The Great Escape: The 'Don't Feel Like Cooking' Edition

One of my favorite things about leaving the kids with a sitter is that it normally means we're going out to eat. (Translation: I don't have to cook!) Since the kids are still young, we don't experiment with a wide variety of foods, but tend to cook the stuff I know they'll eat, so it is always a treat to go to a restaurant on date night. Not only do I experiment with dishes I would likely never make at home, but as my mother always said, "Food just tastes better when someone else cooks it."

Here's a list of the places Rich and I like to go. While I like to explore new places we've never been, he tends to pick a place and return time and again to try different things on the menu. I'll start with our all-time favorite North Kingstown restaurant.

We love this place. The food is great, the prices are affordable and the service is friendly. What more can you want? 

Separate dining for families and adults? Yep, they've got it. Depending on whether we bring the kids determines whether we sit at the booth on the trattoria side or the cafe tables on the bistro side. With manager Sandy's help, I threw Rich a surprise birthday party last December, and everyone was impressed with the food and ambiance. Great atmosphere, and so close to home.

My advice: get a pitcher of fruit-laden sangria and a gorgonzola and bacon pizza.  Yes, gorgonzola. And bacon. On a pizza. Divine, I tell you!

This place is such a gem. Rich and I have eaten in the quaint loft room upstairs and outdoors on the patio under a big umbrella watching the ducks swim by.  The meals were delicious. If you're a calamari fan, try the oriental calamari: it's such a great twist on the traditional version. I've also been lucky enough to eat there when the chicken oriental pasta dish was a special, but my waitress told me that if you ask nicely, they'll make it for you even if it is not on the menu that night.

We are a little biased about this restaurant, because it is owned by the folks who owned our favorite (but now closed) Italian restaurant in Johnston, Pat Orlandos.  When we lived in the city, we spent many a Friday night chiling out with a big plate of their homemade pasta with a plethora of sauces to choose from - pink vodka, marinara, etc. Good stuff, and now they're right on Route 1A in Saunderstown! Save some gas: stay close to home and grab a container of sauce to take home while you're there.

We LOVE Japanese hibachi-style cooking and not just because the chefs are entertaining.  The little shows the chefs put on are fun. (Who doesn't love an onion volcano?) But, the flavor of the meat is so good when it is cooked in butter on a searing hot grill. Add all the veggies and fried rice, or opt for a big plate of sushi, and you are in for a special treat. You will not go home hungry. (OK, this one is not in North Kingstown but in South Kingstown instead at South County Commons, but I couldn't leave it out.)

If you don't feel like cooking either, maybe it's time to head out to try one of our favorites!