Kent's Restaurant

1675 G A R Highway
Swansea, MA 02777
(508) 672-9293

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Date visited: 7/19/08
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Kent's is one of those restaurants that Mom and I had only visited once, but really enjoyed. Since we hadn't done an "official" review of this place yet, and we were heading toward Seekonk to see the movie Mamma Mia!, Mom decided that we should check out Kent's for a second time. Plus, one of our favorite fans - Liz - couldn't say enough great things about eating here. Since it was early, Mom and I figured that if we were going to visit Kent's - now was the time. This place gets seriously busy during the dinner rush. We were glad to see that, once we pulled into the parking area at 3 p.m., there were only a few cars in the lot.

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Once inside, there are two doors. The one on the left leads to the bar, and the one on the right leads to the dining area. After Mom and I had figured this out (it had been a while since our first visit), we spotted a list of specials and began checking them out. A waitress spotted us and asked how many were in our party. We said two, and she led us to a table by the windows. The dining room was empty except for one family which had a gentleman that was eating a clam boil very enthusiastically. His sleeves were rolled up and he was practically inside the aluminum tin that it came in. Mom and I were very glad to see that he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

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The waitress, who we later found out was named Amy, was extremely friendly. She came over to our table to bring the plastic-covered menus and list of specials. She also took our drink order - two Diet Cokes - which she quickly brought over in real glasses. When I had walked in, something on the board had caught my eye. Seeing it again on the specials' list, I was pretty sure that I was going to order that particular dish. Mom was busy reading the menu over and over, trying to decide from about 100 things that appealed to her. When Amy returned to the table, Mom and I were ready to order. I chose the Florentine ravioli ($8.95), while Mom chose the five cheese ravioli ($8.95). I was surprised that we both ended up choosing things off of the specials' list. Since both of our meals came with soup or salad, Mom chose the minestrone soup while I chose the soup of the day - cream of spinach. I was pretty excited because I love spinach, and now I was about to have it in my meal and in my soup. Yum! Mom and I also ordered an appetizer of boneless buffalo wings ($7.90). Voted the best buffalo wings around by The Herald News a few years ago, these wings were out of this world. We had them on our first visit and have been dying for them ever since. After asking us if we would like any ranch or blue cheese dipping sauce (we declined), Amy took away our menus as Mom and I took a look around the dining room.

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Although it looks like a steakhouse from the outside (and Mom thinks that it was originally billed as such), Kent's Restaurant has a pretty elegant dining area. Set up like a banquet hall with matching off-white tablecloths, chairs, and wall color, Kent's really goes out of its way to make sure that they can seat as many customers as comfortably as possible. There are no booths here, but the tables and chairs were quite comfortable. Although we couldn't really see the bar, I did notice that it seemed very large and had a flat screen TV hanging above. Back in the dining room, on each table there were paper place mats that featured local area businesses. In the center of the place mat was the Kent's tag line: "Where Friends Meet." After a few visits to Kent's, you will understand what they mean. It seems that everyone knows each other here. A lone man came in to sit at the bar, but not before stopping by to say hello to the guy who was all over his clam boil. Later on, another family came in, knew each waitress by name, and gave them all a hug before sitting down and ordering their meals. On our first visit, Mom and I noticed the same thing. Filled with "regulars," Mom and I got the impression that Kent's has a very loyal customer base. No wonder you can't get near the place on Friday and Saturday evenings!

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Before we knew it, Amy had arrived with our soups. Mom said that her minestrone was very good. It had a tasty broth, was chock full of vegetables, and was served piping hot - just like she likes it. My cream of spinach soup was just as delicious. I'd never had cream of spinach before, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much spinach was actually in the soup. There were other minced vegetables in there as well, and it all blended together beautifully. This soup should really be on the permanent menu! Amy had also brought over a small loaf of bread (the butter packets were already on the table), which was soft, warm, and very tasty.

