It seems I’ve had a lot of bad karma days lately, but today may have taken the cake.  I bought a cute lamp at Target over the weekend for my office.  Today, it actually lit on fire.  As in, there were actual flames in my office.

Yes, I have special skills.

And, no, I don’t know why the karma gods are so mad at me.

Needless to say, I wasn’t much feeling like cooking when I got home.  Neither was DH.  So, I pawed through one of those coupon books and found a coupon for a new Mexican place in Bridgeville, El Paso.  Quick google search confirmed that people seem to like it.  Off we went.

When we arrived at about 7 p.m., the place was modestly busy.  A good sign for a new restaurant in the Great Southern Shopping Plaza, which until recently looked rather sad.  The restaurant has that standard Mexican restaurant decor, virtually identical to the El Camps or Patron in Wexford.

Also like El Camp and so many other Mex-type places, the menu was enormous, largely composed of various combo meals.  (Menu can be found here.)

Of course, what would a Mexi-chain place be without the complimentary chips and salsa?

The chips were warm, but I can’t say I’m convinced they were housemade.  I can say, though, that I liked the authentic-style salsa (no chunks!), which was slightly spicy.  I also appreciated that it came in a carafe of sorts with two bowls, which meant that I, for once, didn’t eat *all* of the salsa and chips.

I started off with some Mexican beer:

Last time I had Pacifico, I was in Mexico…. about a year ago.  Hmmm…  That must mean I’m due for an all-inclusive vacay, right?  I digress…

Loved that my beer and momentary mental vacation was served with a frosty mug.  Big points there.   Hey, sometimes I’m easy to please.

If you guessed that DH had a soda, then I’m guessing you’ve read this blog before.  So boring that man.

I had one of the vegetarian platters.  R to L:  Mushroom and cheese quesadilla, bean burrito, and chalupa.  I found this to be mighty tasty in that way greasy, cheesy faux-Mexican food can be.  Of course, I was pretty heavy handed with the habanero sauce they leave on the table.  Oh, and the “dilla” (as my nephew calls them) had canned mushrooms in it.  Which, I’m almost ashamed to admit I liked.  I think it’s a texture thing with cheese.

DH and I also agreed the sauce on the burrito was better than what you typically find at this type of joint.

DH ordered one of the meaty-beefy combos.  Taco, burrito, and enchilada.  He enjoyed his plate, particularly the taco.  Which was good, since he and our server had a bit of a communication issue.

DH asked for the taco without lettuce.

Our server thought he asked for a second taco.

And so, DH got another taco.  Which he ate after picking the lettuce off.  And, no, we didn’t tell the server about the mistake.

Actually, DH ate every bite of all four items he was served.

Our server was as pleasant as he could be.  Service was on the slower side for this sort of restaurant, but that was fine with me.  It was perhaps the first time I’ve ever been to this sort of place where I haven’t felt pressured to order before I had a minute to look at the menu.  That said, I think we still ate in under an hour.

Plus it was cheap!  Like $8 combo meals.  I think the most expensive thing I noticed on the menu was $12.  My beer was $3.25, I believe.  Margaritas were $4ish.

If you’re looking for a cheesy-Mexican-esque-fix in the South Hills, this is the place.

Filed under Drinks, Food by megan13
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Friday, DH and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary.  Crazy, I know.

We decided to try a place on my list, Wild Rosemary.  The restaurant is just a stone’s throw from our house and seems to only have received favorable reviews.  (See, for example,  the P-G’s review here.)

Perhaps that’s why even about 10 days out, the only reservations they had were for 5 and 5:30 p.m.  So we jumped on the 5:30 while we could get it.  I can’t think of a place in Pittsburgh where you can’t get a decent time a week or so out (barring some other event like V-day or graduation).  Must be a good sign.

The restaurant is small; I think I counted 7 tables.  But it’s delightfully cozy and kinda kitchy.

Wild Rosemary is BYO (something of which I was reminded both when I made the resy and again when I confirmed), so I picked up a bottle of J chardonnay I’ve been eyeing since reading a favorable review in Wine Spectator.  It was dry and buttery, but not overly oaky.  Good, but I’d prefer La Crema, especially for the better part of $10 less.

