ABF & I took a long weekend up to Rhode Island (one of the many states I once called home) and stayed just outside Newport. This was ABF's first trip there, so I was excited to show him around the area. One of our first meals was at the Red Parrot, just a quick walk from the waterfront.
They filed us over to the bar and said it would take about 20 minutes to be seated, but it was more like 5. We went up to a large room on the third story and saw that there were actually quite a lot of open tables, so don't worry too much if it seems crowded at first (unless it's the middle of the summer and then I have a feeling there is always a wait).
We always get some New England clam chowder whilst in New England--I wasn't hungry enough for my own, but ABF was kind enough to share several bites with me. It was creamy, good bits of clam, and even better with a sprinkle of black pepper.
Red Parrot has a huuuuuge menu. It took us a while to figure out what we wanted to eat, but I finally settled on the Jerk chicken salad (which also came with jerk shrimp--bonus!).
This was not anywhere near as spicy as I expected, but it did have a lot of interesting flavors. Perhaps a little too heavy on the spices for me--tasted a bit too woody, but I brushed off the excess and devoured as much as I could. The ranch sauce on the side? INSANELY delicious--and I don't even LIKE ranch!
The veggies were insanely crisp--I wish I had another one of these salads right now!
ABF ordered the Popeye sandwich, which was a grilled chicken breast with a hefty helping of sautéed spinach. It came with sweet potato fries which were so fabulous that I think I can officially declare them the best, lightest, most scrumptious SP fries ever. The sweet potato flavor was so strong and present--it didn't taste like just 'fried' stuff.
Our food was delicious and we had a great spot right by a window overlooking Thames Street. The only oddity of the meal was that they never took away my big messy plate of unfinished salad--not even when they brought ABF his postprandial coffee. It was very clearly a 'done' plate, with my silverware and napkin on top, but several people just walked past.
I thought it might disappear while going off to the restroom, but no such luck. Weird! And kind of unappealing. The servers who came by were in and out so fast we didn't even get to ask them to take it. Long story short, follow-up service was a bit slow and it took a while to get our check, but we were in no hurry so it wasn't a dealbreaker.
Red Parrot is located at a prime tourist spot if you're checking out Newport. It's not cheap, but moderate/reasonable ($14-15 average entree) and delicious!
The Red ParrotFollow @Lkpnyc
348 Thames Street
Newport, RI 02840
(401) 847-3800
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