River Moon

 > Wow, that sounds like a varied and enticing menu.  What are their
 > prices like?

 It's a VERY varied menu; we've been there twice for dinner with
 friends already.  Note that I've seen both the lunch and dinner menus
 and they are quite different.

 We've tried all the appetizers between us and they were all good, the
 two that stood out were the Tex Mex Egg Rolls and the Blue Crab and
 Corn Fritters.  The Eggrolls are a stuffed with beans, peppers and
 other veggies and have a smokey southwest flavor - served with a sweet
 jalapeño dipping sauce (my favorite.)  The Crab Fritters are pretty
 self explanatory - Blue Crab meat and corn in a light fluffy batter -
 deep fried and served with homemade "tarter" sauce.  As simpleyas they
 sound they're quite delicious and everyone loved these.  A third
 appetizer, Salmon Pizette - thin sliced smoked salmon served with
 chopped red onion, a chopped herb I wanna say cilantro but that's not
 it (memory failing) and cheese based spread on thin tortilla type
 bread - very tasty also but when my wife commented that it's very
 fancy lox & cream cheese and she'd rather have it for Sunday brunch
 everyone got a chuckle.

 First time out I ordered the Filet Mignon (rare) with gorgonzola and
 cranberries in merlot sauce - oh!  This steak is as good as any I've
 had in the city.  At $16.95 it's hard to imagine they're making any
 money on this and I would expect the price to go up before long.
 Indeed the second time we went it was much later and someone in our
 group order it and they were out - more on this later.

 The second time I ordered something called Zuppa di Marra (sp?)  It's
 a Sicilian style seafood dish, a "soup" sort of, with shell on mussels
 & clams, shrimp and scallops in a bold - rich, spicy (not hot) red
 tomato broth.  The only other place I've ever seen a dish like this is
 in some of the smaller family owed place in New York and I've never
 even come across the exact same thin in Pittsburgh before.  Warning,
 if you're not a seafood lover and/or are offended by having to use
 your hands to eat this dish might not be for you, but it was as good
 as any I've had.

 My wife ordered Veal Josephine - spinach, mushroom and thin sliced
 veal tenderloin in a light creamy sauce.  She loved it.  Second time
 she had the seared tuna steak on lemon flavored angle hair pasta.
 She's found a new favorite she says.  I tried both and while my tastes
 are a bit different and these are not the sort of thing I'd tend
 toward both were good.

 One of our group the second time is a carb counter and ordered Chicken
 Mario (the menu doesn't distinguish it as "low carb") - a sauté, maybe
 more of a stir-fry,  of boneless white chicken, onions and a
 combination of different sweet and hot peppers with a hint of soy.
 The dish normally comes with a side of pasta, but she requested a
 vegetable instead and got fresh asparagus lightly sautéed in olive
 oil, garlic and lemon.  I got a taste of it and at first glance it's
 much plainer than many of the other dishes on the menu, but its taste
 exceeded her and my expectations.  Her comment was that since being on
 the low carb diet it's the first meal out she's had that she was
 genuinely pleased with that fit her eating habits.

 I can't remember what most of the others ordered, except one - a
 scallop on squid ink pasta dish that was a big hit - however I didn't
 try it myself.  Overall the reactions ranged from pleased to excited
 on both our trips.  Not a single negative comment about the food
 amongst nine people over two trips that I can recall.

 Someone mentioned the cannoli - yes they're made on premise and they
 are in my opinion the best in the city.  I've been searching high and
 low for years to find a cannoli close to what I was accustomed to in
 Brooklyn and this is as close as I've come.

 We enjoyed both our trips the new place and we'll go back,  but it if
 I were to be really critical I could mention a few things... first
 back to what promised to mention earlier - this is definitely NOT a
 chain, but a small family operation and they've just opened a few
 weeks ago.  In fact they've not had an official "grand opening" as
 such and haven't advertised at all and as the owner explained they're
 still working out a few hitches with just just the walk by traffic in
 the neighborhood.  For instance the meat and seafood is ordered fresh
 each day and not knowing what items would be the big sellers they have
 run out of things later in the evening - hence the filet being
 unavailable later in the evening on the second trip and only two
 cannoli being avaiable when we wanted three.  The wait staff was
 extremely pleasant and helpful, even then one or two dishes lagged the
 others out of the kitchen.  When they arrived, they were piping hot,
 so it appeared to be a problem in the kitchen.  The owner is very
 interested in opinions and comments, frequently in the dinning room
 soliciting them and very accommodating.  Indeed when we mentioned the
 delay she attributed it to some kinks they're still working out and
 made an effort to compensate us with free desserts for the table
 without us asking.

 My feelings overall are, the food is top rate, price relative to what
 you get is very reasonable - so much so I would expect some prices to
 go up soon.  Byob is a plus IMO, and works in what is a cozy friendly
 atmosphere.  Second time there the place was full and many people
 seemed to know each other, even going so far as to share their wine
 between tables.  Again, it's not a chain and they're only open a few
 weeks so if you're in a big hurry to eat and run you might want to
 wait a bit to try it as there are a some delivery issues in still
 being worked out.

 Lois wrote:
 > where is willow street. thanks lois

 Willow runs parallel to Butler Street but it is closer to the river.  If you
 are on Butler coming from Downtown, make a right onto 43rd, you'll cross
 Foster then Willow (with a few alleys in between).  If you are coming across
 the 40th St. bridge from Rt. 28, make a right off the bridge onto Foster.
 Follow to 43rd street and make a left.