menu so declares. It rather anchors the pad site of the Salt Pond Shopping plaza 2 miles from the water (and nowhere near a pond of
the salt, brackish or fresh water persuasion. This plaza also is home to old time beach favorites like critter hut, vision world and the ocean breezy Magic Nails. Well,
maybe the last one has a girl named Sandy working there, but its probably her American name.
I just didn’t think this place was good– A mismatch– trying to be beachy, and not delivering. A laid back vibe, with laid back food and service by Stoner teens that
didnt pass the lifeguard test. HA! theres the Jamaican connection!

So, Red Stripe in Narragansett has in fact re-​opened as of a few weeks ago. I figured it was my duty to check it out and see if the promise of new management (advertised out front) and a new menu meant a better experience than the last couple of times I’d been.
Lo and behold — the mussels and frites were great! I had a 23 ounce Sierra Nevada on tap to wash it down and it was $ 20 or so. At the very least, Red Stripe Narragansett now provides a reasonable and less raucous alternative to the local pub fare places, and straddles the line between that and higher end dining. The summer rental folks will be happy. The revised menu now has a better mix of touristy fried clams stuff, pub fare (burgers etc), and true entrees.
In concluding, while I stand by my negative review of the ‘old’ Red Stripe, they have certainly put a better foot forward with the re-​opening. There is even a sign by the hostess booth advertising a survey app for smart phones… this allows one to submit comments. They are definitely trying to figure out what they need to do in order to make this spot a success.

Let me preface my review that Red Stripe has new management at this location and based on the reviews has new staff and a brand new menu.
Red Stripe not only fits in with the best of the Narragansett restaurants, but it finally offers something that many cannot match, good seafood. You would think as a local of the area I would be able to rattle off 50 million good seafood places around. Trust me, you can’t.
My gf asked for seafood and off the top of my head I could think of some of the more upscaler restaurants in the area (ala Spain, Turtle Soup, Coast Guard House, etc.) but I didn’t want to take her to some of the lower scale places of Galilee (Champlin’s, George’s, etc.). So Red Stripe came to mind and good thing we went.
I has a really nice atmosphere but not so over the top that you feel out of place with a nice t-​shirt and jeans (which is exactly what I was wearing).
For an appetizer we went with the Rhode Island mainstay selection of a stuffie. So you figure, eh it isn’t going to be anything special. Red Stripe’s stuffie was very good, not too much celery that makes you play hunt for the clams. I would also love to try their calamari dishes the next time I come visit.
For an entrée I got a cajun clam roll, which is a different take on my usual go to dish of fried clams. When you hear ‘cajun’ you think spicy. This dish ironically wasn’t overly spicy but had a different taste but it was very good. The garlic aioli they serve with the fries is very tasty.
I was actually afraid of larger bill than usual figuring Red Stripe would love to charge a few dollars more for the nice «atmosphere». However the check was extremely reasonable for restaurants in the area.
Highly recommend you stop over if you are in town for the summer and would love to tell all the previous reviewers to give it a second chance.

Eh. TGI Friday’s, local style…
I’ve been to the Red Stripe in Wayland Square, and when someone I was dining with said we were going to the newly opened Red Stripe in Wakefield, I was happy. From the minute I stepped in, however, disappointment set in.
We went on night two of opening, and the service was actually solid. But everything else reeked of chain restaurant.
It seems much larger than the one in Providence, and gives off a much more casual vibe. Despite the solid service, it too was very informal.
The menu is also much more casual than the one in Providence, and lacks a number of staples, including the french onion soup. Entrees are extremely limited, and the place just gives off a vibe that tells me I should order a burger. I ordered the steak frites and, not sure if they’re doing this in Providence as well, but they were steak pieces frites — sorry, but when I order a steak, I want the whole steak, as I am very capable of cutting my meat up all by myself. I assume it cooks quicker if it’s in chunks, but «steak» is not «steak tips». Appetizers were passible, as were the rest of the entrees/​salads my party of 5 ordered. Nothing knocking my socks off, day two or no day two.
All in all, I won’t be back. Felt like I was in 99 or a slightly nicer Applebee’s. Haven’t been to the Providence location in awhile, but I’m hoping it’s still solid. I’ll attribute the more casual feel to a beach town mentality, and leave the finer diner to the east side.

