| rev:text
| - Due to popular demand, actually just 1 compliment thank you kind sir, I decided to write another review on one of my favorite spots in the Pittsburgh area, Bado's Cucina. Now I know that Canonsburg/Peters Township isn't exactly close to the city, but to me, good food is worth a long commute. I recently received an email from their mailing list with a printable 20% off coupon (hey I'm not proud, we're in a recession) and we decided to head out on a Thursday evening. First I'll give you my Cliffs notes description of Bado's: Small wood-fired oven Italian tapas joint & BYOB. Bado's is not Pittsburgh-style portions. So if you have a huge appetite, and don't want to drop a big $ ordering everything on the menu, then Bado's isn't for you. We first read about this place (yes, there is a relation to Bado's Pizza and Ale House in Mt. Lebo) in a rather lukewarm review a couple of years ago and it has since become one of my favorite dinner destinations. The lady and I have made Bado's our "spur of the moment" weekend spot. The fact that they don't take reservations can make for a testy 30 minutes in the car knowing that GFOJC (see previous Sarafino's review) can get quite cranky when asked to wait for a table. There is no bar and just a small bench to sit on while you wait so arriving early is imperative on weekends. Our friends like to make early-bird jokes about us being the only young couple that can have dinner and be home with a Redbox in the DVD player before most of them get home from work. So pulling into Bado's parking lot @ 5:00 on a Friday evening isn't unusual for us but, it certainly does guarantee us a table. The atmosphere is very casual with the large wood-fired oven the centerpiece of the restaurant. There are heavy dark wood chairs and tables and what I would guess 30 or so seats inside and a few cafe tables outside. Waitstaff is very knowledgeable, attentive & friendly and are quick to uncork my bottle of Amano Primativo. The menu is rather extensive for such a small place with some unusual offerings like a daily wild game sausage dish. We usually walk through the door with a game-plan of what we'll be ordering haven eaten here so many times. There are quite a few menu staples that we like such as the goat-cheese stuffed Artichoke, the stuffed banana peppers, or the famous braciole. All are excellent choices and just like almost everything else on the menu, are cooked in the wood-fired oven. But tonight we decided on the grilled fruit appetizer, which was the sublime Gorgonzola stuffed apple. I saw a picture of it in the March 2009 Whirl magazine and knew that I had to have it. It didn't disappoint with the very large tart apple sliced into sections filled with melted Gorgonzola and drizzled with thick sweet balsamic reduction. Quite a start to the evening. Next up was Bado's classic Margherita Pizza which I consider one of the best authentic Neapolitan-style pizzas around. Ever since Pizzeria Regina Margherita/Roberto's sadly left Bellevue for Jersey, I've been searching for it's Pittsburgh replacement (sorry Piccolo Forno, it's just not the same). Remember, Bado's is a pizza family first and foremost so the proof is in this pie. It's an amazing thin crust pizza cooked to perfection with buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil and a tangy San Marzano sauce. I've had Grimaldi's and Lombardi's in NYC and to me this is just as good. Next we decided on the filet marsala-style which was new on the menu and much to my surprise was quite a big portion for Bado's. The thinly pounded beef was moist and the Marsala sauce wasn't overpowering. Lastly we always split a pasta. Bado's always has 2 different pasta specials and tonight we decided on the homemade spinach tortellini with the tomato sauce. The lady usually demands we have the light pink vodka sauce but tonight I talked her into the marinara and it didn't disappoint. The tortellini were delicious with large shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano and fresh parsley. And the sauce was the perfect balance of acidic and sweet. Being that the portions aren't huge, we had plenty of room for dessert. The biggest decision on this night was still to come. Do we get the check and head to Sarris' for ice cream or order the sinfully delicious bread pudding which, by the way, is worth the trip to Bado's all by itself??? Thankfully we decided on the bread pudding which, as you might have guessed, comes out of the wood-fired oven sizzling in a small cast-iron All-Clad dish. The bread pudding is piping hot with plump raisins and a sweet cream sauce drizzled over it. We chose wisely. As for price, it can be a little steep for a BYOB, usually between $60-$75 for the two of us, but as a previous yelper wrote, you certainly are paying for Chef Sam's attention to detail and the quality of his ingredients, not the amount of food on your plate. That said, I certainly didn't leave Bado's hungry on this night.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)