There was some discussion awhile back about how some felt that
Abates at the Waterworks had gone down hill.
After a year of not eating there because IMO it had, my wife and I
decided to give it another try.
We arrived on Wednesday Jun 14 around 6 PM. The place was about
2/3 full, not very busy. We were seated immediately and greetly by
a friendly waitress. We ordered a couple of appetizers while we looked
over the menu. The waitress returned with our order of calamari and
one of the specials of the day, a baked spinach and shrimp dip with
tortilla chips and warm bread. The dip was very good, but the tortilla chips
were less than fresh and were mostly broken pieces. The calamari, which
had always been on of my favorite items at Abates, was over done,
greasy and the quantity was considerably smaller than I remember.
When the appetizers arrived, we ordered our entres, my wife a steak
salad and myself a small order of their red seafood sauce fetachinni (sp?).
My dinner salad arrived almost immediately, while we had barely started
on the appetizers. It was your standard fare, but was fresh although the
Caeser salad dressing was bland and appeared to be right out of the
bottle.
The entres seemed to take an inordinately long time to arrive, at least
20 min after our appetizer plates and salad plate had been cleared. The
waitress twice reassured us that our dinners were on their way and it was
apparent that it was a hold up in the kitchen.
When the entres arrived it was again apparent that the steak salad had
been setting for a while as the fries were cold and the greens were warm
and wilted underneath the steak. It tasted OK but the setting around did
nothing to improve it quality. My dish arrived hot, so it appears the salad
was waiting on my pasta to be prepared. Unfortunately it was not worth the
wait. The noodles were done properly, but were in small pieces and the red
seafood sauce was more of a fish gruel, everything being overcooked
and one type of seafood being indistinguishable from other. My wife, who
currently works in a resturant also commented on the poor presentation
of the pasta. It looked as though it was slopped on the dish just out of a can
with sauce all over the place.
Needless to say it will be another year or so before we visit again. One
good note, the bread they served with dinner was excellent, warm with
a crisp crust, and tasted homemade. It just wasn't enough to save the rest
of the experience.
I'd be glad to hear any comments or recommendations for other items their
menu. Maybe it was just another bad day.
Jim SmithPittsburgh, PA