5 Best Restaurants in Newport County and East Bay, Rhode Island

This aptly named two-story café is abuzz with college students and foodies who appreciate the freshly baked bread, especially when it's used to make inventive dishes like vegetable and chicken pot pies enclosed in shortcrust pastry. The extensive breakfast menu (served 12 hours a day) includes thick-cut French toast, butternut cornbread hash, and granola made on-site.

Now located in the Perry Mill building after years on Bannister's Wharf, this tiny espresso bar has views of Newport's vibrant harbor and downtown. Pair a flavored latte and a pastry on a fog-bound early morning, and you'll feel the essence of the city as it awakens around you. Stop back for in-between-meal snacks or a pick-me-up after a night out.

Not only are johnnycakes a unique Rhode Island food, but there are also regional variations within this small state on how to make these white corn pancakes. Located right on the Little Compton Commons, of course, the Commons is a leading purveyor of the thin and crispy East Bay variety, along with family-friendly meal-time options, and fried local seafood. 

From Russell Morin, one of Newport's most exclusive caterers, comes this chalkboard-menu café where beautifully crafted light fare is served at surprisingly down-to-earth prices. Breakfast—try the egg- and tomato-topped avocado toast—is served all day (including weekend brunch) and creative salads and sandwiches are the makings of a perfect picnic to tote down the street and enjoy on an oceanview mansion lawn. 

An 1818 rum distillery houses this distinctive waterfront restaurant—look for the timber ceilings, African granite from slave ship ballast in the walls, and framed sections of early-19th-century graffiti-covered plaster. Chef Sai Viswanath reinvents traditional New England fare by combining it with Indian preparations to create dishes like seafood sandwiches on naan bread and lobster sauteed in curry-tinged coconut milk.