The Arcade in Providence, RI, is the nation’s oldest indoor shopping mall. And is filled to the brim with local Rhode Island treasures!
Located at 65 Weybosset Street (with an entrance on Westminster Street as well), this spot is easy to get to with plenty of parking. (The Arcade garage is $11.)
Walk into this gorgeous, bright space and you’ll be captivated by it. The moldings, the ironwork, the bright sunlight streaming in the artium… its so charming and unique!
The first floor is home to a careful selection of retail shops and restaurants, while the second and third floors will be home to residents of 48 micro-lofts—small, efficiently designed living spaces.
A few of my favorite stores?
The Arcade also is home to the Rogue Island – they offer menu items inspired by the people, produce, and protein of the State of Rhode Island. I’m a sucker for farm-to-table restaurants and this one did not disappoint! Their ingredients and beverages are sourced from farms within 75 miles of Providence. Even wines and craft beers are from Southern New England. The atmosphere is fun – tables are small and close together. Lots of wood and warm lighting – makes it feel very tavern-y. It could get a bit loud during busy times, and it may be hard to bring a large group here. They do have a large private dining room available, which you can reserve ahead of time.
Menu items vary – as with most farm-to-table restaurants – but when we visited, menu items included soups and salads for lunch, with items like the Rogue Burger with Brie, arugula, pickled seasonal vegetables ($14) or a pork belly BLT ($12). Dinner offerings include a 28-Day Aged Hass Brothers Farm Ribeye Steak for $28 or a Rhode Island Caught Market Fish (market price). They also have a lovely selection of tapas perfect for sharing.
Every morsel of food I had was totally delicious and perfectly prepared — from the House Pickled Vegetable Plate ($7) to the Beet Gnocchi with Apple Chicken Sausage ($24) to the positively divine Semi Sweet Chocolate Cremeux ($10). We also tried the Winter Squash Arancini – mushroom “Bolognese”, roasted kohlrabi and cauliflower, pickled shallots, Narragansett Parmesan “froth” – which promptly caused my Instagram feed to explode with “WOW”s!
The staff was friendly and attentive when we were there at lunch. Our water glasses were never empty, our dishes were bussed quickly and food arrived swiftly.
Its a little pricey for us to bring our kids to, but for a casual date night, its perfect! And its walking distance to PPAC, so it’s a perfect stop before heading to the theater. This is the kind of place I would meet friends for drinks and nibbles, hit up for a drink after a show or meet someone for lunch and shopping. Its also a great place if only half the couple is a foodie – one can be adventurous and the other can order a steak or a burger. This has been added to our list of favorite Providence restaurants.
disclosure: I visited The Arcade as a guest of the Providence Visitors Bureau. All opinions are my own.
About Melissa
wow – this place just doesn’t even seem real! Everything about it looks amazing.
I remember as a kid begging my mom to take me to the Arcade to get Chinese shoes (cloth Mary Janes) that were only sold at one store in there. She hated driving into downtown, but did it anyway. Now that it reopened I really want to check it out, but I also hate driving downtown. I’ll have to convince my husband to take me.
Its pretty easy to get in and out of, Heather! We can actually just walk here from our church… wish it was open Sundays!
This is too cool!
loved this place!! the shops were so unique and the building is full of character. i definitely recommend taking a stroll through here when visiting providence!
Thanks, Melissa, for visiting and publishing such an informative and picture-lush write up! I am honored to be one of the featured locations as we have so many great retailers and I am sure it was hard for you to whittle down what you could feature. The Arcade was open Sundays in December to allow for plenty of holiday shopping and to allow out-of-town shoppers to take advantage of the free two-hour meter parking offered by the city at the same time. Some of us are participating in Gallery Night (third Thursday of the month March – December) which also allows out-of towners to find a place to park that they are familiar with, grab a bus, and be taken to our doorstep along with many other great downtown galleries. We are also exploring later hour options to correspond with Waterfire.
Thank you again for such a lovely piece!
Warm regards,
Christine
What a great idea, Christine! I love the idea of late hours for Waterfire and a Gallery Night!!
A store with both coffee and spirits, I’m in! What a beautiful mall, and some amazing shops. We have to do this road trip in the summer. Thanks for sharing.
What a charming mall.
how did I not know about this when I lived in Boston??
You should make the trip in, Caitlin 🙂
What a great place! Wish I lived closer and could check it out!
Oh this looks like a fabulous place to hang out, walk around and enjoy an afternoon!
Oh my gosh. I’m so ready for date night now! I haven’t been in about 9 years… time for a revisit!
Oh wow! How have I never heard of this? Thanks for sharing! We will definitely visit this place!