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| - I came here with my parents this past Fri. evening at around 6pm. I live a few blocks away and Zarra's was one of the closest places I had bookmarked. Given that my mom is a picky eater and enjoys casual Italian eateries, and that my parents were staying in Oakland (not at the hotel across the street, FWIW), I figured it was as good of a reason as any to check it out. Zarra's is most definitely an old school red sauce joint, so it fits the bill for Pittsburgh Italian comfort food--don't come here if you're expecting trendy, cutting-edge fare.
For our entrees, my mom had the meatless lasagna ($16), my dad has the Zarra's sampler ($22), and I had the ricotta noodles ($18). All of the entrees came with side salads, as well as a shared bread plate. The bread was insubstantial and mediocre, and came with an oil dipping sauce, which is a good thing, since it wouldn't have held up to butter. The salads were along the same lines, consisting of spinach dressed with a vinaigrette sauce and a few vegetables that most likely came out of a can. You can get blue cheese on your salad, which my mom and I did, or anchovies, as my dad did, but just be aware that these additions come at an upcharge.
Fortunately, the entrees were better. The manicotti had an interesting pointy shape and light texture that was different than any I've eaten before. Flavorwise, they weren't too exciting, which was also true for the red sauce. Each entree came with a side of sausage, meatball, or eggplant, so I chose the latter for mine since I'm inherently leery of ground meat. The eggplant added some variety to the dish, but I found it a bit on the mushy side. My mom and dad enjoyed their entrees--my mom is picky about the composition of lasagna, so I was happy to see that she ate it without picking it apart. I tried a bite of it, and it was pretty similar to the lasagna she makes at home, which is probably why. I didn't try any of the other items, so I can't directly comment on them except to say that the meatballs are huge (about 3" in diameter and twice the size of meatballs I've had at the meatball joint downtown). I wanted to try the baked Alaska since I'd never had one, but my parents were too full to share it with me, and I didn't want to get stuck eating the whole thing, so we ended up passing on it.
Overall, we were generally satisfied with our meal at Zarra's, despite the lackluster start to the meal. The fare was exactly what I expected, satisfying my mom's pickiness and filling us all up after a long day of travel or work. The service was excellent, as was proper given that we were about the only ones in the restaurant other than a few people sitting on the porch by the time we left. As others have mentioned, the decor--right down to the toilet seat in the women's restroom--is interesting and eclectic, and makes for good conversation. While I probably wouldn't go out of my way to return, I wouldn't be opposed to coming back sometime--perhaps to try the baked Alaska--given its convenience to my apt. 3.5 stars.
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