Scene of the Crime

Old Canteen

From its “rose” pink walls to its famous Table No. 5, Joe Marzilli’s Old Canteen had been a Federal Hill staple for nearly seventy years. Everyone from Raymond Patriarca to Buddy Cianci used to dine here, where you could still find classics like spaghetti vongole and steak a la Frank (the way Frank Sinatra liked it) on the menu. Rumor has it Patriarca even used to host card games in the apartment upstairs. Earlier this year, Newport’s Heritage Restaurant Group announced it had purchased the building with plans to turn it into Wally’s Weiners and the Copper Club speakeasy.

Coin-O-Matic

The Coin-O-Matic on Atwells Avenue in Providence, circa 1959. Photo courtesy of The Providence Journal-USA TODAY NETWORK.

Want to know how long someone’s lived in Rhode Island? Ask them about the Coin-O-Matic. The unsuspecting little storefront at 168 Atwells — now home to an Indian restaurant — was for many years the stronghold of the elder Patriarca, notorious mob boss of New England. The store might have looked like a vending machine company, but everyone knew it was in the office in back where the real business took place. On a typical day, you could find him out front, keeping an eye on Federal Hill from his chair on the sidewalk, a cigarette dangling from his lip.

Euro Bistro

This small restaurant down the far end of Atwells Avenue — where Anthony’s is today — was a favorite haunt for Luigi “Baby Shacks” Manocchio. When not serving prison sentences or on the lam, Manocchio lived in an apartment above the restaurant, which a family member owned. In 2018, a court case revealed the Euro Bistro was the target of an alleged bomb plot two decades earlier. A federal informant claimed Kevin Hanrahan was planning to blow up the restaurant to assassinate Manocchio when he was shot down at another restaurant. Manocchio was never charged with the hit.

Photo courtesy of Rhode Island Postcard Collection, Providence Public Library.

Providence Biltmore

The Biltmore hotel had more than a few ties to crime during its heyday — after all, it was the place to find booze during Prohibition — but its most famous resident was none other than Mayor Vincent Cianci Jr., who lived there at the time of his corruption trial in 2002. The mayor had been a regular at the Biltmore bar for decades and championed the hotel’s reopening after it closed its doors in 1975. Today, the hotel operates as the Graduate Providence and still offers the best view of the city from its eighteenth floor (though the glass elevator is no longer operational).

Andino’s 

Andino’s, with its long list of pasta entrees and its Rat Pack vibes, has long been a Federal Hill favorite. It also has the closest mob ties among any of its peers: Its founder, Andino Merola, did time for the mob killing of Joseph “Joe Onions” Scanlon in 1978 before launching the restaurant a decade later. Today, the restaurant is run by his son, Anthony, and revered for its Federal Hill adoration. Check out the beautiful mural on the wall, a tribute to the Hill we’ll always know and love, and be sure to order the calamari, snail salad and one of the many chicken or veal specialties.

Camille’s

A favorite of politicos and crime bosses alike, Camille’s has been serving up Italian food on the Hill since 1914. Operating as a speakeasy early on, the restaurant has hosted celebrities the likes of John F. Kennedy Jr., Jane Fonda and Yoko Ono in its richly decorated dining room. In 2011, the business was named to The Daily Meal’s list of famous “Mobster Restaurants Around the Country.”

The vault at Hudson Fur Storage on Cranston Street in Providence. Photo courtesy of Design Imaging Studios Inc./Christian Scully.

Hudson Fur Storage

Hudson Fur Storage on Cranston Street, which is still open today, was home to one of the largest heists in U.S. history. In 1975, eight men — many with mob ties — walked into an under-the-radar safe deposit company inside the business and walked out with an estimated $32 million. A rift between the thieves led to their eventual arrest and a blockbuster trial in Rhode Island’s Superior Court. Law enforcement officials have long suspected Patriarca of ordering the theft, but he was never charged in connection with the crime.

Maria’s Cucina

Maria’s Cucina might be a relatively recent addition to Providence’s dining scene, but its Broadway digs boast more than a century of history. Located inside the Italo American Club of Rhode Island, the restaurant features historical scenes from Greece and Italy painted on the walls of the 1890s-era Victorian home. In 2022, a state police investigation into a State House employee accused the restaurant of having Mafia ties, including an alleged mobster Christmas party two years earlier. 

Heritage Loan and Investment Co.

This grand stone bank on Federal Hill had plenty of high-profile customers, including, allegedly, Patriarca. In 1990, President Joe Mollicone Jr. kicked off the state’s banking crisis when he embezzled approximately $15 million of investors’ money, fleeing the state and leaving the Rhode Island Share and Deposit Indemnity Corporation in shambles. A third of Rhode Islanders lost access to their cash, and Mollicone enjoyed an eighteen-month sojourn in Utah before turning himself in. Today, the bank is a lounge and hookah bar, and Mollicone makes monthly restitution payments in $70 installments. The tab? $12 million.