Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Froth Gorges on Tentecled Things And Baby Cow
Before the theatre last night, we dined at Bravo Franco on Penn Avenue. I've eaten here before, and its good, although I find it just wee bit expensive, but we had a gift certificate (thanks Mom&Dad) so what the hey!
I started with the sauteed calamari, and I wish more placed in town offered the tasty sea critters this way. Sure, you can get it fried just about anywhere, and that's fine, but I really prefer it sauteed, and it was just wonderful. The Misses had the wild mushroom soup, gone in a flash so it must have been tasty.
After salads, we moved on to the entrees. I LOOOOVE baby cow, and Franco's has quite a few veal dishes, and I settled on the Veal Romano. Quite good, in a light, lemony, egg batter. The Better Half had the Stuffed Trout Florentine, one of the house specialties. Both dishes were judged yummy by the consumers (us).
On to dessert! She had the ice cream roll, which reminded me of a dessert that Shoney's used to serve back in the day. I had a taste, and it was incredibly rich. There are only two desserts that I really like, and one of them, tiramisù, was on the menu, so I opted for that. It was a skyscraper of tastiness, I'd estimate about five inches high and two inches square, and quite wonderful!
Service was spotty. The attendents were very good about filling our water glasses and clearing away the plates, but our waiter seemed detatched, and strangely unattentive when compared with the other staff moving about the floor. He was quite knowledgeable about the menu, but seemed bored, and we waited ten minutes from the time our entrees were cleared until he arrived with the dessert menu.
Now for the bad part. Dinner for two, with ONE glass of wine, ran us $100.88!!! Hence why I'm not terribly impressed with Franco's. I've had food just as good around town, including downtown, but for a good 20-25 dollars cheaper. It is however, convienent to the theatres.
I started with the sauteed calamari, and I wish more placed in town offered the tasty sea critters this way. Sure, you can get it fried just about anywhere, and that's fine, but I really prefer it sauteed, and it was just wonderful. The Misses had the wild mushroom soup, gone in a flash so it must have been tasty.
After salads, we moved on to the entrees. I LOOOOVE baby cow, and Franco's has quite a few veal dishes, and I settled on the Veal Romano. Quite good, in a light, lemony, egg batter. The Better Half had the Stuffed Trout Florentine, one of the house specialties. Both dishes were judged yummy by the consumers (us).
On to dessert! She had the ice cream roll, which reminded me of a dessert that Shoney's used to serve back in the day. I had a taste, and it was incredibly rich. There are only two desserts that I really like, and one of them, tiramisù, was on the menu, so I opted for that. It was a skyscraper of tastiness, I'd estimate about five inches high and two inches square, and quite wonderful!
Service was spotty. The attendents were very good about filling our water glasses and clearing away the plates, but our waiter seemed detatched, and strangely unattentive when compared with the other staff moving about the floor. He was quite knowledgeable about the menu, but seemed bored, and we waited ten minutes from the time our entrees were cleared until he arrived with the dessert menu.
Now for the bad part. Dinner for two, with ONE glass of wine, ran us $100.88!!! Hence why I'm not terribly impressed with Franco's. I've had food just as good around town, including downtown, but for a good 20-25 dollars cheaper. It is however, convienent to the theatres.
Labels: bravo franco, froth eats, pittsburgh, restaurants
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Froth Eats At Calico Jack's
I had some tome to kill before last night's Pirates game (a disappointing 6-2 loss where former Pirate Josh Fogg looked like Bob Gibson), so I decided to check out Calico Jack's Cantina, hard by the ballpark. This eatery/bar is owned by the same company that owns the awful McFadden's, so I wasn't sure what to expect.
The place wasn't terribly busy, and the decor isn't anything eye catching, but the service was fast and friendly. They started me out with chips and salsa, which is typical for such a place. The salsa had quite a bit of cilantro in it, boarding on the overkill region where it starts tasting like soap, and unfortunatly, the chips were a bit stale.
I started off with a bowl of the roasted chicken and cheese tortilla soup, and this is a meal unto inself. There must have been two cups of soup in the freakin' tureen the waitress brought out, way too much for me to finish and still have room for the entree, so I only had about a cup's worth. It was very good, but again, maybe a bit too much cilantro for most people.
My entree was the chipolte BBQ chicken breasts. For $15 dollars I got two grilled chiken breasts over rice and veggies slathered with the BBQ sauce. The BBQ sauce wasn't bad, but I really couldn't taste any chipolte in it. The chicken was a bit overdone, and looked like it had been cooked in an industrial sized George Forman grill.
Overall, it wasn't that bad, you get a heck of a lot of food for your money, and while it wasn't great, it wasn't bad either. The service was quite good. My soup, entree, and two beers came to just under $25.00. I was also pleased to see they have a very extensive tequila list, although my favorite, Chinaco Anejo was missing, so I did not partake.
