Someone wrote: > I was wondering if anyone has any information about Cafe' Sam on Baum >Blvd. I have heard it was a great place, but have not heard any substantive >comments. A single visit is perhaps not very indicative of the average, but since you asked, I went there once, about a year ago, and it was excellent. It was one of the handful of satisfying dining experiences that I've had in the Pittsburgh area over a period of five years (and I have tried). Well, "handful" if you leave out the countless visits to the excellent Tessaro's, which is a different kind of place. I can't remember our starters, but for the main course I had lamb and my guest had swordfish. Both of us thought that both starters and both main courses were well above average for a restaurant at this (affordable) price point. The fish and meat were of high quality, and the sauces were unusually good. I don't remember their wine list being that inspired. The desserts were also very good. I found the atmosphere to be relaxing and reasonably quiet. Of course, you have to get past the fact that the building used to be a funeral home (I think). But again, this is a sample of one, so your mileage may vary. I would have returned, but I have been out of town during the intervening year. I have heard two other people comment on it: Person 1: Can be very good, but can vary. Person 2: Likes it because they will tailor orders. I'm looking forward to giving it a second trial when I return to Pittsburgh. If you go, let pgh.food know what you think. -chris
Pittsburgh, PA
Cafe' Sam
re:Cafe' Sam-
I hear the food is ok, but I will never do business there, because the
owner treats the wait staff like you wouldn't believe. I know at least
three women who quit after less than a couple of months. They were all
very bitter and miserable. (I used to read the Post-Gazette, they
_always_ had a help-wanted thing in there)
Anyway, they said the owner let(s?) his girlfriend/wife? dip into
everyone's tips and reign hell on everyone. I am just repeating
information second-hand, I don't have first-hand experience, but I
believe these people. (One of them delivered a commencement speech to
her graduating class at CMU.) From the way it sounded, a young Leona
Helmsey got into the restaurant business.
(I always wanted to go on the Gong Show. "goonnngg!!!")
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:.............................................................:On 17-Aug-95 in Cafe' Sam Someone wrote: > I was wondering if anyone has any information about Cafe' Sam on Baum >Blvd. I have heard it was a great place, but have not heard any substantive >comments. Very good restaurant. The menu is quite extensive, and everything I've had there has been good (as well as the things had by those people I was with). The wine list is fairly good as well. Service is pretty good, but the seating can be a bit cramped. Prices are not bad for a fancy place. --------------------------------esp------------------------------------------ James Stepanek NRA,SAF Graduate Student Materials Science and Engineering Carnegie Mellon University God created mankind, Samuel Colt made them equal. Thank God I'm an atheist. These opinions are mine alone, others can find their own. -------------------------Don't tread on me-----------------------------------
I've not been there myself yet, but some friends from Milan tell
me that Cafe Sam has the best pasta to be found in Pittsburgh.
Julio
__________________________________________________________________________
Julio K. Rosenblatt Carnegie Mellon University
[email removed] Robotics Institute
Phone: (412) 268-6880 5000 Forbes Ave.
Fax: (412) 268-5571 Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3891
Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.
++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++
++++ if you agree copy these 3 sentences in your own sig ++++
++++ more info: http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ I took a party of four to Cafe Sam's recently, and thoroughly enjoyed
it. One of our appetizers -- frog legs -- was surprisingly good
(tender, sweet, tasty), and the others were well above average. Three
of us consumed two bottles of wine, but I do remember the entrees being
well above average as well. A veal dish did, however, have enough
garlic for a half dozen platters.
Another modest flaw was a key lime pie that did not resemble any key
lime pie any of have had (growing up in St. Louis and living many
different parts of the country). We kidded with the waitress about
this, which she confessed other customers had as well. We were
pleasantly surprised to receive free after dinner drinks (which we took
on the second floor patio (very nice on a cool evening)) as a
consequence of our displeasure with the pie. I was impressed and
pleased by this gesture.
Total bill (if I remember right) came to about $130, which included
2 cocktails, four appetizers, two bottles of wine, four entrees, and two
desserts. I thought it was well worth it. As someone else noted, the
menu is quite extensive.
Bob Pearson
[email removed]Excerpts from netnews.pgh.food: 17-Aug-95 Re: Cafe' Sam by Julio Ken Rosenblatt@cs. > I've not been there myself yet, but some friends from Milan tell > me that Cafe Sam has the best pasta to be found in Pittsburgh. I think your friends might've been commenting on the ho-hum state of Italian cooking in Pittsburgh restaurants (relative to what I've had in Italy, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, etc... uh, no flames please on this one, because I've tried just about every Italian restaurant recommended in this newsgroup and if you think you can get really great contemporary Northern Italian food in Pittsburgh you're sorely misguided, I'm afraid. Yeah, I know, we can't expect Pittsburgh to be New York, blah-blah-blah, but couldn't we even have ONE REALLY GOOD NORTHERN ITALIAN RESTAURANT in this town??? Sheesh...) Anyway ... Cafe Sam's pastas are more trendy California/French than traditionally Italian (sauces tend to be very rich and pasta is not usually cooked al dente), but some of them are actually quite good. I like the angel hair with sun-dried tomatoes and a ?mushroom stock-based sauce and the Cajun shrimp and scallop pasta in particular. The pastas are also exception value for the money ... the "appetizer" sized portion with the small loaf of bread that comes with your meal I find more than adequate for dinner, and the prices are in the $5 - $6.50 range. Also, their gourmet burgers are the best I've eaten in Pittsburgh (the veal burger with grilled portabello mushrooms is fantastic), and also make an inexpensive dinner. Seafood, steak and chicken entrees are usually quite good (often VERY good) but usually run in the $13-$17 range. It's a great place to go for a nice lunch, too. I don't know about how they treat their staff, but they do seem to frequently have wait staff in training, and sometimes the service (while invariably polite) is slow or a little inept... worth putting up with, though. - Bob