Rockefeller's Grille

After a day out in the rain, we didn't much feel like driving into the city/Squirrel Hill for dinner. The prospect of a lovely post-dinner tea at Te Cafe wasn't even enough to make us want to drive that far and dash about some more in the rain. So we decided to stay near home. But where to eat? I remembered a former co-worker mentioning a place in Kennedy Township called Rockefeller's Grille. We decided to give it a try. It only took us 5-10 minutes to get there. We stepped inside and right in front of us was the bar area, filled with men drinking beer and yelling at the Pitt game (which, sadly, the Panthers ended up losing). We were seated right away. The booths seemed full so we sat at a table for 6, which was OK - lots of extra space! They don't seem to have tables smaller than 6 seats, which seems odd, but we didn't see any.

Our first sign this might not be a great evening: our server stood at the far end of the table for six to take our drink orders. We were puzzled why she stood with the empty seats between her and us. Did we look like we had cooties? SP asked for the beers on tap selection since we didn't see a beer menu on the table, no list printed on the menu, and no separate beer list inside or on top of or between the menus. She looked surprised, puzzled, told him they had 'lots maybe 20 on tap' and looked like she didn't want to deal with this question. SP was trying to think of a beer (he doesn't really like the 'usuals' like IC Light, Bud, Miller, etc.) so finally our server recited several beers and he chose one.

We ordered provolone sticks to start.I had been sort of craving cheese sticks all day. There are 5 in an order (only 4 in the photo because SP grabbed one before I got a photo!) and a large bowl of marinara in which to dip them. They were tasty - not the best ever but not the worst ever.

For my meal, I opted for the Cheese & Pepperoni Calzone (and asked for no garlic butter to be brushed on top) over the Hickory Chicken Sandwich. I sort of wish I had chosen the chicken. The calzone was huge. A monster. A monster oozing enough cheese to clog my arteries/cause a heart attack on the spot. Enough cheese that even I, a cheese lover, was a bit appalled and disgusted.I started cutting into the behemoth. It took me a while to find the pepperoni. It was floating on a cheese avalanche on the opposite side of where I started my attack, so it took a while to reach it. This was an OK calzone. I wish I'd ordered the chicken sandwich or the chicken with veggies calzone. It was just a little too huge and too cheesy. I brought half of it home and left about one third of the other half on the plate.

Meanwhile, SP ordered the Buffalo Chicken Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette.It was disappointing. The greens looked nice on top but under the top layer was iceberg lettuce. The other veggies were mostly sauteed onions & mushrooms. He missed the part of the description that said fries were in the salad, so he was annoyed and picked them all out (yes, this is his fault, not Rockefeller's). And his chicken was just OK.

All in all, disappointing. Although it was entertaining to listen to the football fans cheer & groan for Pitt and yell their comments, the food and atmosphere just don't warrant another trip. We decided that Rockefeller's is in the same category (bar/food/beer) as Gullifty's, Bocktown, and Sharp Edge, and we'd much rather go to one of those places. We'd spend the same amount of money and have a better meal. We were a little annoyed with ourselves for not going into the city in the damp, chilly, wet weather because even eating at Paris 66 would've cost the same (actually, according to the 2 bills, Paris 66 would've cost less) and been far tastier and far healthier.

Oh well. Better luck next weekend!