Everyone loves free pizza.

If you’re in the library and are looking for a little more free food than was what was handed to you last night, head on down to Pizza Nite, taking place at 9 p.m. tonight at the SciLi and at the same time tomorrow at the Rock.

Pizza Nite, a semesterly tradition, is a night unlike all others: Friendly library workers bring out boxes and boxes of pizza by the stack, feeding the hungry masses. Depending on the crowds, it can one of the more epic free pizza events out there.

I can't believe it's not dairy!

This week at Amuse-Bouche, we’re shaking things up a little. A recent jaunt up Hope Street returned not one but two great finds in the grab-lunch-and-chill-out category. Three Sisters and its neighbor Wildflour are like Tia and Tamara or Mary Kate and Ashley (only a lot less annoying than either set of twins): They share the best things in common, probably have overlapping crowds, and seem the same on the surface, but deep down they’re like yin and yang. Three Sisters, a way-casual café, is known for its home-churned ice cream; Wildflour is vegan. Three Sisters is aggressively no-frills; Wildflour is bougie. Both sell themselves with that beautiful combination of freshly made foodstuffs, coffee and smoothies, free WiFi, and plenty of space for camping out. Only one problem: HOW TO CHOOSE?! Here’s the lowdown on both to help you decide. [Read more →]

(Gate risotto probably won't come on such a fancy plate...)

Culinary Manager Aaron Fitzsenry is serving up fresh risotto at the Gate tonight! Get it while it lasts…

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Because we hope you’re as excited as we are about Spring Weekend, we’ve decided to up the anticipation even more. We’ll be hitting you with a snapshot of the food and drinks we’ll be consuming over the next 12 days.

Because you may know (or you can guess) that the amount of exquisite, delicate, flavorful sustenance about to hit your palate over the next few days can be too much to handle, why not prepare your stomach/body with a shot of nutrients?

To this extent, we suggest some Vitamin Water (like XXX or Power-C) and fruit juices with plenty of antioxidants and vitamins to reload once you finish all your assignments. We’re not sure what any of these words mean but they suggest health and responsibility, things we will soon be sacrificing in favor of free love beer music … well, paid-for fun. You’ll find these beverages in all the auxiliary eateries and neighborhood markets for fairly cheap prices.

And if you really can’t wait for the fun to start, they also make great mixers.

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Take a break from the stress of the housing lottery, and head over to Jo’s, which is hosting a Year of China special from 6 to 10 p.m. tonight. The special menu will include fried rice, egg rolls, dumplings, blossom salad and sesame noodles, according to culinary guru Aaron Fitzsenry.

Beyond food, the special will also feature “a Chinese gown fashion show, calligraphy and musical and dance performances,” according to the Dining Services website.

Time to take a break from that spicy with spicy kielbasa, and grab yourself some egg rolls.

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The interior designer of Rick’s Roadhouse has done his her phe’s job. Taking in the surroundings as we waited for our food, my Puerto Rican dinner companion sighed, “This is what I thought America would be like.” It’s basically a glorified dive: walls decorated with miscellaneous Americana trinkets — taxidermied deer; a painting of the Phillips 66 logo; huge f*ckin’ American flag behind the bar — and waitresses wearing shirts that say “Wanna see a nice rack?” There are no windows(!) and plenty of room (including a 16-top table). It’s self-consciously kitschy, tapping into a strange lowbrow nostalgia that might as well be written into the U.S. Constitution.

The roadhouse theme comes through in the menu, too, which boasts sections like “Start Your Engines!” for appetizers and “Hit the Highway” for catering. It’s also reflected in an aggressive disdain for health food: the veggie burger is named “Burger for Bad Hunters,” and of the five salad options, two contain bacon, one contains steak and “fizzled corn tortillas,” and another is made up of iceberg lettuce. Do not order a salad here. It doesn’t make sense and everyone will probably laugh at you. Stick to what Rick’s knows best and we’ll all be happy. [Read more →]

I never thought I’d end up as one of them. The Bag People. They stuff apples into their bags, hoard take-out boxes and run past Gail with distinctly shifty demeanors. I mean, sometimes I dress like a bag lady, but I don’t actually want to be one.

