Oh, and they do have foodstuffs. Inside the shop area, there are local products and all of the fudge. But mostly, I just wanted an excuse to post some fun pictures of the lights.
Terra Cafe recently announced they will be expanding their hours to include dinner service (EDIT: Hours are 5-9 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday). They're serving "tapas" or small plates - meaning, well, each plate is really small, and you're meant to order more than one and share them with the whole table. I don't mind that idea (because I like to try a little of everything), but it can definitely add up in cost fairly quickly.
After I was seated (no ordering at the counter here), I ordered the beef croquettes, which were two round Possum Tail Farm grass-fed beef infused with lemongrass, ginger and coconut curry aioli. These were pretty good. They were $9 for two small round balls with some beet noodles underneath. But they were good. I am a huge fan of the light flavor with the lemongrass. And the aioli was tasty, too. I really wish it was the croquette sandwich. I love that thing. To get the same equivalent of a sandwich, I'd probably have to order three plates.My friends ordered the margherita pizza (which apparently apparently Sargasso makes their pizzas) and the chicken satay. Both I thought were OK, but not great.
They also have a very nice dessert menu (in addition to the goodies in the case) that complements their dinner menu. You can get three mini desserts for $10. That is perfect. And a crazy good deal, too.
I ordered the Firefly Farms Allegheny Chevre Panna Cotta, the bourbon salted caramel chocolate bar and the triple berry cheesecake (raspberry, blueberry and blackberry). The panna cotta was very tasty, and I love the little touches like a fresh lemon. The caramel chocolate bar I thought for sure would be my fav (caramel, duh), but whew you could taste some bourbon/bitterness in the chocolate. And the cheesecake was sweet and whipped. They were all quite lovely, and I was impressed with the presentation, the quantity and the quality. Super pleased with the desserts.
It's a little on the pricey side for me, for what you get. Dessert is totally worth it. But I spent about $20 for the two croquettes (which are about the size of golf balls) and four pork wontons. And it was all good - but not crazy great.I'm looking forward to seeing what else they add to the dinner menu and if they'll be doing dinner specials! Something to keep an eye out for. No grade because it's just an update =] They've already been put through that ringer.
BRGR is a restaurant in the Pittsburgh area, which features creative burgers and spiked shakes. Afton and I checked out the Cranberry Township location because it was along the way. And yep, pronounced, BEE ARRIt's located in a strip mall, so parking was no problem. When we went inside, I was surprised to see most of the place bare, save for the bar area. Granted, the bar area is large and probably a good place to watch the game. Service was off. We weren't immediately greeted when we came in, and once we were seated, we had to wait some time before someone actually waited on us.
The menu has some interesting beef burgers - like a pad thai one and another featuring guacamole, jalapeños, Sriracha and chipotle aioli. Plus some others that include a black bean patty, a salmon patty, mahi mahi, bison and turkey.I ordered "The BRGR" - which is 8 oz. of dry aged prime beef, pickled red onions, arugula, creamy bleu cheese and oven-roasted tomatoes. I also ordered a shake: Salty Caramel - bourbon + caramel sauce + sea salt + vanilla bean. Yaaasss.
My burger was really pretty good. I don't remember much of the bleu cheese, but the flavors overall were delicious.
Afton had ordered some fries, and we split some of those. They were average. It's kind of a bummer that if you want to add fries to your burger, it's like an extra $4. Little steep. Not sure they were worth it, but they weren't bad.And my shake was delicious. I could definitely taste a good bit of the bourbon. It came out in the metal can, while Afton's was served in a glass. Not sure why. I think mine ended up having more, though. But very tasty.
Overall thoughts: This place wasn't bad. I think maybe I like the Burgatory more. I think if the service here had been right, the "feel" and overall experience would've been better. But my burger was tasty, and my milkshake was sweet and boozey (my favorite). I think being able to add fries to the side, instead of buying them as like a $4 appetizer seems like a reasonable request. In sum, pretty good.
Grade: B
Thankfully, the Northern Panhandle is littered with DiCarlo's locations. The next one on my list is Warwood.
This location is odd in the sense that it shares a walkway with Subway. Inside. But it didn't bother me much. There are a set of tables and a banister and back beyond that area is the counter where you order.
Two pieces, please.After a bit of a wait, I had two pieces and out the door I went. The first thing I noticed was that each DiCarlo's varies in price. Some are 10 cents more or less per piece. Then, I realized the shredding style of the cheese is different. These small round bits of cheese - or as I've been saying, nobbules - were a bit thicker than the finely shredded mozzarella at other places.
The taste, still the same, though. The crust was a bit darker. The sauce was the perfect blend of tomato and spice, and the cheese - maybe because of the way it was shredded - did not melt nearly as quick and was still fairly in tact by the time I had gotten on the road and was ready to have a slice.
All around, good.
Grade: A
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