Chili's-- Greensburg

Type:  American Bar/ Grill


Contact: 400 Greengate Centre Cir, Greensburg, PA 15601
(724) 836-2886


Price Range: $15-$35/ person


Rating:  1/ 5

This was my first trip to a Chili's.  It wasn't my first choice, but it was Saturday night and the line was out the door at TGIF, so we searched until we found a place that wasn't as busy...Chili's was it, and now I know why...

There were two people in my party. We ordered off of their special...an appetizer, two mixed drinks, two entrees, and a dessert for $40, but with upcharges, our bill came to about $60...with a tip, we blew about $70 for two people and had a shite meal.

First, our appetizer was fried cheese.  These were typical cheese sticks that you could find at any fast food restaurant...minimal flavor, maximum breading.

I ordered a raspberry margarita on the rocks. I'm not sure if the bartender knew what that meant, or if their mix is just that horrific. I actually choked every time I took a drink of my margarita. It was pure syrup mixer and tasted awful. I could taste the tequila, but just barely...then, every time I thought I'd re-taste it to see if perhaps I wouldn't choke again, I choked. Grossest margarita- ever. 

Our entrees came up pretty quickly. Despite that, they were cold!!!  Well, my broccoli was warm, but my potatoes and my steak-- cold! The steak was so thin and had no juicy goodness to it that one wants in a steak. The potatoes were scooped out of a steamer bin with a round scoop and plopped onto my plate just like that...so disappointing.  

My Texas toast looked burnt and unappealing, so I only tried it to prove that I was right-- yep, it tasted like shite!

I didn't even bother sharing the cheesecake. The rest of the food was so bad, that my friend ate it and said it was okay.  Also of note, my friend also ordered the Chipolte Garlic Butter Steak and mashed potatoes which were also cold.  They said their broccoli was cold, although mine was warm.

Chili's-- never again...

One star because we didn't have to wait in line (now I know why). 

Chili's

Morguen Toole Company, Myersdale, PA

The Morguen Toole Company
http://www.morguentoole.com/

Type: Unique American Fare
Serves Beer/ Alcohol
Restaurant/ Hotel

Contact: 130 Center Street 
Meyersdale, PA 15552 
814.634.9900

Price Range: $10 & Up

Rating: 1/5

My mom ordered a steak...it was cold...enough said.

The Olive Garden, Greensburg, PA

Olive Garden

Type: Italian "Family Style"
Severs a variety of alcohol

Contact:1085 E. Pittsburgh St.

Greensburg, PA 15601
724-832-9262


Price Range: $15-$25/ person


Rating: 1/ 5

I'd been really hungry for Italian food, and specifically went for a shopping trip to nearby Greensburg, PA  (in Westmoreland County) to  eat at the Olive Garden.  It had been quite a bit of time since I'd been there, but I held on to fond memories of their soup and bread sticks. 

As with every visit to The Olive Garden, we were gifted with a pager and told our wait would only be about 15 minutes.  At least there wasn't a huge crowd this time, but our wait extended for the entire 15 minutes.  It's like some sort of uncomfortable dance as people get one of the seven available seats in the lobby, and even more opted for standing outside in the ninety-degree heat.

Our seats were comfortable and we got a decent table.  Our server, Nate, was super friendly and introduced another server (Jake?) who was to assist him.  We never saw Jake again, but Nate proved to do a great job for the first half of the visit.

We chose items to eat, then we spotted the 2 for $25 deal and decided to order off of that menu since I really wanted to try the smoked mozzarella chicken and it's not on the regular menu. 

Nate was knowledgeable about the menu and smoothly navigated me through my twenty questions about exactly what was in the entree.  I was with my mother, and her choice was an easy pasta Alfredo.  She got the salad, I ordered the zuppa toscana (sausage and potato soup).  We opted for the two appetizers and were warned the portions would be small.  Since my mother eats very little meat, the fried zucchini and fried mozzarella were the obvious choices.

First, it was nice that Nate generously grated cheese on everything...the salad, the soup, the entrees...but it's a shtick, and I realized that.

The salad looked great, but it came with dressing already on it, an Italian sort of dressing, so I'm glad I didn't order it.  I'd have sent it back.  It took my mom a few moments of poking around in the salad before she could answer my question, "Err...is there dressing on that?"  I seriously think this is something that should have been disclosed during the ordering as I can't be the only one out there that dislikes Italian dressing.

Oh, yeah...bread sticks...warm from the oven, but not overly fresh, so I was disappointed.  They tasted kind of stale, which surprised me.  When I was a teenager, I worked at a large buffet-style restaurant and the bread sticks reminded me of the exact same ones that sat on our steamer table all day long.  I'm not sure where my fond memory of bread sticks had come from.