That all changed one fine day in the Ratty. I saw one of my best friends frantically spooning tomato sauce into a water bottle in the Tastes of the World section (which, in Ratty-speak, signifies a loose interpretation of Italian food).  Oh god, she’s finally lost it, I thought. We all saw this one coming.

But no. She was using it for pizza sauce. Free pizza sauce. FREE!  My dignity surrendered to my inner cheapskate, and with my friend’s Obi-Wan-like guidance, I have become a well-seasoned Ratty kleptomaniac. And if you want to be further enlightened, I offer you helpful vegan nuggets of Ratty wisdom after the jump, inspired by very my own Ratty kleptomania.

[Read more →]

Ambience complete with giant metal pole.

With the proliferation of websites that bring restaurant reviews into the sphere of social networking (Yelp! Chowhound! Urban Spoon! Amuse-Bouche! food blogs everywhere!), bougies and trolls alike are mere keystrokes away becoming the next great food critic. Unadulterated praise is boring, and we at Blog will be the first to say that it’s fun to be snarky when snark is due. So a restaurant named Pakarang Exquisite Thai seems almost to be a challenge, a dare with two possible outcomes: either a truly exquisite meal or the easiest prey imaginable. (Full disclosure: it’s very easy prey.) Investigation was due.

From its post down on South Main, Pakarang attracts lots of people in suits. It’s got a similarly corporate-looking dining room: sprawling, with nondescript furniture, a vast unmanned bar, and strange aquarium-like wall decorations. In these ways, it’s the polar opposite of Sawaddee, the Thai place on the other side of College Hill, whose dining room is roughly the size of an Escalade. What they have in common is that they both fill up at lunchtime — all that space serves Pakarang well. Service is conducive to business lunches: attentive and quick but not all that personable, the waitstaff make it easy to chow down, go over the latest numbers, and GTFO (to your cubicle… or your 1:00 class). [Read more →]

OPEN SESAME

Having just come back from Paris, the land of American-loathing (and self-loathing), I’m well acquainted with negative stereotypes surrounding the land of the free and home of the brave. Unabashedly greasy foods are at the top of the list, so Ugly American‘s name, while marvelously apt, doesn’t leave much to the imagination.

The menu contains renditions of nearly everything in the canon of lowbrow American nosh. The sandwich category is duly represented by the likes of pulled pork melts, BLTs, and beer-battered fish. There’s also a handful of hot dogs — including one, The Godzilla, that combines chili, caramelized jalapeños, and pepper rings in one overwhelmed bun — that are good but not great, with too much bun and not enough dog. Prices are incredibly fair, with sandwiches cheaper than those at the Blue Room (a grilled three-cheese is $3!) and the priciest hot dog weighing in at $2.75. But let’s not joke around. If you go to Ugly American, you must get a burger. [Read more →]

WTF is happening under Faunce Arch? We have the answer: a group of farmers from the New Urban Farmers, a collective of farmers based in Pawtucket, is handing out freshly roasted peppers to passersby. The group is using a giant-fire-spitting-turning-grill-thing to cook the peppers that they grew on their farm.

Similar to the award-winning Brown Market Share Program, the group aims to connect local farmers to the communities that they help feed. The group runs a market shares program that begins in late May and continues for the next 20 weeks. The price for a full share that feeds 2-3 people is $600, while a family share is $850. The program offers a payment plan that lets you pay per week. By buying into the share, you become a member of the New Urban Farmers. The money that’s paid to the program goes towards buying seeds, farming equipment, water and labor. And the produce that you get is completely organic!

So if you’re staying in Providence for the summer, consider joining the New Urban Farmers community. After all, “The community that grows together – grows together.”