Lorraine Mills at 560 Mineral Spring Ave. has more than 100 small businesses under one roof. Owner Jonathan Savage compares it to an old-time village, and The Local Insider described a resident who got her hair done there, then ate, and could have gone on to a play and a drink without leaving the building. That version of the mill does exist. It just keeps short hours. The diner, the gallery, the distillery, the brewery and the pizza counter each post their own schedule, and those schedules only overlap for part of one day a week.
The day is Saturday. The window opens at 1 p.m. With "The Body" at the Pawtucket Arts Collaborative closing on November 1, there are four Saturdays left this fall to see the whole building in one visit.
The Posted Hours, Side by Side
These are the hours each business currently posts on its own site. Two of them, A Guy & His Pie and Crooked Current, say on their sites that their hours or tap lists can change, so check before you head over.
| Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miss Lorraine Diner | 6 a.m.–2 p.m. | 6 a.m.–2 p.m. | 6 a.m.–2 p.m. | 7 a.m.–2 p.m. |
| Pawtucket Arts Collaborative gallery | Closed | Closed | 1–4 p.m. | 10 a.m.–4 p.m. |
| White Dog Distilling | Closed | 5–8 p.m. | 1–7 p.m. | Closed |
| Crooked Current Brewery | 5–8 p.m. | 5–9 p.m. | 1–6 p.m. | Closed |
| A Guy & His Pie | 5–9 p.m. | 4–9 p.m. | 4–9 p.m. | 4–8 p.m. |
The diner is the only business here that works mornings, and it closes at 2 p.m. every day. The pizza counter never opens before 4 p.m. The brewery keeps short evening hours on Thursday and Friday, and the distillery only on Friday. That leaves Saturday as the only day when the morning and evening businesses have any afternoon in common.
Between 1 and 2 p.m. on a Saturday, four of the five are open together: the diner, the gallery, the White Dog tasting room and the Crooked Current taproom. From 4 to 6 p.m. the gallery has closed, but the pizza counter has opened alongside both drinks rooms. Plan a visit around those two windows and you can see the building at its fullest.
A Saturday That Follows the Hours
This order works because each stop opens before the last one closes.
- Late breakfast at Miss Lorraine Diner, before 2 p.m. Savage turned an old dining car into the diner, and it stands out front on Mineral Spring Ave. The menu includes huevos rancheros, breakfast burritos, stuffed French toast and pancakes. Come late in the morning and you will still have time for coffee when the gallery, distillery and brewery open at 1.
- The 1:30 p.m. tasting tour at White Dog Distilling. The tasting room opens at 1 p.m., and the tour starts half an hour later. The current spirits list includes the seasonal Tailgate Pumpkin Spice Maple moonshine, alongside the distillery's whiskey, gin and rum. You can book the tour on White Dog's site.
- "The Body" at the Pawtucket Arts Collaborative, before 4 p.m. The gallery keeps Saturday hours of 1 to 4 p.m. This show closes Sunday, November 1. The cutoff is fixed, so the gallery is the stop to schedule first if the afternoon gets crowded.
- A pint at Crooked Current Brewery, before 6 p.m. The taproom opens at 1 p.m. on Saturday and closes at 6. The brewery posts its current tap list on social media, not on its website.
- Dinner at A Guy & His Pie, from 4 p.m. The menu covers Detroit-inspired whole pies and slices, sandwiches, beer, wine and a rotating seasonal list. The kitchen opens at 4 p.m., so you can still go back to Crooked Current or White Dog for a while after you order.
Saturdays left before "The Body" closes: October 10, 17, 24 and 31.
Finding the Right Door
A building with this many tenants is hard to find your way around, and the new management says so. Savage has brought in a partner, Will Rawlings, who will be on site a lot and will work on these areas full time. Rawlings has listed his priorities: signs and wayfinding, better landscaping, nicer common areas, upgrades to live-work units that are now twenty years old, and more events. He told The Local Insider about the visitors he meets wandering the halls:
"Every day, it seems, he comes across someone meandering about looking for a certain unit, a reality that 'can be a real drag' for businesses."
Until the new signs go up, one practical note helps. White Dog says that if you face the building from Mineral Spring Ave., the side with the diner, parking and the tasting room entrance are to the left, before the train tracks.
Rawlings also brought up Lorraine Mills Fest. He said past editions may not have been promoted or supported enough, and that this kind of community should be holding events like it regularly. The article gives no date for a next edition. If the festival comes back, it would bring the whole building together on one day, much as Saturday afternoons do now.
Thursday and Friday Nights
Before Saturday, the building runs at a smaller scale. On Thursday, Crooked Current opens from 5 to 8 p.m. and A Guy & His Pie from 5 to 9, which makes a pint and a pizza the whole evening. On Friday, White Dog adds a 5-to-8 tasting room, Crooked Current stays open until 9, and the pizza counter opens at 4. Friday is the fuller weeknight. The gallery and the diner are closed by then, so a Friday visit is a dinner out.
Sunday runs the other way. The diner opens at 7 a.m., the gallery keeps hours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the pizza counter opens at 4. The distillery and brewery are closed. Brunch plus the gallery fits between 10 and 2. November 1 is a Sunday, so the last chance to see "The Body" is a morning visit.
Mixed Magic Theatre is an anchor tenant at 560 Mineral Spring Ave., but its only upcoming event is away from the mill. Its gospel concert on October 10 is at Central Falls High School at 7:30 p.m., with tickets at $25.
After the Mill Closes
When the drinks rooms close at 6 and 7 p.m., Pawtucket's other big mill complex has shows on the calendar. The Met at Hope Artiste Village, 1005 Main St., has shows on several fall Saturdays:
- October 10: Mystic Dead
- October 17: The Wild Turkey Band's 50th anniversary party
- October 31: Blackbeard's Halloween Party
The Met's October calendar also includes Hey Nineteen on October 16, Amplify Her on October 18 and The Barr Brothers on October 30. If you want one sit-down evening, Hope Artiste Village is holding an "Autumn & Aged" whisky-pairing dinner on Thursday, October 15, from 6 to 9:30 p.m. at Hope Events on Main, 999 Main St., Suite 1230. It is a multi-course menu with whisky pairings.
On October 31, the Saturday plan above can end at Blackbeard's Halloween Party at The Met. That evening, the Oak Hill Halloween Hootenanny is listed at 175 Main St., with treats from 5:30 p.m. and a parade at 6, followed by trick-or-treating and haunted houses.
Pawtucket Restaurant Week runs October 26 through November 1. In its call for participants, the city said it would name the restaurants and their offers closer to the event. Restaurant Week ends on November 1, the same Sunday "The Body" closes.
Mills like Lorraine are part of what makes older Rhode Island neighborhoods distinctive, and I enjoy following how they change. If you have a favorite Saturday at 560 Mineral Spring Ave., or you are curious how places like it shape the streets around them, Lisa Ardente would be glad to hear from you. Let's Connect.
