Eat Your Way Through Rhode Island
Dunkin' Donuts Iggy's Chowder & Clam Cakes Quahogs Hot Weiners Del's
Oct 26, 2007
Peculiar Foods:
Each state has their own peculiar and unusual foods and the Ocean State is no exception. Johnny cakes, doughboys, grinders, torpedoes and pizza strips. Clam cakes, quahogs, stuffies, lobster and three types of clam chowder. Cabinets, coffee milk, frozen lemonade and iced coffee. These are the foods Rhode Island is famous for.
Specialties: Where to Eat in Rhode Island
- Dunkin' Donuts ~ wicked good, orgasmic belly bombs. It is rumored that there are so many Dunkin' Donut shops in Rhode Island, that you can find one every 2 miles. At last count there were over 125 Dunkin Donuts' in the smallest state. If you add the slew of Honey Dew Donuts, Krispy Kreme and mom and pop donut joints, you'll have more places to eat donuts than you have days in a year. Greeting tourists to the state, The Dunkin Donuts' Convention Center (aka, The Dunk) is a landmark on Route 95 in Providence, Rhode Island. Home to the Providence Bruins Hockey Team and the Providence College Friars, it also attracts major stars such as Hannah Montana, concerts and the Harlem Globetrotters.They are such an icon, that on 1/24/2006, USA Today announced that Jet Blue has named Dunkin' Donuts as their official coffee.
- Iggy's Doughboys and Chowder House in Oakland Beach, Warwick, serves up tender fish and chips, and "chowdah" and clam cakes. Other favorites are clam rolls in hot dog buns with tartar sauce, and melt-in-your-mouth fried dough affectionately called doughboys. Bumper stickers proudly declare, "I survived the line at Iggy's!"
- New York System restaurants can be found all over the state and Hot Weiners are their specialty. "All-the-Way" means steamed buns, straight reddish-colored weiners smothered in meat sauce, topped with chopped onions, mustard and celery salt. Years ago, the brave weiner chef would put on a show as he lined up 10-12 buns, from his wrist to his upper arm, and filled them with weiners and all the hot toppings. Many burns later, a Rhode Island tradition is lost thanks to health department regulations and plastic gloves.
- Del's Lemonade is another Rhode Island institution. Soft frozen, slushy lemonade with bits of real lemon is served in a cup without a straw. Locals know that straws are for tourists and sissies. The clever traveler will soon learn that Del's and vodka make an awesome cocktail.
- Clam shacks are scattered up and down the coast , where the quahog is king. Also known as littlenecks, cherrystones or clams, they can be served on the half shell, steamed with melted butter, or as stuffies which is basically a stuffed quahog. Immortalized by Peter Griffin in "Family Guy", Quahog is a fictional town.
- Newport Creamery is where you will find the Cabinet, a frozen drink made with ice cream, flavored syrup and milk. The famous "Awful Awful" is similar to the cabinet made with ice milk instead of ice cream. "Drink three, get one free!"
There are many other wild and crazy foods in RI tempting the adventurous connoisseur hell-bent on sampling local cuisine. Quahog.org is a site dedicated to unique Rhode Island traditions, strange but true.
Pick up a map of Rhode Island, arm yourself with a bottle of antacids, be brave and indulge!
More Culinary Trips:
Newport Rhode Island Wine Tastings - Check out three award winning vineyards in RI.
Murphys California Wine Tastings - Three spectacular tasting rooms in Murphys await your glasses!
San Francisco Culinary Highlights - Eat your way through Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown and Ghirardelli Square.
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