After we were seated and our wine opened, we were brought a complimentary app of spring rolls.  These were filled with cucumber and some other bean-like items I had never seen before.  They were served with a sweet and sour sauce.  Tasty and interesting.  Not my favorite thing ever, but summery and fun.

I had the grilled scallops, which were served over homemade pasta in a divine cream sauce.  Seriously delicious.  The dish also came with a side of greens in a lovely slightly-sweet and nicely peppery vinagrette.

DH ordered the New York strip steak, which came with roasted potatoes and a mint-tomato salad.

The presentation was gorgeous.  Unfortunately, the steak was overcooked.  DH ordered mid-rare and it came almost well done.  Normally, we wouldn’t have said anything, but since it was our anniversary and the steak was kinda pricy ($42), I told one of the owners when she came by to check on us.

What happened next was truly amazing to me.  The chef (who is also an owner) personally apologized and brough DH some of the pasta my scallops were served with to munch on while she prepared another steak.  The chef also personally served the second steak and again apologized.  Clearly, they take the food seriously at Wild Rosemary.  The second steak was gorgeous.  DH was quite happy.  (And he didn’t complain about having the tasty pasta to work on while he waited for the second steak!)

Though we didn’t finish our food, we still decided to check out dessert.

DH had the cherry clafouti, which was served with a lovely creme fraiche ice cream.  Fresh, summery and delightful. 

I had the orange gelato, which was served in a little pastry cup edged with chocolate.  Orange and chocolate?  Is there a more perfect pair?

The service was warm and friendly.  And there was the added benefit of one of the owners running the front of the house.

Wild Rosemary was definitely the best dining experience we’ve had in a while.  It has so much of what I like in a restaurant — cozy charm, locally owned and run with great thought given to the dining experience.

We’ll definitely be back.

Filed under Drinks, Food by megan13
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I jetted off to Chicago last weekend for a little bff time.  And it was glorious.

We did a few new things, like a cheese tasting south of the city, and a few standard things like lunch at Big Bowl.  (Dear Big Bowl owners, please open a location in Pittsburgh ASAP.)

Among our explorations this trip was brunch at Eve, which features a $20 entree and unlimited mimosas brunch deal Friday through Sunday.  We arrived at about 12:30 p.m.  on Sunday to find the place packed.  Somehow not surprising. 

The service was somewhat slow, but pleasant.  Soon we were greeted with some super-strong mimosas and our server kept our glasses full!  Boy, howdy!

I had the lobster eggs benedict without the prosciutto. 

 The lobster and eggs were beautifully cooked and the pesto sauce delightful.  A great deal for $20!

The bff had a brie, mushroom and asparagus omelet.

  

It had a ton of brie and was quite good.  Gotta say, the lobster pesto goodness is the winner here, though.

The restaurant had a cool vibe with some interesting design details, like this wall of tiny mirrors we sat next to:

 I had been craving fro-yo (yes, I’ve joined the cult) and made the bff take me to Berry Chill after brunch.

 Pina colada flavored with raspberries, mango and carob chips.  Never had carob chips before.  Loved them.

And, of course, there was some wine this trip.  Since we can’t get wine at the Trader Joe’s in Pittsburgh, I made the bff do that as well.   I missed the window for the famed two-buck chuck, but we did try both of these for about $6/bottle.

 

 

(Hello gorgeous view from bff’s apartment.  I miss you already!)

These were “meh”.  Unoffensive.  The sauvignon blanc was better than the chard, which really didn’t taste like much at all….

For our final “new” thing, the bff and I stopped at the Hancock Tower lounge.  It was Monday evening, rainy and we’d both had rather miserable office days.  So we decided a cocktail treat was in order.  The service was a bit lax (hello, there’s only so long I’m going to wait to order this over-priced cocktail!), but I’d do it again just for the view.  I had a $12 Grey Goose dirty martini, which was surprisingly reasonable considering the location.   The bff had a ridiculous and uncharacteristic greenish cocktail for $14 — a rip.  But I think she enjoyed it for a change of pace.  (Lesson — just order a standard cocktail and skip the menu ones.)

Obviously, with the weather, the view wasn’t what it could have been, but it was a fun stop nonetheless.  Perhaps most interestingly — the best view from the lounge area was actually found in the ladies’ room!

Filed under Drinks, Food, Trips by megan13
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