Stone Crest Cellars Wine Tasting & Bistro

My husband and I had a craving for authentic Italian food last night so we decided to try out Stone Crest Bistro in Newport. We had called ahead to find out their location and hours, and even though they were getting ready to close for the night, they invited us to come anyway (and they greeted us with such a warm welcome when we arrived). To top it off, the food was absolutely incredible! My husband ordered the chicken milanase (amazing) and I ordered the corkscrew pasta. I’m not exaggerating, but it was THE best pasta I have ever had (it even tops all the pasta we’ve had in Italy)! So we highly recommend you stop in and try this wonderful place. The owners and staff are so friendly and welcoming and your taste buds will definitely thank you :)

We finished our last night in Newport at Stone Crest Cellars. Although located in a small, well-​worn strip mall on Hwy 101, Stone Crest’s shop was decorated in a charming bistro fashion. Our server immediately brought us an appetizer of French bread slices and enough cream cheese spread for a whole baguette. She was attentive throughout the meal. Roger ordered pasta which had a tasty red sauce and was topped with a chicken beast and mozzarella cheese. It was a generous portion for the price of $ 15. I wasn’t very hungry so I ordered just an appetizer of French bread with ricotta and grapes stewed in red wine – $ 8. We each ordered a glass of wine as well. The wine was decidedly mediocre. When it came time to pay, our server briefly showed us her written bill, too quickly to allow for our review, and handed us an electronic pad that had a billing app. The app did not itemize; rather, it presented a total amount, plus tip suggestions of 18%, 25% and 30%. There was no option for a customer to write in an amount. We selected 18% but felt coerced into making a selection we hadn’t determined. Neither would we have offered 18% for a meal consisting of four items, two of them drinks and one an appetizer, and we had a hard time imagining how any customer could be so far gone in his cups as to offer a 30% tip for anything served in a simple bistro whilst retaining sufficient motor function to actually sign for it. The electronic pad offered a copy of the «bill» by text or email, doubtless just the naked total that had been entered into the app, and both options obviously provided the marketeers behind the app with our contact information, so we declined a copy. When we returned to our car we realized that the total amount that had been presented to us was higher than the actual total of our four items. Roger went inside to review the written bill in the possession of our server. She acknowledged that the total was $ 5 higher than it should have been and returned our $ 5 with a very brief and not very heartfelt «Sorry about that.» We were sorry we didn’t ask to have the tip refunded as well! We won’t return.

Excellent Italian food. Fun atmosphere. Great wine. This is a must if your at the coast.