Mr. Beez and I have a New Years Eve tradition of celebrating the end of the year with a fancy grown-up dinner with our friends Ben and Sandy. The last few years we had tapas and sangria at Ibiza. This year I wanted to change it up, and suggested we try out Alla Famiglia. Alla Famiglia is in an unlikely spot on Warrington Ave in the Allentown section of the City of Pittsburgh, but it’s remarkably close to dahntahn and easy to get to. Also, they have valet parking, which is always a plus in my book!
Alla Famiglia specializes in Sicilian cuisine, and has an all-Italian wine list. The menu changes daily, and offers all kinds of fish, steak, veal and chops. Alla Famiglia’s menu isn’t vegetarian friendly, but they are very open to customizing their dishes, so they could likely prepare something tasty to suit a vegetarian. We kicked the dinner off with a mozzarella-stuffed meatball appetizer, which was delicious. I’m not huge on pasta sauce (I’m a bad Italian, I know) but I loved this sauce, and sopped it all up with the crusty bread.
We also had the mushroom appetizer, which was huge and sweet and flavorful. The portion sizes at this restaurant are more than generous.
The appetizers were followed by a salad and pasta course. The salad is generously topped with all kinds of roasted red peppers, olives, cheese, nuts and all kinds of other good stuff. The salad alone would have made a hearty dinner. The pasta dish that night was topped with a creamy vodka sauce. Delicious, delicious, delicious.
Sandy like pastaaaaas
Alla Famiglia’s entrees are huge. Huge. And I had stuffed myself so full on the appetizer, salad, and pasta, that I only ate a small bit of my entree (although it later made for a great lunch). Alla Famiglia has an entree-splitting charge of $15 (which makes sense, because there is no extra charge for the pasta or salad, so the $15 covers that). Since Alla Famiglia’s portions are so huge, and because it’s a pricy establishment, on my next visit I will likely split the entree with my dining companion.
Yum yum massive veal chop. Sorry for the bad lighting.
Seafood diavolo. They do not skimp on the seafood.
Mr. Beez selected the steak.
Mr. Beez and I split the cheesecake for dessert, and it was the perfect end to the meal. It was creamy and dense, but not too sweet. I loved it.
Alla Famiglia’s prices are definitely special occasion prices, so my return trip sadly won’t be for a while. The dining room is small, so reservations are a must. The service was attentive, and the ambiance cozy, so it would be a nice spot for a romantic dinner.
