Puerini’s Italian Specialties

This place was great — but now they’re closed. :(
From the website
Dear Puerini’s Friends:
Puerini’s would like to thank you for 30 wonderful years!
As of December 28, 2012, Puerini’s Restaurant has been sold. We are no longer open and although we didn’t get to say goodbye to all of you in person we would like to thank you for your loyalty and friendship over the years!
The new owners will be renovating and opening a new space soon. We welcome them and can’t wait to see the new 24 Memorial Blvd. West coming in the Spring!

Closed. Will become something else

I went here with 5 girl friends for a casual dinner out. We where there quite early, maybe 6:30 during the week and it wasn’t very busy. My rating is based on the food: quality, portion size, price, and the service.
We ordered cheese bread which came out fairly fast and was everything you expect cheese bread to be. I give it 3 stars.
4 of the 5 ordered wine and beer, and drinks showed up at different times. The waitress, actually reached between me and a friend to pass someone across the table her wine– tacky. And the table behind us was empty so I’m not sure why she had to pass across the table. I give it 3 stars.
I ordered veal scaloppine. Veal was very thin and over cooked. It tasted like dry chicken. I did get 3 little medallions which seems like a decent portion, it just wasn’t good. Cream sauce was cloying thick– a sign it’s not super fresh. Pasta was cooked well but in same heavy sauce. I give it 2 stars.
One of my friends ordered gnocchi. She has a hearty appetite but I noticed she was just kind of picking at one gnocchi at a time. I asked to try it and it was super tough– someone way over worked the potato and didn’t cook it properly. She normally cleans her plate and she left like half of it behind– she said she only ate it because she was hungry. I give it a 1.
The restaurant seemed clean, the ambiance was nice, but I rather have an amazing meal at a truck stop than a bad meal in Newport. The waitress was polite, but a little flaky and she had to twice go back to the kitchen because she didn’t know the answer to a few questions we had about the menu.
I will no be eating here again.

Meal was just OK. Bland, overlooked pasta and overcooked fish from the specials menu. Plus: great bread and good appetizers. Attentive wait staff.

A great little place! Very intimate setting with seating inside and outside (weather permitting). Great menu with simply prepared but delicious items. I had a veal with dried Madeira soaked cherries — delicious! Great desert menu too. If you want simple and elegant Italian — go to Puerini’s.

We recently went to Puerini’s on a recommendation. What a disappointment. The homemade pastas were gummy and starchy with very little flavor, The portions were small and the quality was poor. I ordered the penne with sausage and got a small log of a sausage that had no flavor at all. The penne with meatballs were non-​discript as well. The antipasto platter was a mound of lettuce with olives and peppers right out of a can and some bits of salumi and crumbles of cheese. The interior is set up in a series of small rooms so when it gets crowded the noise is deafeaning. The service was slow and ineffective ie: not getting order right. I will not go back.

Definitely a hidden gem. Nice to find a great restaurant in Newport that has great ambiance, great food and reasonable prices. Loved that it was within walking distance from the Int’l Tennis Hall of Fame. Sat on the patio and enjoyed the people watching. There’s nothing like fresh pasta! Portion size was just enough to fill me up. Had there been more, I probably would have eaten it and been uncomfortably full after. Will definitely go back again.

I found this place from a recommendation made by the owners of an apartment I was renting with my fiancé a few summers ago.
The atmosphere is romantic and seating in the outdoor patio area is pleasant. The staff is very polite; no complaints there.
The food is excellent. The veal parm is really tasty and an actual cutlet as opposed to the frozen breaded patty you get from most chain Italian places. The homemade pasta is very tasty and I have never had it poorly cooked. Finally, the prices are fairly reasonable for what you get at this place. I highly recommend Puerini’s or anyone visiting Newport looking for a nice «date» restaurant.

