The following listings have been distilled from recent full-length reviews; the date appearing at the end of each entry indicates the month and year of review. Hours, credit-card and liquor information are not included, so be sure to call ahead. And bear in mind that some menus change seasonally.

BREW CITY GRILL, 2299 Post Rd., Warwick (732-9533). Don't even think of going to Brew City Grill unless you have your dancing shoes and your party hat on. The restaurant vibrates with high energy -- literally. There's a dance club downstairs called Bell Bottoms, and its powerful sound system was pumping early on the Friday evening we visited. Along with the music, Brew City Grill's casual main dining area is colorfully upbeat. Large picture post cards decorate the bright yellow and green walls. And on our table, an assortment of crayons invited us to decorate the tablecloth of brown paper. Upping the testosterone level a bit, we ordered the "Macho Nacho" appetizer ($5.95), which came with about a bag and a half of nachos. Baked to a perfect crispness, these were smothered with a variety of traditional Mexican flavors, from salsa to sour cream. For the main course, the "Steak Philly Stir Fry" ($6.95) is a plateful of tender steak tips soaking in a wine marinade, while the seven-inch, personal-size "Tuscany" brick oven pizza has a crust just thick enough to hold the delicious pesto, seasoned spinach, and chunks of tomato piled high on top. I'm not sure how to break this to you, but Brew City Grill doesn't have dessert. Nope, none at all. But look on the bright side -- it would just weigh you down when you head downstairs to shake your groove thang. (2/98)

L'EPICURIO, 238 Atwells Ave., Providence, (454-8430). There are humble origins and there are humble origins. Starting off as a little meat market and gourmet shop on Federal Hill, L'Epicurio used to be the place to get your Italian taste treats (mmm, Tuscan sausage), but today it is considered one of the best restaurants in Providence, if not in the nation, having earned mentions in both Esquire magazine and the New York Times. Part of the allure is the restaurant's ambiance. Burgundy brocade chair backs and maroon walls with gold spiral accents set the tone, while greenery tops a partition with cherub statues at each end. Owners Tom and Roseanne Buckner also have kept the ambiance subdued, fancy but not stuffy, and with their new wood grill, they are now able to offer such house specialties as veal sausage and pork loin ($18.95), which we tried on a recent visit. The two-inch-thick tenderloin was pan-seared rather than grilled, to keep it juicy, and served medium, as was requested. For dessert, we had the chocolate tort ($7.50), whose rich, runny filling was encased in a thick, buttery shell flanked by twin excesses -- a small scoop of vanilla ice cream and a dollop of whipped cream. (2/98)

LEGAL SEAFOOD, 2099 Post Rd., Warwick (732-3663). Making a go of a restaurant is hard enough, but doing it with seafood is the hardest, because the cooking couldn't be trickier. Grill a swordfish steak a minute too long, and you're serving cat food. But as a recent visit to the Legal Sea Food restaurant near the airport proved, seafood joints can more than survive, they can thrive, by doing things right. Over the years, Legal's main trick has been to assure freshness with its seafood quality-control lab outside of Boston. They also get their pick of the catch by force of their high-volume purchases (as in 100 tons a week). As a result, Legal claims to offer more varieties of fish than any other restaurant in the nation -- a boast reflected on its menu, where grilled arctic char is listed alongside the more common mahi-mahi (both $15.95). Out of all the choices, though, my dining companion's seafood potpie ($13.95) is definitely on my agenda for a future visit. The top crust was flaky and delicious in a lobster broth (mercifully unthickened) that was tangy with sherry. The vegetables were not cooked to mush and had plenty of competition among the shrimp, scallops, white fish, and mussels. I suppose we can never expect bad restaurants to be illegal, but we sure could do worse if more of them were Legal. (2/98)