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| - I had high hopes for the Cafe at Phipps because I had heard a lot of great thins about it. I am wondering if it was "good" just because of local ingredients and no "bad for you" food rather then actually being a place people loved for the taste and service.
We arrived shortly before 2:00 on a Sunday. Apparently at 2:00, you can no longer order anything from the menu other than the pizzas. This meant the selections were limited to prepackaged salads, sandwiches and soups. I was disappointed because there were several sandwiches I was trying to decide between. There was nothing on the website or in writing at the cafe that showed there was a limited menu at a certain point. I might expect that if you come in at 4 (when Phipps closes at 5) that they would limit it, but why three hours before closing time?
Beverage choices are limited to the "Pittsburgh Seltzer" or a coffee bar. The options sounded great - various fruit flavors such as orange and pineapple mixed with seltzer water. However, the day we were there they were out of seltzer, so for the same price, we got very minimally flavored tap water. I chose the orange pineapple and I'm sure it would have been better with the seltzer and right amount of flavor. However, there was very little juice added so it lacked flavor. I drank it anyway, but I heard at least two people go back up and ask for more juice to be added.
I chose the grilled chicken and poached pear salad. It was served with greens, cucumbers, tomatoes and of course, pears. It had a pear vinaigrette dressing. I enjoyed the salad, but it was nothing special, especially for the $9 price tag. I was glad I don't eat tomatoes, because the ones in my salad were soggy and limp. It did make me wonder how long the pre made salad had been sitting in the cooler. My husband ordered the Margherita pizza. He enjoyed it, but said the dough was grainy and wished there was more cheese. I also tried the carrot soup. It was good but certainly not the best I've ever had. It was a large portion size which was nice.
Overall, not a bad experience, but I expected more, especially for the price.
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