Diamond Pizza @ PNC Park

Diamond Pizza (formerly Vincents)
PNCPark
Pittsburgh, PA

This is a review from a guest blogger.  Thank you!

"My friend Norm and I went to the Pirates game a couple of weeks ago; the one that had the Steve Miller concert afterward.  Lo and behold, we saw that they sold pizza there at Diamond Pizza.

"It was the end of the seventh inning and I knew I had to try that pizza.  It was three stories down and to the right, in the first floor out field area.  Long walk.  Then it started to rain.  Perfect timing, I thought.  We went in to get the pizza and asked a few questions while we were waiting.  The man working there said that everything is made fresh every day.  I believe him, because it looked very fresh.  The pizza was evenly covered in cheese and a nice amount of sauce, too.  I ordered the plain; my friend got the pepperoni. 

"Everything was great, except that I wanted to take a picture and forgot my camera ... which was three stories up, back at my seat!  That meant carrying my pizza and going back to my seat in the pouring rain.  Do you know how hard it is to do that, carrying it through thousands of people, and trying to keep your pizza dry?  And not take a single bite?  Anyway, I got my camera and snapped a photo.  Not the best one, out on the ramp with everybody else, but the pizza held its own.  Sorry for the thumb.

"Great multi-cheese taste, a mild sauce, and not too greasy.  We liked it.

"And Steve Miller was pretty good, too."

Pizza Roma and Pasta House, Cranberry, PA

20315 Rt. 19 Cranberry Township, PA
1-724-776-1577

Pizza Roma and Pasta House has been a fixture in Cranberry for over 26 years.  It's easy to see why they have been in business for such a long time - the pizza was excellent and the staff was very friendly.

We ordered a traditional crust pizza with red pizza sauce.  The sauce is homemade; it is deep, rich and flavorful.  The cheese for the pizzas is shredded on the premises and it is very fresh tasting.   We especially liked the crust - it was thin, but sturdy enough to hold up to the extra sauce that we ordered.  The pizzas are baked in Pizza Roma's "old-fashioned stone ovens".

Pizza Roma has three new varities of Specialty Pizza - Spinach Feta, Steak Ranch and Onion, and Buffalo Chicken.  Other pizzas include Sicilian style, Seafood Pizza (with red or white sauce), White Pizza and Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza.  In addition to the pizzas, they serve eight types of hoagies, six different types of calzone, Sandwiches and Burgers, wings and wing wings, salads and appetizers.   Dinners are also available, and include pasta, gnocchi, veal and chicken parmesan, eggplant and more.  We are especially interested in trying their Stuffed Hot Pepper Calzone and some of their homemade soup on our next trip.

Pizza Roma has a fairly large and comfortable dining area and a small bar.  They also offer take-out and delivery to the Cranberry area.

California Pizza Kitchen is coming to Pittsburgh!

Yesterday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that there is going to be a California Pizza Kitchen restaurant inside the Ross Park Mall - the first location in Western Pennsylvania.  

Although our perennial favorite is a classic Margherita, I'm looking forward to trying some of their innovative and unusual pizzas - Pear & Gorgonzola,  Vegetarian with Japanese Eggplant, and Goat Cheese with Roasted Peppers are just a few that caught my eye.  California Pizza Kitchen pizzas are all available with a honey-wheat with whole grain crust, too.  We loved the CPK frozen pizza that we tried, so it will be fun to try to the real deal!

Luigi's Pizzeria & Ristorante - Bellevue, PA

531 Lincoln Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA  15202
(412) 734-0980

Hats off to Chef Jim at Luigi's for making a great pizza pie!

We dropped off donations today at our favorite charity thrift shop - Family Heirlooms in Bellevue - and asked for suggestions for local pizzerias.   After some discussion, we settled on Luigi's and were glad we did ... it was outstanding!

