Dining Out
Dynamic Duo
Two deliciously indulgent comfort food joints that have
us breaking out our sweatpants.
By Karen Deutsch | Photography by Angel Tucker
Tilly’s Chick’n Biscuit
Y
ou would barely know that
Tilly’s exists if not for its
distinctive sign, an epic red
chicken flanked by Shazamlike
lightning bolts. The kitchen is perched
off an outpost of the Hamilton Village Inn
— a white motel with a whiff of mid-century
America — and is more of a motorized picnic
basket than a restaurant. A grown-up,
kick-ass picnic basket, that is.
The bustling but bitty restaurant is surrounded
by a dozen populated picnic tables
when the sun is out or a lot full of cars lined
up for takeout when the weather changes
for the worse. This is the second outpost for
Tilly’s and, though their signature cheesesteaks
do make a cameo on the menu, the 2.0
version is all about chicken. Fried chicken
sandwiches may be the only affirmative ubiquity
of 2020 and Tilly’s is a major player not
only in the sandwich game, but in the game of
constructing a meal that will temporarily
transport us to a kinder, gentler environment.
This, of course, involves some booze.
There is plenty for the kids — we’ll get to
that later — but the adults matter more and
it shows in the hopped-up beverage cooler.
Tilly’s has everything you’d want in a can:
beer, wine, hard cider and seltzer, cocktails
and even coffee for those who plan a longer
night. They also make a mean margarita
slushee ($7) and a handful of milkshakes
packed with vodka, whiskey and brandy
sitting under a canopy of chocolate bark,
strawberry cake crumble and peanut brittle
($9.99). It’s a bit like waking up in an Alice
in Wonderland mish-mash of childhood and
college vacation: heavy on the indulgence,
light on the ramifications.
But if Tilly’s is barreling toward hedonism,
they also have an eye on Southern culture.
Cue the pimento cheese balls coated in
crushed Cheetos, served alongside purple
pickled cauliflower and fronds of dill ($7.99).
It’s an absurd dish and oh so fun — vaguely
reminiscent of cheese in a spray can, but
galvanized by the bite of vinegar. Of course,
the jewels in this crown are the sandwiches,
served on buttery biscuits or Martin’s
potato rolls (for the record, that’s the Shake
Shack bun, so it’s been vetted). You can get
them with pickle slices and biddy sauce —
Tilly’s answer to the “special sauce” — or
drizzled in hot honey, butter and sea salt
($8.99).
Choosing between them is like choosing
between your kids on their best day. But the
biscuit has many incarnations: covered in
gravy and hot sauce, topped with avocado
and cheese, served with sausage and fried
eggs. It’s worth noting that this fluffy, splitopen
extravaganza deserves the spotlight.
Biscuits work in tandem with fried friends,
but are so good on their own that they’re
almost better as a married couple living apart.
There’s dessert too: appropriate milkshakes
for the crowd younger than twentyone
and a waffled biscuit topped with
strawberries and cream ($8.99). But you
don’t even need something sweet to call this
a celebration. Tilly’s is a Willy Wonka chocolate
bar: small and discreet until it reveals
the golden ticket to a grown-up world of
“candy” — namely fried food and beer. And
the very least we can do in an age of uncertainty
is spend twenty bucks on a short-term
escape plan.
TILLY’S CHICK’N
BISCUIT
640 Boston Neck Rd., North Kingstown,
522-9874,
tillyschicknbiscuit.com
MUST GET
Any chicken sandwich, pimento
cheese balls, a drink to forget reality.
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l OCTOBER 2020 89