Ooof… I came here with my family for a birthday. We had been in Newport all day, and were looking forward to a good Italian meal. The staff was kind of slow, despite it being 6pm on a summer Friday.
We all decided on water, which is where it all started — hair in my glass. We each ordered a pasta dish, and because we are no strangers to making your own pasta, we were excited to try someone else’s recipe. My cousin and aunt’s cavatappi weren’t cooked either (but they will eat raw pasta with sauce). My cousin found a hair in her meatball when she cut into it. My mom’s «homemade raviolis» looked like the ones from Venda, and weren’t cooked.
My pasta was cooked well, and the dish was quite good. My grandmother’s was also cooked well and she ate all of it. My other aunt’s dish was ok, but pretty generic. It’s hard to screw up chicken parm.
My mom and cousin sent theirs back, and were given two new dishes — my cousin got the same thing and my mom got what i had ordered, but you could tell that they rushed, because the pasta was STILL not cooked.
It was definitely a ⁷⁰⁄₃₀ on bad experience vs. good experience. The only thing that was kind of a saving grace was that although slow, the service was pretty good, given all the problems we had.

The staff was very friendly and accommodating, moving my girlfriend and me to a different table away from the open door. The food was very tasty, however the linguine alla marsala was surprisingly sweet. Still a decent meal. The half-​carafe of wine is a great deal.
Oh, and one other note: if you show up late (we arrived at 9 pm), you’ll miss out on some of the specials and appetizers! Get there early!

Not bad. Not bad at all.
Their wine list is filled with great choices at really reasonable prices.
We went with a group and basically got to try all of their pastas and scarfed it all down pretty fast.
The antipasto plate (roasted peppers, Italian cold cuts, etc, etc) was an agreeable way to start the meal since we were a four top. Everyone got a few mouthfuls of the flavors they wanted.
Their house-​made pastas were overcooked but the sauces were really bright and pleasing. My white clam sauce tasted and smelled like instant ramen— salty and savory, it was fine.
Our server was super good. She opened our wine bottle in about five seconds and didn’t even bat an eyelash about questions on the menu.
Definitely one of the places I’d try again in Newport.

This place was fantastic!
I had a really romantic evening with my girlfriend here after a nice day in Newport.
The atmosphere is romantic, with a dusky candlelit feel. And the food was pretty darn good.
I decided to go a bit traditional, and got the Spaghetti and Sausage (and ordered two meatballs to be added to the meal). (They charged $ 3.00 a piece for the meatballs, so I wouldn’t make that mistake again, but I wanted them so I don’t regret it… just seems a bit much for a ball of meat.)
The wait staff were perfectly attentive. They came over exactly the right amount.
The red house wine was pretty good, and they serve it in a cask, so it adds a little to the atmosphere as well.
Overall, I’d absolutely eat here again. It’s a really nice place.

The fresh pasta here is fantastic. We’re talking real homemade stuff here. Their sauce is just as good, if a tad on the spicy side.
Their antipasto is out of this world. Sure, it’s 12 bucks, but it’s huge and packed with meats, cheeses and veggies that are dressed in the tastiest olive oil & vinegar dressing that you’ll want to order an extra bread basket in order to wipe your plate clean.
Unfortunately, we weren’t as impressed with the meats. The veal tastes frozen, even though I doubt it was, considering the caliber of the other food. The sausage/​onion/​broccoli/​cheese stuffed chicken was dry and pretty bland.
The happy ending, however, is that not only is this place BYOB on certain nights, but the other nights you an getting bottles of wine for $ 12 bucks and up. Liquor store prices.
The service was top notch and the atmosphere was uncrowded. Didn’t have a problem getting a parking spot right out front.
I’ll definitely come back, but I’ll stick to pasta, which is definitely their sweet spot.

