Aspire

I had the pleasure of having dinner here a couple of weeks ago. They have jazz on Friday’s in the lounge. The staff is attentive, the food is great. They make a mean whiskey sour. Make sure to go an visit.

The food is not worthy of the price tag (it should be $$$ on Unilocal,instead of the $$ currently listed). This is unfortunate because it has a lot of other things going for it. In fact, the food does not even hold up when compared to places that are much less expensive. However, the environment is cozy with interesting décor. I ate before the dinner rush, so I am not sure how chaotic things get.
So why 4 stars? Because I had a good overall experience, especially in regards to the service. The bartender who welcomed our extremely early entrance was kind, and most importantly our server, Ryan, was an excellent waiter. He had the perfect balance of attentiveness without becoming invasive. He also made various compliments and recommendations to our order, which is always fun.
My advice is that the kitchen should «Aspire» to improve the quality of food being served, because it is holding everything else back.

I met friends here that I hadn’t seen in decades. We had a nice dinner and drinks before going to a show. When we were leaving, I realized that I had left my credit card in my car blocks away in a garage. I approached the manager and asked if I could use ApplePay and save me tremendous embarrassment. He simply said «Don’t worry. Just stop back after the show.» We had a large bill, weren’t staying at the hotel and he had no way to be sure we would return.” It was one of the kindest and trusting things I’ve seen anyone do. I’m impressed. We returned later and will return in the future. Wonderful experience.

We hosted our wedding at Aspire this weekend and could not be happier! The food was simply amazing, all of our guests are raving about it saying that it was the best food they’ve ever had at a wedding! If you have the chance to have either the jumbo scallops or pork osso bucco be sure to get them! Everyone at the hotel has been amazing to work with! Amanda in reservations, Luis our bridal attendant, the chef and our wedding guardian angel, Rhonda! We check out tomorrow feeling like we are part of the Hotel Providence family and hope to be back to celebrate future joyous occasions with you!

Food was pretty good, but service was bad. The hostess was annoyed with us for wanting to sit outside (even though we weren’t the only ones) and our waiter was slow and had zero personality. When I asked for a refill when our food arrived, I got it after I finished. It was not that crowded here either. I think I’d skip this place.

Sad Trombone.
Beautiful garden dining for brunch, shame the food is so dull!
Now don’t get me wrong I love the bar, the cocktails are creative, so I decided to come back for brunch but alas the mixologist and chef do not share the same love of creativity.
The experience was lack luster and what could have been a lovely brunch on their garden patio was just forgettable.
Don’t get me started on the «coffee» — A little bit of New Harvest love would gone a long way in making this a better brunch.
I have to believe that their lunch or dinner menu is better… and if it is I promise to update with a review featuring a more up beat tune.
Eat well Providence

My fiancé and I stopped in to have a drink, and possibly an app at the restaurant this afternoon. The patio looked great. We walked up to the young woman working to ask about sitting outside and she rudely said, «you gotta go inside and talk to the hostess.» No hello, can I help you, nothing. Fine. We start to follow her in and ask her if they serve alcohol. She says, «yup, the bar’s open.»
No eye contact at all and she walked away from us. Very strange & made us uncomfortable… so we left.

Tried Aspire for brunch when we were in Providence for a graduation. Food was 3 – 4 star quality. Bloody Mary’s were noteworthy. Burgers, eggs, panini were good. Crab cakes were unremarkable. Downfall was the service. Our party of seven waited nearly 50 minutes for our food. Then when the food did arrive, service was inattentive. We had to ask for spoons and cream for coffee, butter for toast, etc. We were told the reason for the delay was another large party arrived at the same time. After all this server still had to be told to remove the «standard «20% gratuity from our check.
Too many great food choices in Providence to go back to this place anytime soon.

My wife and I frequent Aspire for both dinner and Sunday brunch and love it here. The atmosphere is neo-​classic and the location is beautiful. The service has always been impeccable from the valet to the management. Oh and the food is excellent! Ask for variations and you don’t get funny looks or a disapproving «we don’t do that here».
Still have yet to try the Friday night jazz… but we’ll get there.

This was one of the worst dining experiences of my life. We went for the restaurant weeks menu, and the only thing they seemed to get right with my meal was the soup (potato and leek).
My entrée, the veal bolognese, was pretty good up until I found a LONG BLACK HAIR in my bowl. Gross. My date and I are both clean cut and blonde… So yeah… It wasn’t ours.
The waitress apologized and was very nice, offering me options off the regular menu as well. She offered the steak or scallops. I opted for the scallops. They were out of the side, so I asked for mashed sweet potato. When I received the scallops, I cut into one and noticed they were severely undercooked and clearly rushed. At this point, I was so annoyed I just ate my sweet potato mash and took the scallops home.
On to dessert… «The mint Napoleon» sounds delicious, right? Well it’s too bad they were OUT OF IT. They were also out of the peanut butter patty dream (²⁄₄ options on the restaurant week menu). Now I’m no restauranteur, but if you’re having «restaurant week» and customers come at a reasonable time (we had a Friday at 7:30 reservation), I would expect you to not be out of a lot of food.
The icing on the cake was being served a $ 65 bottle of wine instead of the $ 24 bottle of wine we ordered. Because the waitress couldn’t hear over the very loud band playing (not her fault, simply a misunderstanding, and she did «present» it to us). We paid for that without complaining.
I won’t be coming back.

