Warren This Fall: New Tables in Familiar Rooms and a Calendar Run by the Shops Themselves

Brittany Simons has known the room at 54 State Street since 2013, back when her mother worked at the Cheese Plate. Bywater opened there a few years after the Cheese Plate closed. In September 2016 she and Luke Mersfelder had their first proper date in that room, over oysters, orange wine and fried chicken. Later they held their wedding dinner there. Bywater closed in the fall of 2025, and the Providence Journal called the space's future uncertain at the time. Now the couple has opened their own restaurant in that room. It's called Kingfish.

Kingfish shows how much of what's new in Warren this fall was built by people who already knew the town well. That's true of this year's two most-discussed openings. It's also true of the fall calendar, which Warren's own merchants put together.

Kingfish and the room on State Street

The Providence Journal's Jonny Williams reviewed Kingfish on Sept. 2, 2026. He wrote that it's the kind of place where you can't tell whether it has been there forever or just opened, and the owners told him that's on purpose. The kitchen has history in the room too. Mersfelder was hired at Bywater as chef de cuisine on Simons's suggestion, and he later led that team to a James Beard nomination in a national category.

Simons's family ties to Warren go back further than the restaurant. According to Discover Warren's profile, her father grew up in town, her grandparents still live here, her brother bought his first home here, and her parents met at Chezwicks in 1990. Landlord Brian Fortin asked them about the space's future. Simons also described how hard it is to find a restaurant location around here. "Restaurant real estate in the East Bay is scarce, especially anywhere near the water," the profile notes. Turning the space down would have left them "forever questioning 'what if.'"

The menu draws on the same kind of local network. According to Discover Warren, here's where the kitchen buys:

• Produce: East Bay farms Long Lane, Wishing Stone and Four Town
• Lamb and pork: Hopkins Southdowns for lamb, Wild Harmony for pork
• Clams: mostly Andrade's Catch in Bristol
• Fish: off the docks through Narragansett Bay Lobsters and Lotzzo's Fish
• Herbs: many grown in-house, with the rest from the Hope Street Farmers Market

For a first visit, Simons suggests oysters and a glass of wine, since the by-the-glass list is a point of pride. Dining solo, her pick is a Caesar salad followed by something from the "and frites" section, with both the salsa verde and the au poivre. Kingfish opens Thursday through Monday at 4 p.m. and takes walk-ins. The owners say they hope neighbors will "end their Saturday afternoon bike ride with oysters and wine at the window counters."

When Simons listed what she loves about Warren, she named digging clams in the Kickemuit, the honor-system farm stand at Long Lane, fresh pasta from Prica Farina, and shopping up and down Water and Main streets. Several of those also show up on her menu.

Porta Via brings a Barrington family kitchen to Main Street

Porta Via has a similar backstory. Nathan Cooperman opened the Main Street pizzeria in May, a few weeks after graduating from Ithaca College. He's 22 and finished Barrington High School in 2022. He learned the business over more than five years at Spaghetti Lane, the Italian restaurant in Barrington where his stepfather, Michael St. Angelo, is owner and head chef.

Head chef Rob Icaza has more than 28 years in kitchens and has made New York-style pizza since he was 15. In EastBayRI's July profile, he said he likes to take a traditional pie "another notch," such as adding candied jalapeños to a buffalo chicken pizza. Beyond pizza, the menu has classic slices, Italian-style subs, salads and cocktails such as the Maye Mule, which is made with blueberry syrup, vodka and ginger beer. The walls have a sports theme, and Cooperman built the place around watching New England teams with friends and family. He told the paper the menu had already changed "so many" times in the first few weeks based on customer feedback.

Two Walkabout Sundays

The town's biggest fall event works the same way. Discover Warren, the town's merchant association, hosts the free Warren Walkabout on Sundays, Oct. 18 and 25, from noon to 5 p.m. There's no outside vendor tent. The event happens along Main Street, Water Street and beyond, with Warren's own shops opening their doors and showing what they do.

Stops announced so far:

1. Made in Warren: a potter throwing pottery outside the shop.
2. Arcwood Jewelry: a live painting demonstration.
3. Mudstone Studios, 30 Cutler Street: the annual "Ugly Sale," with deeply discounted ceramic seconds, experimental pieces and misfits made by students, studio members and professional artists.
4. DISH: a bigger selection of re-DISH, the women's boutique's gently worn pieces.
5. Free historic walking tours: two or three each Sunday, depending on sign-ups.
6. Main Street: a collaborative public art project open to children, beginners and experienced artists.

Discover Warren says more businesses, pop-ups and activities will be announced as the dates get closer. The Walkabout falls on Sundays, and Kingfish's Thursday-through-Monday hours include Sundays, so you can end a Walkabout afternoon there.

The rest of the season, by date

The rest of October and November follows the same pattern, with galleries, studios and a family farm hosting events in their own spaces.

The Imago show is a group exhibit featuring Anne Marie Rossi, with Dot Bergen as spotlight artist and guest artists Lynda D'Amico and Lincoln Pollock. Frerichs Farm's online calendar lists Connor's Halloween on Oct. 3 with an Oct. 4 rain date, the SNE Giant Pumpkin Growers Weigh-off on Oct. 10 and Girl's Nite Out on Nov. 6. It doesn't give a year for any of them, so confirm with the farm before you plan around those dates. The farm recently held its 40th anniversary event and planted a Northern Red Oak near the entrance in memory of founder David Sunley Frerichs.

Thanksgiving weekend downtown

The Warren Holiday Festival runs Friday and Saturday, Nov. 27 and 28, 2026. The festival's Friday schedule has the same neighborhood feel as the rest of the season. All events are free. From 5 to 7 p.m., Santa arrives at the foot of Baker Street on a decorated firetruck and heads to the Firemen's Museum at 38 Baker St. to hear children's wishes. The Wharf Tavern sponsors hot chocolate and cookies at 215 Water St., and Mechanics Fire Company, Station #2, sponsors the stop at 243 Water St. First Methodist Church at 25 Church St. hosts ornament crafts downstairs, with thanks to Kickemuit-Portsmouth Grange #24. The Federal Blues hold an open house at their carriage house at 42 Baker St., with militia in colonial attire, while stilt-walkers, jugglers and hula-hoopers perform along Water and Baker streets. The festival site posts the full Saturday schedule separately. The Fairy Tea Room's Spill the Tea evening on Market Street is the same Friday night.

If family is visiting for Thanksgiving, or you've just moved to the East Bay and want a local's take on Warren's tables and calendar, Tammy Bass is happy to share what she's hearing around town. Let's Connect.