Been going to this place since 1987 and it has been consistently good. the menu is limited but, everything is as good as it gets. The salad dressings are super fresh, home made pasta, chicken so tender you don’t need a knife to cut it (my favorite chicken marsala anywhere!!!)
I personally don’t love the atmosphere but my husband likes the simplicity of it. The service has never been anything memorable one way or another. When I go out, I like some atmosphere and to have some great service… this is not that place. We go on sunday nights early, for a good meal and we always get one
The portions are just right — not OVERLY huge or skimpy.
There are a few things that bug me though — cold bread, no tablecloths but, my husband just LOVES the simple atmosphere and he compensates for the bread by ordering garlic bread with cheese melted on it.
The quality of the ingredients shows in everything they do and their sauces (marinara, marsala, etc…) are all tossed on fresh pasta, which absorbs just the right amount of sauce.
Despite the boring appearance of the restaurant, The food is excellent quality and excellent flavor — always pleased with the food.
if you are looking for that, Puerini’s is the right place. If you are looking for a «dining experience» this is not the restaurant to go to for that.

I would go back here for another dinner. My girlfriend had the special of the night, rissotto with lobster and scallops. A bit over priced at $ 30. Wine by the bottle is slightly over priced. I ordered the chicken and eggplant and it was excellent.

The reason I give this place 3 stars is because the pricing was far too expensive for the quality of the food. I got the sole special (sole filets stuffed with portabella, scallops, and something else?, with lobster cream sauce, served with sweet red pepper pasta). The pasta was great; very different and fresh; but the sole was mediocre at best (very fishy). The others at the table had similar experiences with their meals– the fettucini and chicken with gorgonzola sauce, vegetable canneloni, fetuccini alfredo — were all mediocre. If the food came down a few dollars in price, I would give it a much better review, but I just didn’t feel that mediocre food should be priced $ 25 – 40.
Outdoor atmosphere upstairs and downstairs was really nice and our service was pretty good. The inside is a little dark and echo-​y.
Also — sangria was boring and had no fruit save an orange slice for garnish.

–From April 27, 2010, sorry for the delay–
I was with a group up at the Naval War College. A few of us professed to be foodies, so we formed an ad hoc supper club. Puerini’s made the list. It was a much larger group that normal…15…mostly because of BYOB night! Of the 2 well known Italian restaurants in Newport, I’d place Puerini’s at the top.
We were seated upstairs and had half the room to ourselves. After about 15 minutes we finally got the requisite key and glasses to start our meal… BYOB WAS the big draw. The menu was extensive and featured many pasta choices. The pasta was the big hit. The appetizers were tasty and ample. The meat and chicken entrees were good but not epic. The service was OK, but lagged… it was a Tuesday, I suppose.
For the price, choices and experience, Puerini’s is definitely recommended.

Not willing to wait the 90 minutes at Scales and Shells myself, my boyfriend and my cousins wound up at this place with a moderate 20 minute wait which was totally worth it.
3 out of 4 of us are full blooded Italian American and very picky! The appetizers were amazing ! I recommend the garlic bread with cheese and the spinach pie. They had a meat calzone ap on the special menu that was great.
They have FRESH PASTA which is so different than dried pasta. The different sauces we each had were great from pizziaola to marinara.
The service here was extremely friendly and helpful. We were very glad we had this as a backup plan and will definitely return on future visits!

This is overall my favorite Italian restaurant in Newport. Food is awesome and the service is great. I’ve been here about 6 times and every time it has been consistent. The Chicken Marsala rocks — best I’ve ever had. BYOB on Mon-​Wed and the $ 1 side salad are nice touches. Outdoor seating in the summer is pretty awesome too. High recommended place for good Italian food at reasonable prices.
**Edit** Went here tonight and the $ 1 salad is gone and it looks like Monday night is no longer BYOB. Still highly recommended.

Excellent Italian food, very comfortable ambience. My wife and my favorite date spot in Newport. This is the place we would bring people from out of town. I would place Puerini’s on par with some of the best New York Italian restaurants.
My wife liked the Caesar Salad because it’s made without anchovies and she loved the Lasagne. My favorite is the Pasta con Salsicce and I also really like the Pollo alla Fontinella.