Luigi's has been in business for 34 years, and when you taste their pizza you can understand why.  Luigi's pizza rocks with flavor!  The hand tossed Neapolitan style crust had excellent flavor and was just right - a crisp, snappy exterior with the perfect amount of chewiness on the interior.  The tomato sauce had a wonderful fresh tomato flavor, with just hints of garlic and spice - it was refreshing to find a sauce that wasn't heavily overloaded with the spices.   What's even better was that the pizza was not at all greasy and there was no grease residue on the box.
We also tried the Provolone Sticks and they were also very good, with a coating that tasted fresh and not pre-packaged.  They were accompanied by a generous take out cup of a very good marinara sauce. 

The extensive menu includes quite a few menu items that you don't normally find in a pizzeria - like the Mussels a la Luigi listed in the Appetizers section.  (Not to mention breaded cauliflower - you don't find that everywhere, either).   One of the Sides offered is "Sunny Slaw", "A unique blend of slaw, sunflower seeds, and noodles in a tangy sauce."  Also unique is the Spaghetti a la Luigi - which has a tomato sauce containing raisins, pine nuts and black olives.   I was very interested in the Desserts - Cannoli, Cheesecake, Tiramisu, Apple Pie a la Mode, Pecan Ball, and Cinnamon Dippers with Ice Cream.  Wow!!!

Hours are Monday - Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday noon to 10 p.m.    We ordered our pizza and provolone sticks to go, but Luigi's does have a small restaurant area.  It has a nice family atmosphere with old world style and plenty of room to move.  The next time we're in the area we plan to sit down, relax and enjoy some of their other offerings.

And ... Luigi's is a new addition to our top Pittsburgh favorites!

Grand View Buffet at the Rivers Casino - November Update - Champagne Brunch!

Wow! The Rivers Casino has added a Sunday Champagne Brunch to their Grand View Buffet - and it sounds fantastic!

• Complimentary Mimosas, Bloody Marys and Champagne
• Beef Strip Loin, Turkey Breast and Ham at the carving station
• an Omelet station
• Flambe station
• and Cherries Jubilee and Bananas Foster for dessert!

The Champagne Brunch is available Sundays from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. And here's the best part - it's only $19.95 per person.

Monte Cello's Italian Restaurant - Cranberry, PA

30325 Perry Highway
Cranberry Twp, PA 16066
1-724-772-3133

We have often enjoyed Monte Cello's Sicilian pizza, but had never tried their traditional round thin pizza. We were in the area yesterday and decided the time was right - and it was fantastic!

The traditional round crust was firm and chewy; crunchy on the outside, with a light and breadlike interior. The rich sauce - which is different from the sauce used on their Sicilian pizza - has a deep, spicy tomato flavor and a gorgeous color.

Monte Cello's traditional round thin pizza is available in four sizes, with toppings an additional charge:

• Mini 9" 4 cut - $4.50


• Small 9" 6 cut - $6.50


• Medium 14" 8 cut - $7.50


• Large 16" 10 cut - $8.95
  

We're glad we went back!

Pino Gelato Pizza Cone - Hilton Head Island, SC & Cranberry/Butler, PA

Pino Gelato
The Village at Wexford
Hilton Head Island, SC

We loved Pino Gelato's Pizza Cone!

We were intrigued when we read about the Pizza Cone on Hilton Head Island's Blog a la Carte blog - when we saw that it is going to be featured on an upcoming episode of the Food Network's Unwrapped, we knew we had to try it while we were there last week.

I thought it would be a gimmick - I never expected it to be as tasty as it was!

A Pizza Cone is basically pizza in a cone shaped crust, which makes it easy to hold - perfect for a lunch on the go. It is baked to order in a special pizza cone oven and served piping hot. The crust is exceptional - very flaky, almost like a pastry, and just downright delicious. The sauce, which is made on the premises, is also very good - slightly spicy with a rich flavor. There is cheese throughout, and a layer of cheese at the bottom of the cone, which helps seal in the sauce and tastes like a bite of cheese bread.

The pizza cone is $3.25 for a Margherita, $3.50 for Pepperoni or Sausage, or $3.50 for an Italian Hot Dog. They also have daily Pizza Cone specials, as well as two combos - a Pizza Cone and gelato for $5.95 or Pizza Cone and soda for $4.50.