Now, the soup...I order this soup on every visit to the Olive Garden.  I love sausage and potatoes, and their soup has a good flavor.  This was no different, except there were 2 tiny quartered chunks of sausage, and one slice of potato in the entire soup! It was so barren, I was thankful that a stray mini-shell noodle had found its way into my bowl.  It was NOTHING like the advertised picture, as all I got was broth.  ...a MAJOR disappointment. 

Around this time, Nate had disappeared.  Some bus-woman was clearing the adjacent table and she seriously piled so many plates and glasses on her tray, I closed my eyes when she walked past us, as I expected her to drop the whole damn thing.  Having been well trained as a waitress, I realize that clearing plates is a crucial part of providing a great dining experience.

Our fried zucchini and mozzarella came.  Yes, the portions were small, but with the bread sticks, soup, and salad in our bellies, who would notice?  We also ordered the fried lasagna appetizer.  They were completely bland.  I salted the hell out of mine and they were still just 'meh'.  I have had exceptionally tasty versions of both of these appetizers and realize they aren't hard to make, so they were pretty much a failure...to the extent in which we didn't finish them.

Nate appeared with our food, ready with his little cheese grinder.  But...after a few seconds, we realized it wasn't our food.  A few more moments later, it clicked with him that he had indeed brought the wrong dinners to us, so he left.

After a few minutes, he reappeared with our entrees and cheesed them up for us.  My smoked mozzarella chicken was visually unappealing as there were red pepper rings just thrown in one big chunk in one area.  Even though I like red peppers, I chucked them aside because they looked so damn unappetizing.

Probably most disturbing was that even though our plates were hot, the food was only lukewarm.

My chicken was tenderized and lightly breaded, juicy and succulent.  I only had to spit gristle into my napkin twice, but I overlooked that.

Even though Nate had told me the sauce was a reduced white sauce, I never expected the dish to be so sauceless.  The joy of slopping up the sauce with a bread stick would not be happening for either myself or my mother.  Even with her 'saucy' dish, there was an absence of it.  Worse yet was the flavor.  Three bites into my dish, I realized I was eating the equivalent of buttered noodles.  There was virtually NO flavor.  None.  I salt and peppered the hell out of it...still, nothing more than a plain noodle flavor could be squeezed out of the majority of this dish.  I looked at my mother and said, "This is so bland, even if they gave me a gift certificate for this place, I'd never come back."

I pushed my dish aside, and even though I hate lasagna, I decided to eat the fried lasagna pieces.  Again, these were as tasteless as the other appetizers.  For $8.99, I had better expectations of this fried lasagna.

At this point, Nate was 'missing'.  On his behalf, there was a large table of nearly 20 next to us, but his buddy Josh was busy with them.

I was dying for a refill.  I'd never get one.  Total refills: zero  So, I paid $2.45 for an unsweetened iced tea that was lukewarm with zero refills.

Nate reappeared in time to ask me if I wanted more soup.  I responded with a, "Huh?" (because we were done eating) and he dropped the check off and left. 

I looked at my mother and said, "I guess we aren't getting dessert." Even though I was A) Still hungry because most of our food went uneaten and B) Specifically came for Tiramisu.  I figured I'd just snag Nate and ask him for Tiramisu, but he vanished.  I put the money into the black folder with the check and perched it on the edge of the table.  At least FIFTEEN minutes later, Nate dropped off two take-out containers (since we obviously weren't eating our food) and took the check.  This was a long, uncomfortable wait as we weren't eating, and we didn't have drinks, and we weren't being waited on.  I was unhappy.  Please note: No manager or other staff visited our table the entire time, so...what to do...

After a bit of time, Nate came back and told us he'd given us the wrong check and needed more money.  I examined the check closely (which I hadn't done before in my parched wait), and tossed even more money in and waited for Nate to return...then he took the money...then we waited another ten minutes before he brought our change. 

Against my better judgement, I left a very nice tip, and we left with our future dog food in a brown bag.

So, The Olive Garden is a typical chain restaurant.  You can expect the continuity, but that's only a good thing if they made decent food.  The service, although greatly lacking, varies from day to day, location to location, just as any other place would.

My recommendation would be to first, just skip The Olive Garden and its over-priced food.  If you decide to go there, I'd advise you stuck with the unlimited soup-salad-bread sticks deal, as I've never had untasty soup there (just barren), and with the refill option, you're sure to get more than just broth as I had.