Sunday afternoon lunch
I wanted to like you even more Red Stripe, really I did!
Get better wait staff, that are attentive and pleasant please!
We were seated promptly, another table right behind us… They got the better waitress apparently. The waitress we got maybe was nursing a hang over, still drunk, pills??? Not sure, but she definitely did not put in her best effort, not even a little bit. I know times are tough, so you are working to make tips… do a better job of EARNING the tip! She did not smile, she did not ask how we were doing, she assumed the male at the table was my kids father, she mumbled, she was weird!
I started with the Seafood chowder, it was creamy pink «Red Stripe» chowder with shrimp, clams, scallops, and fish. They put a little pat of butter before serving. I will go back and get this to go! It was delicious, and a really good sized portion.
Kids ordered 1 cheese pizza, 1 grilled cheese & fries. The pizza was HUGE and really good, fresh basil all over the top, for $ 6.50 (which I thought was rather pricey for a kids meal) it was totally worth it! The grilled cheese was prepared on a thick bread and came with more fries then any one person could eat, never mind a 4 year old!
I got the fish & chips. I did not like the way the cole slaw was prepared, the fish was awesome… some of the best I have ever had! 3 good sized pieces of cod, plenty of fries and the «tarter» sauce they give accompanies the fish really well, I was skeptical… I am a mayo & relish lover.
For $ 13.75, my friend go the Roasted ½ chicken with
rosemary pan jus and house salad or fries. He was never asked if he wanted the salad or fries to go with the chicken and he was also never asked if he wanted just the dinner, or off of the Pri-​fix Menu.
The food was good, don’t get me wrong. When you have shby service with good food, it just doesn’t add up… I expect good service as well, and Red Stripe fell short of that. It was a disappointment. Will I go back… probably not. I am a local to the Narragansett area, I have the opportunity to send people there in my job everyday… yeah, that is not going to happen. Why would I? So they can have a bad waitress experience too? NOPE!
MANAGEMENT: Train your staff better, and MAYBE, just MAYBE you will get another chance. I have heard from other «locals» that have said the same. Don’t think for a minute that just because you are busy in the summer in ‘Gansett that it will carry over into the winter, with out us «locals» you got NOTHING. This should really be addressed, consistency is key, and if you have 1 weak link, it really takes away from all the others.

The food here is excellent. Most of the menu is comfort foods but they add a unique and delicious spin to everything. My meal of choice, the red stripe grilled cheese and tomato soup. Best ever!
At the Narragansett location I have experienced a 15 minute wait for a take out grilled cheese take over an hour, and I’ve also had good paced service with a very nice waitress, she visited the table much too often but made our appetizer complimentary because of a very minor order mishap (I ordered the grilled cheese and wasn’t aware the version featuring poached pear and pesto was called the red stripe grilled cheese).
I would definitely recommend this restaurant to friends, the food is great and the staff has always been kind in my experiences.

Never again, Red Stripe, never again.
Went for lunch on a rainy Sunday afternoon on a first-​time visit. The service was painful. It took — seriously — 45 minutes since we walked in the door to lay down an appetizer of mussels in a dijon broth, though they tasted OK.
Another ridiculous stretch for the lunch dishes which included cold, thick, salty, nasty chowder, cold fries, DRY overcooked cat-​food salmon between what looked like texas toast that would have completely overwhelmed the cat food if it were worth eating.
Finally… a belated check back… no, everything’s not «ok». A manager came over to deliver a lame excuse in person: if it were sunny out it would be a «beach day» so we were understaffed.
There were 5 tables of diners and an empty bar. No offer to comp anything on the bill or motivate a return visit — ever.

