Old-school Italian at a massive restaurant on a pond off a side street

If you read through websites that reminisce about long-closed restaurants in the Greater Boston area and elsewhere in New England, you’ll inevitably see references to a certain type of dining spot that continues to disappear from the local landscape: the multi-room family-friendly restaurants that were often seen as destination spots.

Some well-known names tossed about in such discussions include Hilltop Steak House and Weylu’s in Saugus, Anthony’s Pier 4 and Jimmy’s Harborside on the South Boston waterfront, Christo’s in Brockton (which now has a much smaller location in Whitman), Phillips Old Colony House in Dorchester and Benjamin’s in Taunton.

Some of these old-fashioned places do remain. One of the most obvious examples is Kowloon in Saugus, though even it is planning to be reborn in a much smaller space at some point in time. Others, like the Village Restaurant in Essex and the Eagle Brook Saloon in Norfolk, are facing uncertain futures, with the former recently closing down while the latter is up for sale.

There is one such spot that continues to thrive, however, and Twin Oaks Restaurant in Cranston, Rhode Island, is, oddly enough, both a hidden gem and an institution of sorts – it sits at the end of a residential street, helping make it a regular spot mainly for locals and those in the know.

For those who live in or near Boston, Twin Oaks really isn’t that far away. If there’s no traffic, it takes just over a half hour from where I-95 splits off from Route 128 and I-93 in Canton. The restaurant is only three or four minutes off I-95 via Route 10 and Pleasant Street, the latter of which looks like your typical suburban side street; the single-family homes lining it give no hint as to what lies ahead.

The road eventually ends and opens up into a large parking lot. Just beyond it lies a long, squat brick building that looks like it could be a private social club that is indeed home to the restaurant.

From the lot, the grounds don’t look like much, but if you take a peek around the side of the building, you’ll see the small but beautiful Spectacle Pond, which forms a backdrop to Twin Oaks and makes for great views for some people sitting inside.

Twin Oaks dates all the way back to 1933, and while it certainly has an old-fashioned feel, its building is actually relatively new – a fire destroyed the original structure in 1980.

The interior of the restaurant feels vaguely like a mix of the old Hilltop Steak House and Anthony’s Pier 4 with its six separate dining rooms, wood paneling, photos of celebrities who’ve dined here and large tables and booths complete with vinyl seats that are perfect for groups and families. The rooms have names – much like the Hilltop – including the Twins Room, the Club Room, the Acorn Room and the Oak Lounge, while a patio with views of the water is set up during the warmer months. Taking a walk around the restaurant will give you an idea of just how massive the place is, with its total seating capacity somewhere around 650.

Approximately a third of the population of Cranston is Italian-American and its dining scene reflects that, with countless old-fashioned and modern Italian restaurants throughout the city. Twin Oaks is one of the places people go for old-school Italian-American fare. And this being Rhode Island, whose regional foods are legendary, especially among those who love seafood, the menu adds some extra twists, including an outstanding fried calamari plate with banana peppers soaking in a bowl of lemon sauce, Portuguese stuffed quahogs that have enough heat to make you sweat and tender fried local bay scallops served with tartar sauce.

The red sauce at Twin Oaks is not to be missed, as it has that deep, rich flavor that you come to expect at an Italian-American spot, and a good way to sample it is with a plate of house-made beef and pork meatballs smothered in the sauce. The eggplant parmesan also comes with plenty of sauce. It’s layered and stacked high, almost like lasagna. The chicken parm can be ordered as a half or full plate.

For those who want to go deeply old-school, Twin Oaks serves a traditional spaghetti and meatballs, or as an alternative that you might not see on too many menus these days, macaroni and meatballs.

PHOTOS: Red sauce and water views at RI's 90-year-old Twin Oaks

A delicious special is the gnocchi Bolognese, which includes melt-in-your-mouth pillows of potato pasta in a thick sauce with chunks of beef. For meat lovers, the menu includes chopped sirloin, which is almost a prerequisite for old-fashioned family restaurants.

Twin Oaks also has a lot of steak options, along with broiled lamb chops, veal chops and pork chops. For those looking for a lighter meal, a variety of sandwiches are available, including a specialty Italian grinder with everything but the kitchen sink.

If you somehow have room for dessert, the options here are top notch, including a dense carrot cake, a minty grasshopper pie and a classic spumoni with claret sauce.

Plenty of beers and wines are offered at Twin Oaks, but the cocktails may be the way to go here, with Manhattan, martini, and negroni options all good bets. 

If you live in or around Boston, Twin Oaks will likely conjure up memories of restaurants past, and perhaps bring about a desire for such a dining spot to open locally. These days, however, it’s almost unheard of for such a place to open as a new restaurant, so we have to make do with what we have while hoping that these institutions don’t go the way of the Hilltops or the Jimmy’s Harborsides.

The short ride down I-95 to this enchanting spot is indeed a trip back in time, and one that may lead you to take more trips to the Ocean State.

Twin Oaks Restaurant, 100 Sabra Street, Cranston, RI, 02910. twinoaksrest.com