Avenue B

          Last weekend my wife and I went down to East Liberty and went to Avenue B for some modern American food.  The parking situation down there was horrible but the Market District is right across the street so we parked there.  Our reservations were for 5:30 and we got there right on time and were seated immediately.  The first thing you notice about the restaurant is how small it is, there were only 15 tables in the place so it gave it a nice personal feel.  The next thing you notice is the changing chalkboard menu.
          Our waitress came over and told us the daily specials and we already knew what appetizers we wanted so we placed our app order.  The blackboard menu changes daily and the also have a seasonal menu that has all of their specialties on it.  I started with the chocolate chipotle BBQ pork tostada and my wife got the Gorgonzola raviolis.
          My wives ravioli were great, they were sauteed and topped with candied walnuts.  The sweetness of the walnuts with the strong flavor of the cheese just worked a lot better than I thought it would.  The tostada was very good, it was a spicy sweet BBQ sauced pulled pork topped with re fried beans and a banana guacamole and sour cream.  It worked, it was weird but it worked so good.  The fried tortilla strips gave it a nice crunch and the banana guacamole I can't even describe you just have to try it. 
          We got our entrees about 20 minutes later and we were not disappointed.  I got the grilled butterfish and my wife got the bacon wrapped pork tenderloin.  We both wanted the pork but I was being nice and let her get it.  The pork was cooked medium well wrapped in bacon and covered in a honey BBQ sauce, all of this was on top of grits and collard greens.  The pork was cooked perfect and the BBQ sauce was some of the best I have tasted.  I wasn't a big fan of the grits or greens although I have to say the grits were creamy and rich but the greens were far too biter for my taste.  My butterfish was sushi grade fish and was seared on the outside and almost raw on the inside.  It was so tender and sweet and came with a side of squid ink linguine.  The pasta was thick and a dark black color, cooked al dente and had big chunks of tender lobster meat mixed in and topped with a saffron aioli.  The only problem I had with this dish was that the fish was topped with way too many shaved raw red onion and it over powered you palate, I pushed most of them off and and it was so much better, the onion almost killed the dish.

          My wife decided that she wanted dessert so we got the chocolate dessert they offered.  It was good it came with two chocolate fudge rectangles on top of chocolate cookies along witha mascarpone ice cream and a pomegranate juice reduction.  The fudge was velvety smooth, the cookies were crispy and the ice cream stole the show.  The tart pomegranate with the sweetness of the ice cream just married so well, I could have had a big bowl of just that ice cream.
          Overall I would say that Avenue B isn't on the same level as some of the top restaurants in the city but it is very close to it.  They have to make a few tweaks to the garnishes that accompany the main dishes and it would be right up there.  I loved almost everything about this place from the small size of the restaurant to the quality of the food.  I would go back here for sure it was well worth the money.



Overall 8 of 10

Food 8 of 10

Price 7.5 of 10

Service 8 of 10

Avenue B

5501 Center Ave

Pittsburgh, PA 15232

Evolution Grille

          About two weeks ago my wife and I went to Evolution with a group of friends on my dads recommendation.  I first have to tell you this place is in Sarver PA about 30 minutes north of Pittsburgh but I thought I would review it anyways.  I am not saying that my dad doesn't know good food but I was skeptical that being that this place is in a strip mall it wouldn't have food that I liked.
          We got there around 6 and the place was pretty quiet which got me scared.  We were seated and the server told us the daily specials and we ordered our appetizers.  For our appetizers we got the crabmeat bruschetta and the potato peiroghi for the table.
          The appetizers came out and the bruschetta was big enough to eat for an entree.  The lump crabmeat is sauteed in a garlic butter and put on top of a sliced ciabatta bread along with ripe chopped tomatoes.  So simple but so good, after I tasted this I knew my original opinion of the restaurant was wrong.  The app was light and refreshing with the sweetness of the crab along with the bite of the garlic and tomatoes, its just classic Italian flavors.  The peiroghi were good but nothing out of this world, they were cooked in butter and topped with caramelized onions and sour cream.  I am Polish so I think I know my peirogies, but I could be wrong.  They were fresh made and the filling was cheesy and tender.  The bread basket also came out at that time and my wife told me I had to try it, the butter was a carmel amaretto butter and it was out of this world.  The waiter told us that they change the flavors of the butter all the time and my dad said he has never had the same flavor twice and they are always good.

          After a few minutes our entrees came out, my wife and I both got the same thing the seafood pasta.  The pasta in this dish was a hand cut Pappardelle pasta, you could tell they were fresh and not out of a box and they had a nice al dente texture.  The seafood in the dish were shrimp and scallops, they were cooked perfect.  The scallops were fork tender and the shrimp were a nice pink color and cooked just through and not rubbery like they can become.  This all was topped with a sherry cream sauce which tasted like an alfredo sauce.  I loved this dish, the only suggestion I have is more seafood in the dish, there were only four shrimp and three scallops in the dish.  At the end of the meal I couldn't finish it all and I never leave food on the plate.
          So in the end I would say that this place would be able to hold its own down in the city.  I was skeptical going in but when we left the place was packed and people were waiting out in the cold for food here.  In my opinion I would say that it is well worth the drive out of the city and you will be very surprised.  I guess I have to tell my dad his restaurant choices aren't all that bad (or I can keep that to myself).

Overall 7.5 of 10

Food 8 of 10

Price 8 of 10

Service 7 of 10

Evolution Grille

123 Mulone Drive

Sarver, PA 16055