Dining in Narragansett, RI: Coast Guard House to Galilee

The Coast Guard House: A Landmark Building With a Frank Caprio Connection

The Coast Guard House Restaurant, at 40 Ocean Road, occupies a granite building designed in the late 1800s by McKim, Mead & White -- the same architectural firm behind Rhode Island's State House, Boston's Public Library, and New York's original Pennsylvania Station, and the same tier of Gilded Age firm that designed Narragansett's own Towers. The building was originally constructed for the United States Life Saving Service, the Coast Guard's predecessor agency, and today carries a National Register of Historic Places designation. Per reporting on the property, the restaurant itself opened as a seasonal operation in the 1940s and became a year-round business in 1979 -- and it has survived direct hits from Hurricane Carol (1954), Hurricane Gloria (1985), Hurricane Bob (1991), and Hurricane Sandy (2012), the last of which closed the restaurant for roughly 22 months of rebuilding before it reopened in mid-2014.

The ownership detail worth knowing before you visit: per a restaurant profile, the Coast Guard House has been co-owned by Bob Leonard, Joe Formicola, and Judge Frank Caprio -- the Providence municipal court judge who became a global viral phenomenon through "Caught in Providence," the courtroom show built on his empathetic, humor-filled approach to minor traffic and parking cases. That connection is a business partnership and ownership stake, not residence -- Caprio was born and died in Providence, and his separate, documented tie to Narragansett itself is that he served in the Rhode Island Army National Guard (1954-1962) with an assignment at Camp Varnum, in town. Caprio died on August 20, 2025, at age 88, following a publicly disclosed pancreatic cancer diagnosis; this page presents him as a real, notable business connection to Narragansett dining, not as a current resident or an active partner today, and his exact current ownership stake in the restaurant was not independently re-verified this research pass.

Aunt Carrie's: A 1920 Point Judith Clam Shack and the Birthplace of the Clam Cake

Aunt Carrie's, on Ocean Road in the Point Judith section of Narragansett, was established in 1920 by Carrie and Ulysses Cooper -- more than a century of continuous operation on the same stretch of coastline. The restaurant's own telling credits Carrie Cooper with inventing the clam cake itself, by adding fresh clams to a corn-fritter batter; whether or not every food historian would call it the single point of origin, the restaurant's own claim and its century-long run are well documented. Aunt Carrie's has since been recognized with the James Beard Foundation's "America's Classics" award in 2007, Rhode Island Monthly's "Best of Rhode Island" recognition going back to 1988, and a 2012 feature on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Ownership passed to a third generation after Bill Cooper's death in 1994, when his wife took over, and the couple's two daughters run the restaurant today, per current reporting -- though as with any family business, current ownership and hours should be confirmed directly before visiting.

George's of Galilee: Family-Owned Seafood Since 1948

Galilee, the Narragansett village that is home to Rhode Island's largest commercial fishing fleet, has its own deep dining history worth naming even before this site's dedicated Galilee coverage: George's of Galilee, at 250 Sand Hill Cove Road, has operated as a family-owned seafood restaurant since 1948 and marked its 70th anniversary with a special menu in the 2017-2018 timeframe, per local reporting. The restaurant is known for oceanfront views of the harbor and, per current listings, six separate dining rooms including waterfront seating. It is one of more than ten seafood restaurants operating in Galilee -- a village where some restaurants and markets sell fish and lobster straight off the boats that dock there -- but the full roster of Galilee's other seafood houses, plus the harbor's fishing-fleet story and the Block Island Ferry that departs from its docks, is better covered on this site's dedicated Scarborough/Jerusalem/Galilee page rather than exhausted here.

A Real, Named Restaurant Roster Along Ocean Road and Point Judith Road

Beyond the Coast Guard House and Aunt Carrie's, Narragansett's Ocean Road corridor carries several more named restaurants: 1230 Ocean Bistro, an oceanfront seafood spot with deck seating; Spain of Narragansett, a Spanish and Mediterranean restaurant that current listings date to 1987, known for paella and an extensive wine list; Monahan's Clam Shack, at 190 Ocean Road, a seafood shack that also operates a second location in neighboring Charlestown; and Chair 5, the restaurant at The Break Hotel on Ocean Road, billed as a beach bistro and bar with a contemporary American, seasonal, seafood-forward menu. Celeste, in the Narragansett Pier district, serves what it calls coastal European food -- Italian, French, and Spanish influences together -- with al fresco seating.

A second cluster of named restaurants runs along Point Judith Road: Iggy's Doughboys & Chowder House, a genuine Rhode Island institution known statewide for its chowder, clam cakes, and doughboys; Mariner Grille, a seafood-and-steak restaurant that current listings date to an August 2006 opening; Arturo Joe's, an Italian restaurant serving wood-grilled pizzas and classic dishes that current listings date to 1996; T's Restaurant, a breakfast-and-brunch spot that current listings date to 1982; and Gansett Wraps, a quick-service wrap and sandwich shop. A third small cluster sits on Boon Street: Crazy Burger Cafe & Juice Bar, known for vegan and gluten-free options alongside its burgers, and The Bike Stop Cafe, a bike-themed, wood-fired pizza spot that current listings date to 2012.

This roster is drawn from current restaurant-directory and travel-site listings rather than independent, restaurant-by-restaurant fetch-verification of each business's own site, so treat it as a real, addressable starting list -- not an exhaustive or continuously updated directory. Restaurants close, change hands, and change names; confirm current hours, ownership, and menus directly before planning a visit around any single name above.

What This Page Does Not Cover

This page does not attempt to name every restaurant in Galilee -- home to more than ten seafood restaurants on its own, some selling seafood straight off the boat -- or to tell the Galilee-and-Jerusalem naming story, or to detail the Block Island Ferry's schedule and crossing time from Galilee's docks. Those belong to this site's dedicated Scarborough/Jerusalem/Galilee sub-area coverage, built as a genuine deep dive on those specific villages rather than a repeat of this page's Narragansett-wide roster. Saunderstown, South Ferry, Bonnet Shores, Great Island, Salt Pond, and Mettatuxet -- Narragansett's other named villages -- were not independently researched for dining options in this pass.

Current menus, prices, hours, and open-or-closed status for every restaurant named above were not independently re-verified this research pass. Confirm directly with each restaurant before planning a visit.

The Honest Summary

If you are coming to Narragansett for dining, two names carry real, sourced history: the Coast Guard House, a National Register-listed granite building at 40 Ocean Road with a documented Frank Caprio ownership connection (a business partnership, not residence, and Caprio died in August 2025), and Aunt Carrie's, a Point Judith seafood shack running continuously since 1920 with a James Beard "America's Classics" award to its name. Beyond those two, Narragansett has a real, named restaurant scene running along Ocean Road and Point Judith Road, plus George's of Galilee representing Galilee's much larger seafood-restaurant cluster -- a village whose full dining depth this site covers separately.

None of the names above should be read as an endorsement, and current hours, ownership, and menus were not independently re-verified this research pass -- confirm directly before visiting.