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| - We came here for carb-loading the night before the half-marathon, after a handful of unimpressive visits in college. (We figured that no one else would be carb-loading here, and would all be at my all-time-favorite pasta place, Spaghetti Warehouse, so we decided to take a chance.)
All in all, the food was decent. It was better than I remembered it from college, but I don't think I'd ever gotten a true pasta dish in those days, usually getting one of their meats with pasta as the side.
We started with the calamari, which was good, if a bit small, and the antipasta skewers, which were a little disappointing. They had cheese and olives, but no deli meat, as we were expecting there to be. I would get the calamari again, but not the skewers.
Each entree comes with a soup or salad, and they serve the salad family-style in a big bowl. The salad was fresh, and the house Italian dressing was nice and tangy, but I think I would have preferred garlic bread to the thick focaccia chunks.
My pasta entree was excellent. I got one of their 'seasonal' dishes of penne pasta with spinach, artichokes, sundried tomatoes, and portabella mushroom strips. It was in a garlic and olive oil sauce with big chunks of feta cheese. This was exactly the type of thing that I needed the night before a race!
My husband got bacon linguini in a gorgonzola sauce with sundried tomatoes. He liked it, but I think it was a little too heavy in the cream sauce. The flavors were great but he said it kind of sat in his stomach, so probably not the best pre-race pasta option! :)
We finished up with an order of the tiramisu, which was yummy and very unique. Unlike your standard tiramisu, this one was served like a cappuchino, with a creamy topping (think the consistency and flavor of melted ice cream) and whipped cream on top of that.
So, our visit to Joe Mama's was better this time around, but there are still definitely better options for pasta and Italian food in general in Pittsburgh. If you're a student looking for a cheap Italian dinner where you don't need to take a bus to Bloomfield, you can check this place out. They have half-price specials after 11, but I believe it is a limited version of their full menu.
And, if you want a less-crowded place to carb-load before a Pittsburgh race, this is definitely a good option. We were seated immediately, and the service was fast and friendly on a Saturday night.
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