Red Brick Grill offers local flavor for lunch and dinner
Main Street eatery serves up Franco-American favorites during first week in business
WOONSOCKET
It took longer than they hoped, but Ava and Michael Lanoue finally opened The Red Brick Grill – a luncheonette featuring the dishes French Canadians crave at prices that are easy to swallow.
Located at 83 Main St. – site of the former Vino’s Bistro – The Red Brick Grill was scheduled for a grand opening last July, but the doors opened for the first time on Thursday – a delay the Lanoues blame on unexpected red tape.
A former vacuum cleaner salesman, Lanoue said he’s opened a number of appliance stores in other states – but he never anticipated the kind of regulatory morass that slowed down his foray into the restaurant business in Rhode Island.
“It took a lot longer than we thought it was going to,” he said. “It’s a little different than what we’re used to. I’m just glad a lot of people stuck with us.”
After promoting the grand opening on social media, the Lanoues served over 40 lunches and dinners during their first day in business. It could have been better, said Lanoue, but he’s not complaining.
“It went better than we expected,” he said.
And what were customers’ top picks on opening day?
Hands down, the dynamite sand- wiches and French meat pies were the most sought-after items on the menu – no surprise in this great bastion of Franco-American culture.
With the Main Street Cafe next door and the nearby Vintage poised to reopen with Italian-American cuisine this spring, the Lanoues say they’ve been careful to stake out a niche in the market where they can thrive. Offering Franco-American favorites is only part of the strategy, says Ava Lanoue.
The plan for success also rests on offering a menu with comparatively few offerings – at low prices. Peruse The Red Brick Grill’s menu and you’ll find only a handful of items priced higher than $10 – and not by much. Fish and Chips, the Salisbury Steak Dinner and the Grilled Shrimp Plate all check in at $10.95 as the highest-priced items on the menu.
Ava Lanoue says there may be some folks out there who think nothing of dropping $60 for dinner, but her customers will be able to eat for a fraction of that, including drinks: The Red Brick Grill has a full-privilege liquor license.
“That’s expensive,” said Lanoue. “A lot of people can’t afford that. That’s why we did this kind of menu.”
Keeping the menu tidy will also cut down on overhead and limit waste, she says.
While there is no breakfast menu, and no plans of adding one, The Red Brick Grill offers appetizers, including poutine – another Franco-American import that’s billed as “delicious French fries covered in a beef gravy and crumbled with cheese curds” – lunches, dinners and desserts. There’s also a kids’ menu with chicken fingers, a hot dog dish and macaroni and cheese, all of which are priced less than $5.
Lanoue bakes her own desserts, including a banana split pie, using a recipe that she inherited from her husband’s aunt.
Even though the restaurant has a bar with six seats, Lanoue says she isn’t planning on building the Red Brick’s brand on liquor sales.
“I don’t want to be perceived as a bar,” she said. “I want people to know this is a family-friendly restaurant place with home-cooked food and fresh ingredients.”