Ever had a Frog City Burger or Thornton Grinder? If not, think about trying a Pocasset or Plainfield Parma Pizza, or dishes like veal and peas, polenta, tripe, soffrito or other authentic homemade Italian dishes that feature large portions, pleases people’s palates and pocketbooks and is now being served by the Spirito brothers – Gregory and David – at 1418 Plainfield Pike on the Cranston-Johnston line.

“We’re excited about being back home,” Greg Spirito said the other day inside Spirito’s Restaurant-Banquet-Catering that recently took up residence at the famed Kelley-Gazzerro VFW Post 2812 on Plainfield Pike. “It’s ironic, we used to come here when we were kids.” The Spirito brothers, whose cooking has consistently ranked among the best Italian food in Rhode Island for upwards of three decades, are native Johnstonians who grew up in Frog City – a.k.a. the Thornton section of town.