We were happy to hear that Pino Gelato is opening a location in the Butler/Cranberry area - that's not very close to us, but it will be worth the trip.

P.S. The gelato at Pino Gelato is amazing also!

Grand View Buffet @ the Rivers Casino - October Update

You know from our previous posts that we love the Grand View Buffet at the new Rivers Casino!

The Grand View Buffet special for October is a Thursday night Seafood Buffet for $26.95 per person - I wonder if they have a seafood pizza at the pizza station? That would be inspired! I'll have to go and find out.

Heinz Field - Pittsburgh

It was a beautiful fall night at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh - and the Steelers were winning by ... a lot. What could make the night even better?

Food, of course! We were happy to find a kiosk close to our section selling personal pan pizzas.

Heinz Field offers a choice of a pepperoni or cheese pizza for $5.75. The cheese pizzas were sold out, so by default, we chose pepperoni. We were surprised to find out that the pizzas are Freschetta brand frozen pizzas with self rising crust. The pizza comes in a Freschetta branded box and is cut into 4 slices. The kiosk vendor said that the pizzas are a fan favorite and one of their biggest sellers.

It had been a long time since we tried Freschetta and liked the mild spiciness and the chewy, flavorful crust.

But even more than that, we liked the Steeler victory!

West End Cafe at the Rivers Casino - Pittsburgh

On our second visit to the Rivers Casino, we couldn't even get close to the very popular Grand View Buffet! The line went way beyond the ropes, and the wait was rumored to be close to an hour. Wow! We decided to instead try another one of the five restaurants at the Rivers Casino.

This time we chose the West End Cafe, a very casual restaurant that lured us in with the enticing aroma of freshly cooked wings. The West End Cafe is a fast food style restaurant, with a walk up counter for ordering surrounded by booths and tables.

The West End Cafe offers six varieties of 10" Personal Pizzas - Pepperoni, Sausage, Quattro Formaggio, Supreme (mozzarella, sausage, pepperoni, black olives, mushrooms, peppers and onions), Great White (olive oil, garlic, mozzarella, black pepper, oregano, broccoli), and Farmers Market (tomato, olive oil, grilled vegetables, mozzarella). They also have "Uncle Ed's Stromboli", which is stuffed with mozzarella, provolone, mortadella, salami, capicola, roasted red peppers and fresh basil. The pizzas were all generously topped and had lots of cheese.

We split a "Mighty Monongahela", which is a meatball hoagie, with marinara sauce and mozzarella. The meatballs were fresh and juicy, and the overall, the sandwich pretty darn good. The West End Cafe offers 4 other varieties of grinders - Duquesne (basically an Italian hoagie), West Ender (sausage), Steel City Steak & Cheese, and a Foundry Dog (available with chili, cheese or sauerkraut).

We also had their very good Wedding Soup and an order of fresh sliced fruit for dessert - and it was very fresh and delicious.

They make six types of Grilled Tostinos Sandwiches, served on Italian bread, and they sound very good. The Milanese sounded particularly good to me - buffalo mozzarella, prosciutto, roasted red peppers and a balsamic glaze - as did the Sicilian, which is stacked with oven dried Roma tomatoes, smoked mozzarella and pepperoni. The West End Cafe Wraps will also be worth a try on another trip. There are three types - Chipotle Chicken, BBQ Chicken BLT and Boursin Roast Beef.

In addition to the sandwiches and pizza, the West End Cafe has soup and chili, salads, wings and chicken, onion rings and french fries, Italian sausage lasagna and macaroni with cheese. You can also order your favorite beverages, including beer and wine. The desserts also sound pretty good and delightfully decadent, such as the Double Chocolate Fantasy Cake and the Wild Berries and Cream Napoleon.

Although we haven't (yet) been big winners at the new Rivers Casino, we have not been disappointed with the food!

Grand View Buffet at the Rivers Casino - Pittsburgh

777 Casino Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15212
412-231-7777

We made our first visit to Pittsburgh's new Rivers Casino last night ... and had a blast!

