This Underrated East Coast City Has One Of America's Best Little Italy Neighborhoods

When you think of Little Italy the first thing that probably pops into your mind is New York's iconic Little Italy and a plate full of pasta. Maybe you imagine sitting in similar popular Little Italy neighborhoods in Philly or Boston eating a slice of pizza or enjoying a glass of wine outdoors. But there's another Little Italy neighborhood on the U.S. East Coast that definitely deserves a visit as well — and it's not where you expect.

Although long overshadowed, the capital of Rhode Island has one of the most interesting Little Italy neighborhoods in the United States. Providence, a city of just under 200,000, is home to a large Italian-American population primarily due to an influx of immigrants prior to World War I who came to the area after being recruited to work for local shipping companies in the growing city's waterfront industry. Many settled in the Federal Hill area and built a strong and vibrant community where Italian cuisine and other traditions from their homeland thrived in Providence.

Providence's bustling Little Italy in Federal Hill is an Italian food lover's dream. You can enjoy traditional delicacies from any number of the neighborhood's pastry shops, but one stop has to be the Scialo Bros. Bakery, which has been in business for over 100 years. Definitely try a Naples-style pastry called a sfogliatella.

There are a number of restaurants worth visiting. Rhode Island is home to some of the country's oldest restaurants, so it should come as no surprise that some Italian businesses in Federal Hill go back centuries. The oldest in the neighborhood are Camille's and Angelo's, which opened in 1914 and 1924, respectively. Camille's is a great place to try traditional dishes like baccala. At Angelo's, nothing is more famous than the meatball and french fries dish. Pizza lovers craving a slice need to swing by Caserta Pizza to get a fix.

The neighborhood also hosts a number of specialty Italian food stores. One that you need to check out is Venda Ravioli, where you can pick up everything from homemade pasta sauce to pizza. It even has an on-site espresso bar where you can also buy a gelato if you need to cool down on a hot day.

In recent years a new form of tourism has sprouted up in Providence with tour guides exploring the darker moments of Little Italy's past. The Crime and Cuisine on Federal Hill tour is "a food tour with a felonious twist" says the Providence Tour Company. Along with trying some of the neighborhood's famous bites to eat, the tour also explores the city's history of dealings with the mob and confrontations between the mafia and police.

A light was shone on the dark side of Providence's past in 2016, with the release of the uber-popular podcast "Crimetown." The series' first season chronicles the rise of the Patriarca crime family in Providence. It also told the story of disgraced Italian-American Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci, who once resigned from office in the 1980s after pleading guilty to assault. Cianci later was reelected before eventually being imprisoned on racketeering conspiracy charges in 2002.

The Federal Hill "Crime and Cuisine" tour has received some backlash from locals who argue, via The Providence Journal, that such marketing and tourism undermines and damages the reputation of the neighborhood. In response, the owner of the tour company told The Providence Journal that it "serves as a gateway for deeper understanding of Federal Hill's role in Providence history, and presents the neighborhood as one of nuance, complexity, and worthy of exploration." If you're a true crime fan, you might go to Providence for the crime history, but make sure you stay to eat some great Italian food and experience the city's true colors.