This is my first review, to this point I haven’t been compelled to write one. However I did feel I had to this time. Never have I had such high hopes for a restaurant and been let down so badly, I came here with my wife and two friends based on checking the website for the location in Providence but decided to go this one in Narragansett instead. What I’ll do is break down each part of the visit and the reasons for the star rating (2)
Ambiance (1): The look of the restaurant was awesome, parking was ample and had a great feel inside and outside, including an open air patio that had huge glass doors that opened into the main dinning room to provide fresh air. Great lighting and the fixtures where really nice, the music was interesting they played reggae but it had a French look, I guess the music went with the name Red Stripe.
Service (0): This was a big part of the poor experience, I understand that the pacing of a restaurant varies, however the server should still be attentive. For example we had to practically beg for some bread, and often I found that that our server was no where to be found especially when we needed something. However we where seated right away when we arrived.
Taste of the food (0): I thought that my starter was OK I had little necks but those are tough to mess up, they are raw so I’ll let you know tomorrow if there are any problems. I had Fish and Chips for an entrée and it was not the greatest they where more like fish nuggets with cold shoe string fries, I have had better at the hole in the wall place up the street but it is what it is. However my wife had a ‘grilled’ pizza and it was soggy and wet from the tomato sauce, and on top of it the dough was raw, They did remake it and take it off the bill but when it came back the crust was still soggy but the the cheese and toppings where cooked more. One of my friends had the jerk pork tenderloin, which he said was dry and tasteless and that was also cold and the cornbread that it came with was dense and dry. However another friend got the mussels and fries and she said the mussels where good but she also got cold fries.
Presentation (0): Pretty typical here, the little necks where served on a pie plate which I found to be very functional actually so that they would stay cold, however watching my wife have to drain a few tablespoons of water from her pizza made it a little hard to ignore.
Menu (1): The menu looked like it had some great items on it and I like the idea of the prix fix menu, thats what I got a good value at $ 20. A good amount of seafood mixed with steak and other dishes are found on the menu.
Overall I would say that the menu alone may bring me back again but I will not try anything I’ve had tonight from the menu perhaps the mussels or steak. I gave Red Strip 2 stars for the Ambiance and the Menu selection.

My husband works nights and most weekends so if we go out to dinner it’s usually at a chain restaurant because they tend to have more convenient hours. Tonight was one of those rare weekends off so we made plans to go out with the besties and were committed to try something new. The Red Stripe in Providence caught our eye but we didn’t think we were dressed properly so we decided to check out the Narragansett location because it appeared to be more casual. We took the almost hour long drive (we were coming from Seekonk, MA) and when we walked in we all felt confident in our decision.
The décor and overall atmosphere was great – I hate getting dressed up for dinner (I tend to wear anything I attempt to eat) and this almost felt like high end dining but I also didn’t feel out of place in my $ 2.50 Old Navy flip flops. The music selection was a little odd… Pink Floyd and Bob Marley… don’t get me wrong, I love the music, it just didn’t seem to fit. We were seated immediately and given two carafes of ice cold water. We placed our drink orders and checked out the menu. There were plenty to choose from but everything that sounded good seemed way over priced to me ($ 12.00 for grilled cheese and soup??? seriously???). I settled on the Italian sausage and broccoli rabe grilled pizza and it was actually one of the least expensive items on the menu at $ 10. The hubby ordered off of their prix fix menu and got little necks on the half shell and fish and chips. Our friends ordered moule frite (mussels and fries) and Jamaican jerk grilled pork. The pork was horribly dry and tasteless, the breading on the fish and chips was soggy, the fries were cold and I had to drain the tomato water off of my undercooked pizza. At least the mussels were good…
The service was definitely not the worst but I was extremely disappointed. On more than one occasion, we sat for quite some time with empty glasses waiting for a glimpse of our waitress so we could ask for another round but she must have been busy with her one other table. When our food finally did come out, I expressed my concerns with the amount of water in my plate (I literally tipped the plate over an empty glass and drained a good quarter of an inch of water into it) and the fact that my dough was still raw and I got an eye roll. I’m not sure if it was aimed towards me or her frustration with the kitchen staff but it was definitely not appreciated. She was very quick to offer to take it off the bill which was nice but made me feel like this wasn’t the first time this has happened.
The only reason there are two stars is because my friend LOVED her mussels.

ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!!! Went here last night to grab a bite to eat. The food was terrible.
I ordered the Pizza, a salad, and the Paella. The pizza was made from the packaged pizza you buy in the supermarket (Top This). The cheese was Kraft, straight from the package.
My salad was on iceberg, the lettuce was basically white (not green) it was gross. The dressing was bad too.
The Paella was the worst thing. The rice was hard and not cooked. The chorizo wasn’t even sausage, it was more like cheap pepperroni from a Lunchable that had been mutilated with a dull knife. The fish was sandy and had a chemical taste. Overall gross. The waitress took it off the bill.
Never will I go hear again. It was expensive garbage.

The food at Red Stripe is not bad. I had veal parmesan which was a little bit watery but overall acceptable. The clam chowder was a creamy tomato clam chowder, which was interesting and unique. My partner had the Red Stripe burger and fries which he said was cooked well. The burger was topped with grilled red onions and a copious amount of guacamole. The dish also came with a whole boatload of shoestring fries.
While the food would have been worth three stars, one star gets knocked off for the shoddy service that we had. Many other diners were ordering alcohol while we only got water. This seemed to indicate to the server that we were not worth her attention. She was not in the least bit friendly, nor did she check on us during dinner — she barely even managed to crack a smile at any time during the meal.
The restaurant itself was decorated nicely — reminiscent of a French brasserie. The music was reggae, giving the whole place a French Caribbean flavor. There is also ample parking, which is one of the best aspects of the restaurant. We do not plan on returning.

Red Stripe Narragansett. Went there one time and the food was excellent in taste and in presentation. Early week specials during the winter included half price entrees for women. (that’s a little chauvey!) Anyhow the beer braised short ribs were outstanding. I just looked at their menu and I was going to comment that their prices were a bit high, but they seem to have LOWERED their PRICES! A copy of their menu can be found here

The only negative comment which I did not personally experience but a very good friend of mine did was that the service was extremely slow. He ordered a hamburger, wife and daughter ordered Rigatoni. Took over an hour to get the food. (summer time) He got a $ 100.00 gift certificate from the manager… he still thought the service was slow when the family went back in the wintertime.

I was not that fond of this place. I have also been to the one in providence (where they shoved us into a corner next to the kitchen door :() anyways, I feel like its just an overpriced place for what you get. I got a pizza because the menu was just not appealing.

Great three course early bird specials that are worth double the price.

again what a wonderful restaurant.
i was on spring break, andrew was still in school and well, i needed a drink. we both needed one. happy hour at charley os was over, i didnt want caseys or the mews. about to go to the packie and get a bottle i remembered red stripe, im so glad i did.
we sat at the bar area, i ordered a glass of wine, he had a red stripe. they have specials every day of the week. although we werent that hungry i couldnt pass this one up – all you can eat mussels. so, we ordered them. the first 1.5 lb came out, and we thoroughly enjoyed them. as well as the bread soaked in the excess juices. we both decided to stop there as we were full and asked for our check. the bartender was really nice and attentive. my water never went empty and she always asked if we wanted more bread (who am i to turn down bread, im on vacation – bring it on!).
when we received our check i looked at it and noticed she took off $ 7 for the mussels, since we only got one order. the original price for the all you can eat was 17 so for the 1.5 lb it was $ 10. seriously?!
i just wish i could be back on another monday for mussels, but my trips usually end sunday now.

Tomato Soup and Red Stripe Grilled Cheese! ORDER IT!
The first review is right it is Comfort food with a French influence. The Croque Madame is one of the richest sandwich I have ever had. It is something else. They have great lunch specials for under 10.
It is new to the area and like all new restaurants there are some kinks that needed to be worked out in the beginning. Now I think they have established themselves, worked everything out. It is a bit pricy for the area but the food with not disappoint you.