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As we finished with the soups, our boneless buffalo wings were making their way to our table. I made a comment that my nose was already running because of the heat, and Amy laughed. I have a love/hate relationship with buffalo wings. I adore the taste, but they beat the crap out of me. My face turns red, I start sweating, my nose runs, and I definitely need to have a drink or two nearby so that I can cool down. What a prize, huh? Remind me never to order these on a date. What Mom and I like about these particular wings is that there is a good amount on the plate. Lately we've been finding that restaurants will only give you four or five wings, but this plate had at least 10 good-sized pieces of chicken, accompanied by some celery and carrot sticks. Now, Mom says that these wings are very sneaky - and she's absolutely right. When you first bite into one, the flavor of the sauce seems very sweet and tangy. However, after a few seconds, the heat starts to creep up on you and turns the wings from sweet into spicy. Mom recommended Kent's to my aunt, who tried the wings and said that they were a little too spicy for her. However, she really enjoyed the taste. As we started to dig in, we found that each piece of chicken was cooked perfectly, was very tender, and had a great amount of that tricky sauce. By the time we had finished the wings, Mom was perfectly fine, but I was a mess. Dabbing my face with a napkin, I had to eat a couple of veggie sticks and drink about half my Diet Coke to try and cool down, but that's nothing new for me. This always happens, but for these yummy wings, the pain was worth it. They are our favorite by far.

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Kent's has a very extensive menu. Unfortunately, when I asked Amy if we could get a take-out menu to go, they had run out. Kent's does a lot of take-out business, which is why they came up with the take-out window. Located on the left side of the restaurant (where the bar is), we often spot people standing in line to pick up their food. What a novel idea! You wouldn't think that a full service restaurant would offer something like this - but they do! Because we didn't have a menu to reference, Mom and I had to go by what we spotted on the menu while we were choosing our meals. We noticed that although some of the large seafood platters are in the low $20s, the rest of the menu is in the $8-15 range. There is quite a lot of comfort food here, which is probably why this restaurant is so popular. Mom was having trouble deciding between the ground sirloin platter and the boneless fried chicken. I was looking at the baked stuff sole and the filet Mignon. Other menu items include various appetizers, pastas, seafood, steaks, salads, burgers, and sandwiches. On our last visit, I had the French onion soup with broiled scrod, while Mom had the spaghetti and meatballs. Both meals were excellent, but the one thing I do remember was that I had a side of fries with my scrod, and they weren't very good. The fries were just big slabs of potatoes that seemed to be boiled. Perhaps that was just an off night.

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Finally it was time for the main event. When Amy brought over our plates of ravioli, we were shocked. There were only three on each plate. Does that sound like a ripoff? Well, let me explain. They were the biggest ravioli that we had ever seen. This stuffed pasta had to be homemade, because we've never seen anything like that in a store. Covered with a nice layer of sweet sauce, each one of Mom's ravioli were stuffed with the delicious ricotta cheese blend. She was impressed because - for once - the ravioli actually had more filling than pasta. Lately we've been getting screwed when it comes to fillings, but these were filled to the brim and held their shape as Mom cut into each one. There is nothing worse than cutting into a ravioli only to find air and some leftover water from when the frozen pieces had been thawed out. Luckily, there was none of that with this meal. Everything was great, and Mom loved the taste.

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I should mention that before I began eating my ravioli, Amy noticed that my soda was getting low (probably from all the drinking after the wings) and refilled it for me. I, like Mom, thoroughly enjoyed my ravioli. Each one was filled with ricotta and spinach and had a nice, fresh taste. The sauce was nicely spiced and was not overwhelming. I could not get over the size of each piece - just humongous!

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Feeling just as stuffed as our pasta was, Amy came over to clear away our plates and brought the bill with her. The total came to:

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Ravioli five cheese - $8.95

Ravioli Florentine - 8.95

Boneless Buffalo wings - 7.95

Lg. soda - 2.50

Lg. soda - 2.50

Taxable - $30.85

Tax - 1.54

TOTAL = $32.39

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We left $39 for Amy, which included a 20% tip. She was an excellent waitress. Although we did not use the restroom on this visit, we did on the last and we both agreed that it had been very clean, despite the large amount of customers that were there that night. Amy wished us well as we rolled our full selves out to the parking lot. Just as we were leaving, we noticed that more customers were starting to come in. I could tell that it was going to be another busy night.

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Mom and I really enjoyed our time at Kent's. The service was great, the dining room was clean, the menu was extensive, the portions were huge, the prices were average, and the food was absolutely delicious. We can definitely see why this restaurant is so popular with Swansea residents and other locals. Just make sure to get there early if you don't want to wait, but even if you have to, eating at Kent's Restaurant is definitely worth it.

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Kent's Restaurant is open from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.