Newport Restaurant Group To Open Foodlove Market In Middletown

MIDDLETOWN, RI — Newport Restaurant Group (NRG), a collection of restaurants located across Rhode Island, has announced the opening of a new upscale market, Foodlove, at 1037 Aquidneck Ave. in Middletown.

The new market, expected to open in summer 2021, will give guests the opportunity to enjoy prepared and made-to-order dishes that incorporate local and seasonal ingredients, offering meals for both individuals and families and incorporating NRG's established Fare Rewards loyalty program.

“We have considered the idea of an upscale prepared foods market on Aquidneck Island in the past, but it was not until Covid hit, and it became clear to us that the food and beverage landscape was going to be permanently altered, that I became fully committed to the concept,” said Paul O’Reilly, President and CEO of Newport Restaurant Group, in a statement.

Due to financial difficulties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, O'Reilly said NRG brought on an outside investor for the first time in the company's history. The investor has capitalized the majority of the project while still allowing NRG to remain an employee-owned business.

“In some ways, it is counter-intuitive to be expanding and building a new business unit during a time when we’re cutting expenses and shrinking the company,” O’Reilly continued. “Frankly, it was hard for us to take on an investor to do this project, as we have always been independent and self-sustaining, but the reality is that we could not capitalize what we felt was the smartest way to adapt to a rapidly changing market."

Foodlove Market will offer a wide variety of food items, including salads, rotisserie chickens, grain bowls, soups, wood-fired and cast iron pan pizzas, sushi, poke bowls, groceries, bakery items, and local coffee.

For more information and updates on the market's opening, visit NRG's website.