I have a group of friends with a dinner club where about once a month, we try different local restaurants that are "new" to most of us. Being that three of us live in Tarentum, a new restaurant opening was a big deal and we were excited about the grand opening.
We tried several appetizers to share and we liked the food. The onion rings and the wings scored a 9. The other items were a little above average, maybe a 6.5-7.0, but they did come out hot, which was a plus.
The service was very friendly, but clueless. The waitress was prompt with our drinks and with taking our food orders, but she would bring out one food item at a time, and we had to keep reminding her for what we needed - napkins, plates and silverware, ketchup, marinara sauce - we never did get any salt or pepper - and so on. If the place had been busy, she would have run herself ragged going back and forth. It took half an hour to get marinara sauce for the mozzarella sticks, so they got cold by the time we got to eat them. Yes, the marinara was tasty, but it shouldn't have taken that long to get to our table. Other tables were experiencing the same type of service where they had to keep asking for the basics. Again, she was very nice and friendly, but there are some training gaps in basic serving skills. Service = 2.5
The ambience is dingy dive bar. The decor is the same as it has been for years. The same dusty old junk on the walls, the same dark brown peeling paint, the same sagging chase lights sort of lining the windows. The dining area was dark when we came in but we didn't want to sit at the bar with the smokers, so we were told to go ahead and sit in the dining area. Eventually some dim lights were turned on. The place did seem to be clean, but when you haven't painted or installed new linoleum in thirty years, it's going to look dingy no matter how spotless it might be. Atmosphere = 0.
Our vote is that we'd go back if we ever needed decent bar food late at night, but probably not otherwise. read more
