Thu 12 Jan 2006
Pittsburgh, PA 15218
412-731-3033
Please, only get the ravioli here. It is the only consistently good thing. They DO make their own ravioli, and they do it pretty well. Just stick to the straightforward ones, nothing too fancy, and I would also stick to the red sauces. I’ve tried other pasta dishes, all of which failed. The sausage pasta dish was swimming in oil and the sausage was not even particularly flavorful. Do not get the Chicken Parm – it flat out sucks.
You could also try their spinach cheese bread, which is dense and fatty - no dieter’s friend. However, sometimes all you want is something deliciously dense and fatty, that oozes oil with every bite (like the crust of a pizza hut pizza, or a luscious piece of garlic bread), and this stuff will definitely suffice.
This place is not saved by its atmosphere, which is nothing special and also identical to the Italian place it was previously. It does have an outdoor seating area where there is usually no one sitting, so that is nice and private. At least there is a fence to block the view of the K-Mart.
Finally, the tiramisu here ain’t half bad. And they sometimes have Prantl’s Burnt Almond Torte - I’m sure I don’t have to tell you about the utter spasms of joy one gets from a slice of THAT cake! (take that last statement literally, no sarcasm is intended - that cake is a damn festival in your mouth)
Get:
Spinach Ravioli in Marinara or Meat sauce
Don’t Get:
Anything else, especially the Chix Parm
January 13th, 2006 at 10:31 am
There’s something that really puzzles me about this place.
I read that once upon a time, the management used to own a shop that sold pasta sauce (to-go) someplace near the city. The sauce became so popular that the owners decided to open a “full-featured” restaurant in Edgewood.
But what’s weird is: I’ve had issues with their marinera sauce — it had the unmistakable taste of burned garlic. What gives? Did I just wind up there on a bad night?
I just can’t understand how an Italian joint founded on the basis of sauce-making could disappoint like that. Is it just me?