Came here for drinks before a show at the PPAC. The space is very nice. Drinks are comparable to Boston prices. Decent drink menu. Would come back for drinks before any show and if we had time, I would try dinner.

Once again my husband and I enjoyed a great meal at Aspire. I am updating this after a recent visit last month merely because this restaurant has been through so many changes. Now it is maintaining consistency and that is extremely important. The restaurant week menu created by Aspire was absolutely wonderful offering a wide variety of choices for each of the three courses. The Aspire Winter Salad. the Veal Bolognese, the Quinoa Stuffed Winter Squash, and the Peanut Butter Patty Dream were all excellent. Service by Angela and the assistants was perfect and very importantly, the chef deserves a high level of kudos. Keep up the great improvement.

When I stay at The Hotel Providence, I eat at Aspire for breakfast. My fiancé will go here for a nightcap while I head upstairs to go to bed. I wake up in the morning and head downstairs to Aspire.
I love their décor. It’s always quiet when I am having breakfast and the staff is nice. I get a fresh squeezed orange juice, pot of Earl Grey tea, and the scrambled eggs, toast, home fries, and bacon.
I love their jams. The bitter orange is my favorite. Toast, jam, and butter and a cup of tea is heaven.
They do a great and inexpensive breakfast.
I will say the dark painted wood that is in the restaurant could stand a dusting, as that is what I kept noticing while I was eating.
But, don’t let that stop you.
If you are a guest in the hotel, definitely check out Aspire for breakfast. I am not sure how their lunch or dinner is, but it’s a hotel and I would think it’s all standard fare.

Uninspiring food but excellent service. We went there for brunch and it was pretty empty. Portions fine, quality fine, just not something I would prefer to actually pay for, more combos and tastes a slightly above average cook could put together. With all the creative cuisine in providence, it’s tough to argue why you would go here, except for convenience while staying at the hotel or maybe you are a bit early for lunch.

This is a difficult review since I wanted to like this restaurant. It has outdoor seating in a beautiful courtyard and had a live Jazz band which was great. They have reasonably priced small plates so we decided to try a few. I ordered mussels and when they brought the bowl out it had a foul odor. I should have sent it back immediately but I made the mistake of trying a couple of mussels which actually tasted OK but the dog poop smell kept seeping out of the bowl. My wife tasted one and probably got the bad mussel and spit it out but then had that foul odor on her napkin. We told the waitress about it and she took it back and asked if we wanted another order. I said no way! She recommended the calamari. That was overcooked, greasy and crispy. The hummus platter was good. Chicken wings were OK.
Unfortunately we were sick the rest of the night. Not sure if it was food poisoning or the greasy calamari.
Staff was friendly but overwhelming. There were just too many staff running around. Not the worst thing in the world but it seemed like every 2 minutes somebody was at the table. In addition the manager came over to apologize for the bad mussels which I appreciated. It’s unfortunate but the chef should have noticed the bad smell from the plate that was served.

The drinks are usually good but there wasn’t a bartender today, so I’m sticking to wine! I come here for a nosh and a drink. The food is not very good, so I’d stick to the appetizers. The crab cakes were tasty.

While visiting family, we decided to stop and grab brunch before our flight… Aspire Restaurant is a cute, clean place to stop & have breakfast. Our server was fantastic. Ask to be seated with Angie. :)

Couldn’t have asked for a more relaxing, peaceful and enjoyable breakfast. My server (Erin) was very attentive and nice, the food was good and they leave a small pitcher of coffee on your table. I had barely had 2 cups of coffee and she brought a fresh pitcher of coffee out for me (the coffee is really good too, I sat and drank the rest of the 2^nd pitcher after I had finished eating). I highly recommend the strawberry cream cheese french toast.
The patio is a beautiful sanctuary in the heart of downtown, I could even hear the birds chirping (I couldn’t have asked for nicer weather). The ambiance is extremely nice, music is pleasant light jazz/​contemporary. I was separated from the city but was still able to people watch.
I will definitely come back the next time I am in Providence.

Well, I gave Aspire one more chance and I was not rewarded. Mash potatoes clearly come out of a box and have a bland, watery taste. Grilled chicken was very dry. Marsala sauce– just no flavor whatsoever.
I don’t know if the manager/​chef reads these, but you need to step up your game. You’re in the Hotel Providence and your food is like Denny’s! You do know that Providence is known for its excellent restaurants do you not?!
You get one star for a great server. That’s it!

I came here on a Friday Jazz night. Any place in downtown Providence with complementary valet automatically earns a star in my book. My friend and I were seated in the dining room, which was nice because we could hear both the music and each other. There was a nice vibe to the place and the servers were very friendly. They also had an interesting seasonal cocktail menu and a great selection of wine. The food, however, left a little to be desired.
I wasn’t super hungry so I decided to order two appetizers for my entrée. I got the Korean barbecued short ribs, which were charred and lacked flavor, and the blue pear salad. The salad itself was flavorful but the lettuce was definitely not fresh and there was way too much dressing. Given the price tag I would have expected more from these dishes.
Would I come back for drinks and to hear jazz? Definitely! Would I come back for dinner? Not anytime soon.