Artichoke hearts with seafood stuffing is among the starters at Top of the Bay in Warwick.

The Providence Journal / Sandor Bodo

WARWICK Only since April 1 has Top of the Bay served meals in what once was a big summer house for a former Rhode Island governor at Oakland Beach.

Yet when we arrived for dinner on a recent warm weekday evening, the parking lot was jammed. We had to drive around the block once before a space opened up. Once inside, the large dining room was packed and we faced a 35-minute wait.

Apparently Top of the Bay had leapfrogged to the top of the restaurant chart for a lot of diners who wanted to take advantage of the warm weather, the good food that’s simply prepared and the view.

Later, our waiter told us that most of the dining room had been taken up by a party of 100. Weekday nights aren’t usually this busy, he said, although weekends are just as packed as this.

And why not? On a warm, pretty, sunset evening there’s no more pleasant place than being seated over a plate of seafood — or steaks, or Italian food — while gazing out through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the ever-changing panorama of Narragansett Bay. Sailboats and motorboats scudded by. Seagulls soared overhead or dived for fish. On a clear night you can see down the Bay to the Jamestown-Verrazzano Bridge.

I’d visited the place a couple of times when it was Cherrystone’s and reviewed it in 2005. It had closed for a time, was reopened by someone else and then closed again last August.

But Eli Farhat and Sam Khouri, who’ve successfully operated the nearby Timmy’s at 1 Bay Ave. for four years, took it over and reopened it in April. They hoped that a new name might better serve the place which had been operated by the same owner for 23 years until 2004 when it was sold … and then sold … and then sold … and then sold again. “We’re the fourth owners since 2004,” said Farhat in a later phone call.

They have brought back Albert Colafrancesco, longtime general manager of the original Cherrystone’s. Chef Carl Flanagan, who started his restaurant career at 15 as a line cook at the original Cherrystone’s and later worked at Timmy’s, is also back.

Farhat and Khouri haven’t made a lot of changes to the place, although we noticed that the windows were crystal clear, which is a lot better way to see the Bay than through the smudgy windows that had greeted us three years ago. The main part of the restaurant is 100 years old this year, built originally as the summer house for D. Russell Brown, governor of Rhode Island from 1892-95. Near the entrance, an impressive stone fireplace dominates a small bar area. There’s a much larger bar in what used to be the house’s front porch. But the dining room with big glass slider windows was wrapped around the old front of the house years ago.

Atop Top of the Bay’s dining room is a long bar with open windows for a bird’s eye view of the beach and bay. Huge floor fans whirred, remarkably silently, although it wasn’t especially warm and not at all humid. Farhat, who is originally from Lebanon and is a 2004 Johnson & Wales graduate, said a light bar menu — appetizers, salads, sandwiches, clam cakes, chowder — are served up there.

In the downstairs dining room, a myriad of overhead fans spun quietly. The dining room is air conditioned and the system was on, but so unobtrusively that there was no shock of cold air. Despite the 100-plus diners and the fact that the ceilings are paneled in wood, the noise level was not annoying, more like the cheerful din of people having a good time.

Even before we ordered drinks, our affable waiter brought a basket of warm whole-wheat and sun-dried tomato rolls and a rectangular glass plate that had olive oil for dipping, dusky hummus and a deliciously pleasing whipped basil butter that looked like a pale green sorbet.

What with all the waiters wearing tropical aloha shirts, a strawberry daiquiri ($6.50) and vodka Collins ($5) seemed just the right drinks for a warm evening.

Top of the Bay’s fare is a mix of seafood (stuffed quahogs, scallops, scrod, a seafood platter), burgers and sandwiches, Italian (fettuccine Alfredo, pasta primavera, chicken Parmesan) and meats (black Angus sirloin, veal Francaise) or a combination (surf and turf, ocean rib-eye steak, more about that later). With a few exceptions, one couldn’t label it terribly adventurous fare. It’s just well-prepared food, with generous portions and reasonable prices. We started with a plate of six baked-to-perfection artichoke hearts ($8.95) with a rich seafood stuffing that was moist and slightly sweet, nicely complementing the mellow, subtly piquant flavor of the artichokes.

