willy's burger bar + rotisserie Opens at Former Asterisk Location

The A&O Group announced today that the company’s new restaurant concept, willy’s burger bar + rotisserie, has opened at 599 Thames Street in Newport, RI. 

The restaurant is located in the former location of Asterisk, the A&O Group’s well-known brand for 20 years. In addition to a fun, interior redesign, chef-owner John Bach-Sorensen has created a new menu for the 75-seat restaurant, focusing on fresh ingredients and great food.

The willy’s atmosphere is casual, offering a variety of burgers, rotisserie chicken, simply roasted food, and cocktails, with shakes in the summer. The restaurant is open seven days a week for dinner with lunch service beginning May 24. 

willy’s aims to support and give back to the local Aquidneck Island community. The restaurant will feature  a monthly ‘community night’ with a percentage of the profits for the ‘community nights’ to be donated to local non-profits.                       

“I’m very excited to introduce the willy’s concept to Newport,” Back-Sorensen said. “We are looking to appeal to our neighborhood, which is full of busy families just like our own. We offer two universally popular dishes, burgers and rotisserie chicken. Each item is prepared expertly and sourced carefully so that we deliver an excellent meal. Our passion is not only great quality, but great value as well.”  

willy’s uses freshly ground black angus beef for its craft burgers, and the chicken is hormone- and antibiotic-free.  A sampling of menu items includes:

½ Rotisserie Chicken: served with willy’s twice-cooked, skin-on, hand-cut fries and your choice of sauce (green herb, honey mustard, teriyaki, traditional gravy, or barbeque).
Texas Burger: angus beef, cheddar, chili con carne, corn frites
Bach Burger: angus beef, goat cheese, field mushrooms, mayo, pesto
Kobe Burger: Kobe beef, green leaf lettuce, white onion, beef steak tomato, mayo
Ahi Tuna Burger: sushi grade tuna, wasabi, pickled ginger
Beer Meister Dog: cheddar + American cheese sauce
Beef Chili or Chicken Chili Sloppy Joe 

willy’s is open for dinner seven days a week for lunch and dinner. For more information, visit the restaurant website at: www.willysnewport.com or call: 401-841-8898.