Patch Picks: Top Five Places for Family-Style Chicken

For those of you unfamiliar with family-style chicken, it is native to Rhode Island, mainly the Blackstone River Valley, since the 1930’s.  It is a sit down, never buffet style, all-you-can-eat meal of roasted chicken, accompanied by salad, rolls, pasta in red sauce, and potatoes (usually fries or roasted.)

• - Located at 263 Pond Street and owned by Roland Fernandez, the Broaster House has been in business for more than 30 years.  Their chicken is pressure cooked, not oven roasted, and is served with salad, pasta and potatoes for $9.75.  Hours of operation are Mon - Wed, 4 p.m. - 8 p.m.; Fri & Sat, 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.; Sun, 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. (401-762-1717) www.​broasterhouseri.​com
• - Located at 614 N. Main Street, is a family restaurant owned and operated by the LaHousse family and their staff.  They have been in business for almost 30 years, since 1983.  The family-styled chicken here includes soup or salad, bread, French fries and oven-roast potatoes, and pasta, priced at $8.99. Christopher’s is open Mon - Sat, 11:30 a.m. - 10 p.m.; Sun, noon - 9 p.m.  (401-767-3201) www.christophersri.com
•  - Located at 476 Rathbun Street has been owned and operated by  Micheline and Roger Savini for 31 years now.  Accompanied with their family-style chicken are rolls, salad, ziti, Italian roasted potatoes and French fries all for $8.95. Savini’s hours for the lunch/dinner menu are Tue - Thurs, 4 p.m. - 9 p.m.; Sat, 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.; (401-762-5114) www.savinisrestaurant.com    
• Village Haven - Is located at 90 School Street, Forestdale, N. Smithfield.  Rachel Narodowi has owned the Village Haven now for the last 33 years of the 60 or so years it’s been in business.  Rachel has created her restaurant “to give one the feel of dining at home.”  Their family-style chicken not only encompasses the usual salad, penne in sauce, French fries and rolls, but also Ma Glockner’s famous cinnamon rolls and an ice cream cup for dessert, priced at $10.25. The Village Haven is open Wed & Thurs, 4 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.; Fri & Sat, 4 p.m. - 9 p.m.; Sun, noon -8 p.m.  (401-762-4242) www.thevillagehaven.com
• Wrights Farm Restaurant - Located at 84 Inman Street, Harrisville, Burrillville, have been in business for almost 60 years.  Since 1972, the Galleshaw family has owned Wrights and it is currently being run by Frank Galleshaw.  The main difference between Wrights and the previous restaurants is that Wrights specializes in family-style chicken: in fact, it's the only thing on the menu (with the exception of a single steak entrée.)  Wrights incorporates rolls, salad, French fries, and shells in sauce with their chicken for $11.75.  Open Thurs & Fri, 4 p.m. - 9 p.m.; Sat, noon - 9:30 p.m.; Sun, noon -8 p.m.  (401-769-2856) www.wrightsfarm.com

A little Wright’s Farm trivia:  their 5 dining rooms can seat 1,400 people; in the four days each week they’re open, they serve between 9-10,000 people; and they cook approximately 14,000 pounds of chicken and 11,000 pounds of potatoes per week.