frisbee-sized chicken parmesan ($ 16 ). It also tips its hat specifically to Caserta ’ s , serving a Sicilian-style pizza topped with everything from San Marzano tomatoes to prosciutto and goat cheese to Caesar salad ($ 14 ). But , popular as Italian food is , it ’ s not the entirety of the state ’ s defining dishes , nor of the memories that the kitchen sets out to recover . Stanley ’ s smashed burgers get an ode , though this brisket chuck blend version is dressed up in hot peppers and secret sauce ($ 15 ), and traditional Rhody weiners come highly decorated in the form of a wagyu dog topped with relish and fried onions ($ 12 ). Even Woonsocket ’ s beloved steak and cheese sandwiches make an appearance , served on a mayo-griddled bun stuffed with sliced Delmonico and melted cheese ($ 15 ). For those whose geographic reach extends past the state line , the menu settles comfortably into remakes of Old England dishes : shepherd ’ s pie , and a sizable slab of freshly battered fish and chips ($ 16 ).
Desserts are just as redolent as the savory menu , each offering an invitation to relive an amalgam of childhood dinners and college after-parties . Everything sounds reassuring — bread pudding , trifle , carrot cake — but indulgence runs deep at Centredale and most plates are either double-portioned or feature a multi-tiered approach that piles candy on top of chocolate on top of cake . ( Cue the thirty-something , heavily bearded man who pushes away his bruleed butter cake claiming to have tapped out , only to resume the sugar marathon when his final drink arrives . This is a group that ’ s in it ’ til the end .)
It ’ s this same ode to decadence that rules Sunday mornings , when the locals arrive with just slightly less bravado in their post-Saturday step . Cold brew coffee flows freely but the hair of the dog rule brings out plenty of bloody marys and a collection of drinks that will keep a
person at the bar all day . You might be able to keep the Centredale Charger ($ 12 ) — basically an iced latte loaded with booze — a secret from prohibitionists , but the Bucket of Bubbles , a bottle of prosecco with a parade of fruit purees ($ 46 ), is only for those who wear heavy drinking like a team jersey .
The good times come on a plate as well , so if Sunday ’ s goal is to keep Monday morning at bay , this is the place to do it . As the guitar strums , plates saunter out covered in cheese or dripping in frosting . It ’ s American to the core : over the top and reassuring in its self-indulgence . Vegans can get their avocado toast here ; heathens can get it topped with a rasher of bacon . But most diners have their plates piled high with hedonism : steak sandwiches stuffed with fried eggs , smashed potatoes served like nachos ($ 12 ), and an array of eggs benedict crammed with pulled pork , prosciutto or maple sausage . The kids , perched on high top tables , gape wide-eyed at their stack of fruity-pebble pancakes ($ 9 ) or a cast iron skillet of cinnamon roll segments covered in cream cheese frosting . Even a bowl of fruit shows up in a goblet covered in whipped cream and cinnamon crumb topping ($ 12 ) — a single-serving pie , ineffectively disguising itself as something innocent . Showmanship is alive and well .
By design alone , Centredale embodies a supper club , but spend a meal here and it ’ s obvious this is the ultimate everybody-knowsyour-name hangout . Most diners don ’ t even glance at the menu before ordering their regular and most tables imbibe as much as they eat . If you ’ re swayed by the decor , then you ’ ll schedule a night out well in advance . But if you ’ re a regular , every night is a potential memory maker . Order the Closing Time — a shot of Fireball , a can of Busch Lite and a bag of Andy Capp fries — and you ’ ll know you ’ re in for the best kind of trouble . �
98 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l JUNE 2021