We also ordered a half-dozen clam cakes ($5.95) and considered ordering clam chowder as well, until our waiter told us that our dinners came with soup or salad. But when the clam cakes didn’t materialize even after we’d polished off the artichokes, we finally asked where they were. Our waiter was very apologetic, saying that he hadn’t heard me order them at the start. No problem. We asked that they be served with the chowders, perfect for dunking.

These were fat, lightly fried, not very greasy clam cakes. Crispy on the outside, tender and moist on the inside, they contained honest-to-goodness pieces of chopped clams that I could actually see when I bit into them. This is, sadly, a rarity. My red chowder was a thicker, but very good, version of the usual watery Manhattan tomato-based chowder. The New England clam chowder, on the other hand, was lighter than some you’ll find elsewhere, but had a wonderful buttery taste.

I went the sea route all the way, with the broiled seafood platter ($23.95), a big plate loaded with a pair of baked stuffed shrimp, a small baking dish holding five large sea scallops and shredded crabmeat, a good-sized piece of scrod and a very large stuffed quahog that had been baked in herb butter.

The quahog had a stuffing that was not too “bready.” It was moist and not dried out the way this dish can sometimes be. It was not heavy and yet so filling that with all the other things on the plate I could eat only half of it.

The scrod, baked with herb butter and topped with seasoned bread crumbs, was perfectly moist yet firm, one of the best things on the plate. Delicious as well were the shrimp, large ones filled with a sweetly rich stuffing that made me hunger for more than just the two. The scallops, however, had been left in the oven maybe 30 seconds too long, as two of them were just on the edge of chewiness. But the others were fine, as was the crab meat.

For the side dish there was a choice of potatoes (the French fries were thin cut and tasty, though nothing extraordinary) and a vegetable (the slices of sautéed zucchini and yellow squash were outstanding and I finished every one, even though left some of the fries and half the quahog behind).

My dining companion was intrigued by just the thought of the ocean rib-eye steak ($23.95). It’s a pound of rib-eye steak that’s grilled, then topped with sautéed sea scallops and crabmeat in a garlic and white wine sauce. It sounded too unusual to pass up and it was well worth the order. The steak was cooked just right, to a touch below medium The sauce added a light touch of tangy flavor without being overly garlicky. And the tender scallops and crab meat were moist and made for an interesting mix of flavors with the steak.

On the side, a plate of al dente ziti was topped with a tomato sauce that had a nice chunky consistency and a fresh flavor.

The desserts at Top of the Bay all come from Antonio’s Bakery in Warwick and are of the sky-high variety, with lots of whipped cream. The strawberry shortcake was monumental, the whipped cream and strawberries slathered between three layers of spongy cake.

The four-layer mocha Frangelico was nearly as impressive, with its creamy filling alternating with cake layers and topped with a candy-like frosting. It would appeal to any sweet tooth. However, after all that seafood plus a sampling of my friend’s ocean rib-eye, I couldn’t finish it. I guess that’s the hallmark of a satisfying meal.BILL OF FARE

Dinner for two at Top of the Bay might look something like this:

Strawberry daiquiri…$6.50

Vodka Collins…$5.00

Artichoke hearts…$8.95

Ocean rib-eye steak…$23.95

Broiled seafood platter…$23.95

Strawberry shortcake…$5.95

Total food and drink…$74.30

Tax…$5.94

Tip…$15.00

Total bill…$95.24

Top of the Bay, 898 Oakland Beach Ave., Warwick. (401) 921-3663. topofthebayrestaurant.com. Casual. Handicapped accessible. Child seats and a children’s menu. Reservations for six or more. AE, MC, V, DIS. Parking lot. Lunch 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mon. to Sat.; dinner 4 to 10 p.m. Mon. to Thurs.; to 11 p.m. Fri. and Sat.; noon to 10 p.m. Sun. Lounge is open to midnight Sun. to Thurs.; to 1 a.m. Fri. and Sat. Appetizers $2.95 to $9.95. Entrees $8.95 to $24.95. Wines are $5 to $7 by the glass; $15 to $20 for a bottle.

More, please! This restaurant’s menu, and recent reviews and menus: projo.com/food

mjanuson@projo.com