It's not really fair to say that dining options are limited in Wakefield, since a short drive takes you to Narragansett or Galilee. And the number of options are increasing in the nearby areas, with development along Post Road and down Route 108, but if you insist on staying in Wakefield, there aren't many choices: One Asian restaurant, one Italian restaurant, a sports bar/restaurant, a tavern, one of the restaurants in the Chelos chain, the dining rooms for Larchwood Inn, and a variety of diners and fast food places. Luckly, if you decide to go to the Italian Village restaurant, you're not just settling for what's available, since the quality of their food still makes them a good choice.

We attended an event at URI and decided to come in to Wakefield for dinner. I had passed the restaurant by several times in the past, not being engaged by its exterior enough to stop and investigate, but this time we stopped and took a look.

Inside, the decor wasn't elegant, fitting for a diner, a family-run pizza place, or a small neighborhood bar perhaps. A counter, booths, mis-matched woods, knick-knacks and thumbtacked trophies on the walls. In a way, it's all three: they serve breakfast, lunch, dinner, and cocktails along with pizza and pasta.

We did, however, find two excellent choices on their menu that more than made up for the atmosphere. I had spaghetti with a bolanaise meat sauce. It's hard to find meat sauces in Rhode Island restaurants -- they tend toward marinara and the occasional meatball. The bolanaise was rich and meaty and flavorful. (My wife, a lifetime Rhode Islander, ordered the marinara sauce rather than experiment.)

The other exceptional dish was the eggplant parmesean. The eggplant was cut wafer thin and was unbreaded. I don't know exactly how they prepared it, but according to the cookbooks I've investigated since, they may have dehydrated the eggplant with salt before deep frying the eggplant.

The prices were a little higher than I would have preferred, more befitting an upscale restaurant, but the service was good and the food we chose was very good. That makes Italian Village a good choice for people wandering through Wakefield at dinnertime who care more about the food than the atmosphere.

You can find the Italian Village Restaurant at 195 Main Street, Wakefield, RI 02879 Phone: 401/783-3777. They are open 8AM to 10PM.

About the author, Paul Pence: Not a life-long Rhode Islander, Paul got to Rhode Island as fast as he could. He has 25 years of writing experience and numerous publication credits including the Providence Journal, the East Greenwich Magazine, Weissmann Travel Reports, Travel Lady Magazine, Jackhammer, Your Skin and Sun, TravelNotes, TexWoman, and many others.

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