Two Area Restaurants to Enjoy: One New, One Longstanding!

My wife and I paid our first visit to the newest location of legendary Primanti Brothers, Washington Road, Mount Lebanon, after a Pirates game Saturday, 29 June.  We arrived at 10:45 p. m., an hour at which many area restaurants would no longer be serving.  Primanti's was quite alive, the large, four-sided bar well-patronized, and late diners welcome.

The restaurant is reminiscent of a ski chalet with high, wood ceilings.  It is attractive, spacious, and comfortable.  We received a warm greeting from the young lady that seated us, and our server was attentive and delightful, always with a smile and making eye contact.  It is obvious that the staff is well-trained to provide exemplary service.

There is an excellent selection of tempting food and beverage items.  For those that enjoy draft beer as I do on occasion, there are more than a dozen diverse choices. We ordered an 18" pizza with mushrooms, reasonably priced at $12.99 plus $1.99 for a good amount of mushrooms.  The pizza was delicious: good, fresh crust, tasty sauce and cheese.  We also ordered a fried egg sandwich with the trademark cole slaw and french fries on the sandwich.  Naturally, we had plenty of pizza to take home.

There are plenty of televisions throughout, which enable the patron to indulge their love of any sport (ours is the great game of baseball.)

We were originally planning to settle for Eat 'n Park for our post-game meal on this night.  I am glad we gave the matter further thought!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We visited the lounge at DeBlasio's at the Virginia Manor Shops on Cochran Road, arriving at 6:45 p. m. on a Friday.  The place was packed by the time we left around 8:00, but when we arrived, there were three open tables with menus on them, which we appreciated.  We shared a large mushroom pizza and an order of breaded zucchini ($7.95).  The pizza is fairly priced at $13.99 and the mushrooms only $1.00 extra; it was delicious and the amount of mushrooms more than fair for just a dollar.  The lounge is an attractive, older-style room that is comfortable and cozy.  There appeared to be a complimentary happy hour food item with sauce, which was being removed as we arrived.  Pizza is served only in the lounge at dinner, where the full restaurant menu is also offered.  Pizza is not listed on the menu.  Our gracious server warned us that the pizza would take "a long time" because "everyone" had arrived as the rain on this evening had slowed.  It arrived thirty-five minutes after we ordered, which was a lengthy wait, but not a problem as we were enjoying the Pirates game (as it was obvious were most of the other patrons), enjoying a beverage and the superb zucchini, one of the area's best and most fairly-priced.  The only zucchini dish I have had which is better is that which is offered at Scoglio Greentree, Foster Plaza, one of my favorite spots.

Many reviews assert that DeBlasio's is badly in need of modernization and chide it for attracting an older crowd.  The crowd at DeBlasio's is not that of the more hip and modern Primanti Brothers, but in my two visits there in the past month, I would not consider it to by any means be labeled as an exclusively geriatric restaurant. I saw young people with children dining there. I also find the decor to be perfectly fine and tasteful.

Reservations are taken for the dining room and are sometimes necessary.  It is nice to know that one can pop in to the lounge any time they wish and be seated in a casual atmosphere where one may come as they are.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am pleased to have recently discovered two restaurants in the neighborhood that fit my needs perfectly!