Last night Liz took me out for my birthday. We went to O Dinis. We are there every week and have been regulars for years. It is a neighborhood Portuguese restaurant. Very homey and they take good care of us.
On Monday nights after 8 they have a buffet for about $15.00 (including wine). At 9 they close the doors and the music starts. In all our visits to the place this was our first Monday buffet. The owner Dinis Paiva http://cdbaby.com/cd/dinispaiva is a renowned fado singer and all his cronies show up and play.
Dinis and his daughter Natalia were thrilled to see us show up after many, many invitations. It is open to the public but most weeks the crowd is made up of “regulars”.
Last night there was a party of eight celebrating a birthday. Not sure where they were from but they were Hispanic not Portuguese. They brought their guitars and two of the fellows opened the show in Spanish. Wonderful.
After half a dozen songs the regulars started. A professor from Brown sat in for the first time on guitar and picked right up. Two different guests sang with the trio of guitarists. One was great and sang a couple of fado songs and the other did a fair job of some Christmas carols.
Around 10:45 Dinis held court. He is a bit of a local celebrity and a natural showman. His banter was all in Portuguese so I have no idea what he said but evidently he’s pretty funny too. He does have a fantastic voice.
We had to leave early, and after a glass too many of brandy, but had a great time.
La Prov locals should check the place out.
O Dinis
579 Warren Ave
East Providence, RI 02914
(401) 438-3769
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