As I left, I said to my mother, "I'd have gotten better food at Eat N' Park."  Seriously, if you find yourself in Greensburg, there are other great places to eat, and with so many options, skip The Olive Garden.

Bill: $40.97 for two people (2 iced teas, the 2 for $25 deal, and one additional appetizer.)
Later that night: Intestinal Distress
Dog: Happy With Leftovers

Chinese Almond Cookie Recipe

Chinese Almond Cookie Recipe

These crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside, buttery cookies are easy to make!

Ingredients

• 1 cup softened butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Topping:
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 teaspoon milk

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and extract. Combine the flour, baking soda and gradually add to creamed mixture. Refrigerate for 1 Hour. Roll into 1-in. balls. Place 1 1/2 in. apart on baking sheets sprayed with no-stick spray, or lined with parchment paper.. Flatten with the back of a spoon sprayed with no-stick spray. Press half an almond into the top of each cookie.
2. In a small bowl, beat egg white and milk. Brush over cookies. Bake at 325 degrees F for 14-16 minutes or until edges and bottoms are lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks. 

Ray Azteca Restaurant

Ray Azteca


Type:  Authentic Mexican
Serves Beer/ Alcohol


Contact: 736 Scalp Avenue 
Johnstown, PA 15904 
(814) 266-2294 
or
780 N. Center Avenue 
Somerset, PA 15501
814-443-2329 


Price Range: $10


Rating:  5/ 5















Authentic Mexican restaurants are usually hard to find in the Southern Alleghanies of Pennsylvania.  Truly, there's only one, Ray Azteca, and fortunately they've opened several locations in Pennsylvania.  If you're traveling through Somerset or Cambria county, you can visit their location at:




I've dined at both locations numerous times and have also had take-out.


Having spent some time in the southwestern part of the United States, I marveled at finding such authentic Mexican food.  They serve all of the regular dishes that one would expect, as well as some kid-friendly options.


This is definitely one of my favorite restaurants to eat at in the area.  I have a fickle stomach and this is virtually the ONLY place I've NEVER gotten ill from eating at.  The ingredients are fresh, you can taste that the cooking oil is changed frequently, and you can tell that quality meat is used.  My mother almost never eats meat, but she always orders their steak fajitas.  The steak chimichungas are a favorite of mine! ...and don't leave without having the fried ice cream! I've found all of these things to be true at both the Johnstown and the Somerset locations.


The service is always friendly and prompt.  I've never gotten the wrong order, even though I always special order.  The site in Johnstown is a recycled Pizza Hut, so you have tables and booths.  The Somerset location is similar on the inside. 


When you sit down, you're given a basket of tortilla chips and salsa.  They've always given us additional chips and salsa if we've asked.  The meals are generally around $10 each, and are filling.  For two people to have dinner, your bill usually chimes in at around the $20 and you leave full.  


Every time I've ordered take-out, I was pleased at the generous portions and it was fresh and hot.


If you enjoy Mexican food, this is a sure-bet restaurant where you're guaranteed quality and affordability.

Coney Island Hot Dog


Type:  Hot Dog/ Hamburger Restaurant
Eat-In/ Take-Out


Contact: 127 Clinton Street
Johnstown, PA 15901


Price Range: $1.70/ hot dog


Rating:  4/ 5



No visit to Johnstown Pennsylvania is complete without a visit to the historic Coney Island. 

Traditionally a place for hot dogs, breakfast is served in the morning, but if this is your only visit to the area, I'd suggest skipping breakfast and having one of their iconic lunch items instead.

Coney Island hot dogs are famous in the area for a very good reason:  it's simply one of the best hot dogs you'll ever eat.  A hometown favorite is their chili topping.  It's not a traditional chili sauce, even though it does have a slight bit of heat to the taste.  The texture is very smooth and it is bean-less as far as I can tell.  Many visitors to the region take home a quart of their chili sauce, too!

Although I'd suggest not leaving without trying or taking with you a chili dog, the real starlet of their menu is the sundowner.  This is food porn at its best. A chili-cheeseburger topped with a fried egg is a staple for the locals.  Simply saying the word "sundowner" causes mouths to water.

Besides the hot dog and sundowner specialties, their large-link sausage sandwich deserves a special mention.  It's very juicy and has just the right amount of zest that it will appeal to a large crowd.  Personally, I never leave Coney Island without eating or taking a sausage sandwich home with me. 

This establishment is high on a 'special' sort of ambiance that you almost need to experience.  They're open late at night, closed on Sundays, and definitely attract a crowd after the bars close at night.

You can view their website here: http://www.coneyislandjohnstownpa.com/