Our first stop was the Players Club, where we quickly joined and headed out into the casino with our new red Players Club cards and complimentary $10 of free play. We wandered over to one of the bar areas and played a quick round of Joker Poker (Jacks or Better).

We soon decided that we had better fuel up before settling down for some serious game playing, so we headed up to the Grand View Buffet. Happily we found that the Casino has a 2 for 1 September dinner special at the Grand View Buffet for Players Club members (Monday through Thursday, 4 to 9 pm). What an incredible bargain!

The buffet was nothing short of amazing! There were seven stations, including BBQ, American, Italian, Asian, and Mongolian, with an enormous salad bar and an incredible dessert bar. We briefly debated whether to head right for dessert, but couldn't resist the wealth of other goodies, and we tried small tastes of just about everything offered. The variety, freshness and quality of food was wonderful - we liked everything we tried. Sharon headed right for the Asian and Mongolian bars and headed back with a plate heaped with egg rolls, Chinese spare ribs, fried rice and more. I went a more traditional route and had salad first (and again - a huge selection at the salad bar), then tasted a very juicy roasted turkey, and tidbits from all of the stations.

We were delighted to find that the Italian station had a pizza bar, which offered three varieties of pizza - cheese, pepperoni and a Chef's Special. The Chef's Special had an Alfredo-like creamy sauce, and was topped with halved cherry tomatoes, thin slices of red onion and cheese. The traditional cheese pizza had a hearty red sauce with chunks of tomato and a generous layer of cheese. The chef at the pizza station told us that the sauce and dough are fresh daily, and that the pizzas are baked in a stone oven. We had a good view of the pizza station from where we were sitting, and it seemed to be very popular with the other diners, also. Although we would not have thought of going to the Rivers Casino for pizza, we all agreed that it was pretty tasty and we would definitely try it again next time.

The highlight of the buffet was the dessert bar ... especially the lemon gelato. Don't miss it!!!

Monte Cello's of Cranberry

30325 Perry Highway
Cranberry Twp, PA 16066
1-724-772-3133

Every so often, we get a craving for a nice, thick slice of Sicilian style pizza - and when we do, we head straight for Monte Cello's!

Monte Cello's has 8 locations in the Pittsburgh area - downtown Pittsburgh, Sewickley, Shaler, Ross Township, Wexford, Hampton, Zelionople, and Cranberry. The only location we've tried so far is Cranberry. It has two dining areas; one side is a family friendly restaurant and the other a more casual lounge with plenty of tables and booths, a couple of video games to help pass the time, and televisions tuned to sports channels. We usually place our order for take-out pizza, but then sit in the casual bar area and have soup while we wait. The restaurant staff are all very pleasant and accommodating - we've always had excellent, friendly service!

They make four different styles of pizza - Traditional (round, thin), Sicilian (square, thick), Chicago (round deep dish) and Pan Pizza (round, thick). They offer plenty of variations in these basic styles, including a white pizza with fresh toppings, Buffalo Chicken pizza, Taco pizza, and Joe's Special Pizza among other others. On a recent visit, we were told that the dough is fresh daily and the sauce for the Sicilian pizza is made fresh daily at their location. I was pleased to see that they offer a whole wheat crust as an option, but we haven't yet tried that.

The Sicilian pizza is hearty, with a thick, breadlike crust and a rich sauce. They are very generous with the cheese - which, according to their website, is 100% fresh mozzarella and provolone - and the toppings are plentiful. We like to ask for extra sauce but light cheese, and that makes the proportions a little closer to our personal taste. (The pizza in the photo is with the normal proportions of cheese and sauce.)


Monte Cello's has an extensive menu, from appetizers and snacks to full dinners. We love their Wedding Soup, which is very thick with lots of ancini de pepi, tiny and delicious meatballs, and broth that tastes fresh and homemade. We sometimes order the Pressure Fried Chicken, which is one of their specialties. It's wonderfully tender, non-greasy, and very reasonably priced - a small order of four pieces, with a side of mashed potatoes that's easily big enough to share, is only $5.50!