So it's Saturday night on Valentine's Day weekend and we knew we couldn't possibly get a table at one of the finer establishments around town. We also needed something inexpensive as we had our Valentine's Day dinner the weekend before at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Pittsburgh (a WONDERFUL once-a-year splurge). We typically save Valley Dairy on Oakland Avenue in front of Martin's for breakfast, but inexpensive homestyle cooking seemed to fit the bill.
We were pleased to walk in and have the hostess tell us the entire place was non-smoking except for the 6 booths way far in the back near the restrooms. We seated ourselves in a booth which was nice and clean. I'm so glad the updated the decor in the place. It's a little contemporary, but also homey.
Our waiter promptly took our drink orders. Their menu choices range from classic homestyle meals to sandwiches, salads and breakfast anytime. Not to mention their famous ice cream and sundaes (flashback to 20 years ago when my friends and I would hang out and socialize over turtle sundaes).
I went with a cup of minestrone and a turkey ciabatta sandwich. My husband went classic with a hot turkey sandwich w/mashed potatoes and gravy on everything.
My minestrone was decent. It was a little on the salty side and could have used more "stuff" in it for my personal taste. I ended up putting in a packet of saltines to bulk it up. My turkey sandwich was not what I had expected it to be. I anticipated the ciabatta to have that famous crunchy exterior and chewy but soft interior. Instead it was all soft with a floury exterior. It was still good, but not what I was craving. The turkey was a little salty (see a theme here?) and the roasted red peppers on the sandwich didn't add all that much flavor. It wasn't a bad sandwich, but it wasn't a good one either.
My husband's hot turkey sandwich looked much better than my sandwich! He had his platter inhaled before I had half of my sandwich down. I asked him how this hot turkey sandwich compared to others he has had in other places. He said it was solid.
We passed on dessert (they had a Valentine's Day special on their sundaes...soooooo tempting) but vowed to add Valley Dairy to our summertime ice cream outing rotation list.
Service overall was wonderful. We didn't have to wait long for our food or our check.
All-in-all, not a bad meal and certainly wallet-friendly. I just know next time to stick with the classics in a place like this.
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