Massimo Ristorante

Looking for delicious Italian cuisine in Rhode Island? Head to Federal Hill near Providence where you will find Little Italy. You will find so many wonderful Italian restaurants here, but one of my favorites is Massimo Ristorante. They have an artfully curated Italian menu and they import a number of their ingredients directly from Italy so you are getting the best you can. Additionally, the ingredients that aren’t imported from Italy, are sourced and grown locally and they are committed to using the highest quality, organic, and hormone-free meats. You’ll also find a lot of seasonality in their menus to ensure the freshest ingredients they can provide.

My husband and I went for a lovely dinner here after securing a reservation for a Friday night! We started with a caesar salad (which I know isn’t super Italian, but hey I love me a good caesar). They had so many delicious antipasto on the menu, but we were holding out for the main course. For mains, I ordered the Risotto ai Gamberi (which is risotto with shrimp) and my husband ordered the Spaghettoni ai Frutti di Mare (which is spaghetti with a ton of different seafood). There is one thing that is almost guaranteed, if there is a loaded seafood dish on the menu, 9 times out of ten, my husband is going to order it so this dish was right up his alley! My risotto came with succulent gulf shrimp, perfectly grilled by the way, mascarpone, roasted cherry tomatoes, and english peas. It was *chef’s kiss* and so rich yet light – the tomatoes really bring a vibrancy to the dish to cut through the creaminess from the marscapone. I also enjoyed a few bites of my husband’s that he reluctantly let me try. It had so much seafood – scallops, mussels, shrimp, baby clams, octopus, and calamari in a tomato broth. The broth had a kick of heat that really made it pop, I just wish it was a bit thicker because it was trying to be a soup but also a pasta dish, that was my only criticism.

Overall though this is a wonderful Italian restaurant in the heart of Little Italy in Rhode Island! Don’t miss out on dining here, but make sure to get a reservation just in case. You can also check out their full menu here.