Overall, I give the place a C+, not bad for meeting friends before or after a baseball or football game, but I wouldn't go out of my to eat here either. So, of the places I've been to that have sprung up between PNC Park and Hienz Field, I rate the Bettis Grille a B+, Calico Jack's a C+ and McFadden's an F. Still have to try the Hyde Park Steakhouse, that one just might be next.
The place wasn't terribly busy, and the decor isn't anything eye catching, but the service was fast and friendly. They started me out with chips and salsa, which is typical for such a place. The salsa had quite a bit of cilantro in it, boarding on the overkill region where it starts tasting like soap, and unfortunatly, the chips were a bit stale.
I started off with a bowl of the roasted chicken and cheese tortilla soup, and this is a meal unto inself. There must have been two cups of soup in the freakin' tureen the waitress brought out, way too much for me to finish and still have room for the entree, so I only had about a cup's worth. It was very good, but again, maybe a bit too much cilantro for most people.
My entree was the chipolte BBQ chicken breasts. For $15 dollars I got two grilled chiken breasts over rice and veggies slathered with the BBQ sauce. The BBQ sauce wasn't bad, but I really couldn't taste any chipolte in it. The chicken was a bit overdone, and looked like it had been cooked in an industrial sized George Forman grill.
Overall, it wasn't that bad, you get a heck of a lot of food for your money, and while it wasn't great, it wasn't bad either. The service was quite good. My soup, entree, and two beers came to just under $25.00. I was also pleased to see they have a very extensive tequila list, although my favorite, Chinaco Anejo was missing, so I did not partake.
Overall, I give the place a C+, not bad for meeting friends before or after a baseball or football game, but I wouldn't go out of my to eat here either. So, of the places I've been to that have sprung up between PNC Park and Hienz Field, I rate the Bettis Grille a B+, Calico Jack's a C+ and McFadden's an F. Still have to try the Hyde Park Steakhouse, that one just might be next.
Labels: food, froth eats, north shore, restaurants, reviews
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Faux Irish
I went to the ball game early today, because I noticed there's a new Irish Pub on the North Shore! McFadden's! Authentically festooned with shamrocks, Celtic knots, and Guinness posters on the wall!
Unfortunately, the disappointment sets in the moment you open the menu. Not ONE Irish dish listed (Rueben sandwiches and Shepherd's pie doesn't count, you can get that just about anywhere). Just the same old boring bar food that you can find at TGIFriday's or Applebees.
On tap, with the exception of Guinness, everything is domestic. I suspect the owner is an English twit named Gervase Brooks-Hamster.
Foodwise, I got the Rueben. It came on a plate heaped with frenchfries, probably to detract from the fact that the Rueben was the size of two silver dollars. Smallest sandwich I've ever been served at a restaurant. Heck, I've had grilled cheese at the Murphy's lunch counter that were bigger than that Rueben. $14.50 for that and a beer. Know what a huge fish sandwich, fries, and a beer runs you at PNC Park?? $13.00. Pretty damn sad when you cannot compete with stadium food. I liked this place better when it was called Houlihans. Trust me, unless you're looking for a place to get plastered, put this dog of a restaurant to sleep. Unfortunatly, due to its location between PNC Park and Heinz Field, this turd will thrive on the GET DRUNK GO STILLERS GO BUCS! crowd.
If you want chain Irish, you're far better off walking a couple of blocks to Finnigan's Wake, or hitting Molly Brannigan's in Mt Lebanon, or Claddagh's on the South Side.
Better yet, why not drop in at the Pour House or the Harp and Fiddle?
Unfortunately, the disappointment sets in the moment you open the menu. Not ONE Irish dish listed (Rueben sandwiches and Shepherd's pie doesn't count, you can get that just about anywhere). Just the same old boring bar food that you can find at TGIFriday's or Applebees.
On tap, with the exception of Guinness, everything is domestic. I suspect the owner is an English twit named Gervase Brooks-Hamster.
Foodwise, I got the Rueben. It came on a plate heaped with frenchfries, probably to detract from the fact that the Rueben was the size of two silver dollars. Smallest sandwich I've ever been served at a restaurant. Heck, I've had grilled cheese at the Murphy's lunch counter that were bigger than that Rueben. $14.50 for that and a beer. Know what a huge fish sandwich, fries, and a beer runs you at PNC Park?? $13.00. Pretty damn sad when you cannot compete with stadium food. I liked this place better when it was called Houlihans. Trust me, unless you're looking for a place to get plastered, put this dog of a restaurant to sleep. Unfortunatly, due to its location between PNC Park and Heinz Field, this turd will thrive on the GET DRUNK GO STILLERS GO BUCS! crowd.
If you want chain Irish, you're far better off walking a couple of blocks to Finnigan's Wake, or hitting Molly Brannigan's in Mt Lebanon, or Claddagh's on the South Side.
Better yet, why not drop in at the Pour House or the Harp and Fiddle?
Labels: bars, food, Irish, pittsburgh, restaurants, reviews
