Wow! Last night, on the recommendation of a previous post, we took some friends to the 1889 Cafe. What a wonderful experience. We arrived at 9:40 (they close at 10) and had the best of service until we left at 11:30. The food was superb. We had the Chicken a la Demo - chicken breast with spinach in a dill/mustard sauce, Stuffed Chicken with Sausage and Apples with a sweet sherry and sage sauce, Chicken Louisianne - chicken breast with artichoke and mushrooms in a cream sauce, and a New York Strip steak. The entrees were plated and sauced beautifully; the sides had been plated and refrigerated (we _were_ there at the very end of the night, after all) and were slightly cool when first presented. But a quick rewarming fixed that. I liked the fact that there was actually an good quantity of vegetables on the side (baby carrots with lime). The "spicy rice" was a disappointment: overcooked spanish-style rice. Well flavored, but not up to the standards of the rest of the dinner. Maybe it was an end-of-the-night thing. We told our waitress (who was an excellent server, just the right blend of friendliness and professionalism) that we had decided to visit on the basis of a posting here and her comment was "Oh, really? I didn't know there was one of those (pgh.food newsgroup). When I'm on the Internet, I'm usually talking about dogs." It was pretty cool to get something other than a blank stare when mentioning pgh.food. We had two bottles of wine with dinner; the total tab for four, including wine was $98. I look forward to returning soon.
Pittsburgh, PA
1889 Cafe
Someone wrote: : Could you tell us where the 1889 Cafe is and how to get there. Sure, it's on Carson Street on the South Side. I have no idea what the address is, but it is next to the City Grill. I'm sure it's in the phone book; I think they advertise in In Pittsburgh, too. Directions depend upon your starting point--coming from downtown, take the 10th Street bridge and turn left; coming from Oakland, come across the Birmingham bridge and turn right. The restaurant is on the north side of the street.