Critic's Review
When I first moved to Fort Lauderdale, before I knew that most "locals" knew nothing about food, this place was recommended to me as having good pizza. They have an 18" pie, but they cut it into 12 slices, which should have been a red flag. It's not bad pizza. I got a couple, but then moved on and never ordered another.
After awhile I learned that they're a Pittsburgh based outfit known for their big sandwiches with cole slaw and french fries; the cole slaw sounds interesting but I don't need fries on a sandwich. So I've never had one of those and probably never well.
I'd also never eaten in at this location, so it was time to give it a try. The menus they have on the WWW are bad news; with no descriptions or prices. Complicated sandwiches and salads without any description isn't very good marketing. But I was sitting in the lot, so I went in anyway.
There's a big sign "Seat Yourself", which is always a plus. I don't need some teenager steering me to a bad table. They have a row of booths along the wall and there was a corner one available.
There don't seem to be dedicated servers; one of the cook guys was also my server. He was pushing a pulled pork special, but I didn't want bread. I ordered an iced tea with extra lemon. Menus on are on the table.
The tea arrived with 1 lemon wedge. "So you want the pulled pork". No, Dude, I'll have the Steeltown Salad, which is described as "Sirloin Steak over Greens with Egg..". Blue cheese dressing please.
Not a lot going on. Just a couple of tables at 2:30. No loud music.
The salad came out. I didn't expect this much steak for $8.95. This looked like a pretty good deal. The "silverware" they supply in the rollup was junky; it looked like some sort of juvenile tableware. I asked for a sharp knife and reminded him about the extra lemon.
I loaded it up with the blue cheese and gave it a taste. The steak was pretty benign; pretty good protein. Another issue with the menu here is that they don't list all of the ingredients even on the regular menu. This salad had cucumbers, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, onions, banana peppers, pepperoncini, mozzarella and cranberries.
The cranberries don't belong in this salad; at least not with blue cheese dressing. Modern menus include ALL ingredients for a reason; aside from allergies, people are used to subbing out or eliminating things they don't like.
This was a pretty good salad and a good value for the price. I had to pick out the cranberries and slice some of the rough-cut onions, but I'd order this again without the cranberries for sure.
No offer for iced tea until I was ready for the check, but I declined.
Conclusion
When you're from NY or Philly or Pittsburgh you're used to going to places where some chick will be yelling "Hey Joey" across the room when you eat out, so the ultra casual dining experience is nothing new for me. Wobbly food is also expected; presentation is secondary at placed like this. Although the sandwiches and the pizza aren't my style. you get a good load of food at a fair price. Just ask about the ingredients if you're picky.
Review 12/9/10
With its origin in Pittsburgh, you don't know quite what to expect. I never thought of Pittsburgh as a big pizza place. When I first moved the South Florida several people told me to try the pizza here. They told me it was the best pizza in town. Luckily, they were wrong. It's not bad. But there's better. I haven't had a pie here in a long time.
Most people know about the Primanti Brothers location on the beach by Sunrise Blvd, particularly because its open 24 hours. Its not a very nice place to me; but this one is a lot nicer. If I were a Steelers fan, or a Primanti Brothers food fan, this is where I'd come.
I pulled up their menu on the web and decided on one of their signature sandwiches, which is a meat and cheese with french fries and cole slaw on a sandwich. The angus Top Sirloin sandwich caught my eye. I don't really like cheese with my pastrami. So I headed on down.
Inside, this is one step above your typical pizza place. There's a counter, wooden furniture painted green, and a bunch of TV for watching the games; preferably the Steelers.
The have the menu on the wall, and it seemed to be missing the top sirloin. Maybe its a new item, I though. So I grabbed a takeout menu and alas, it appears they no longer have the sandwich. I didn't want any of the other almost famous sandwich, so I opted for the Sicilian Cheesesteak, which is described as sliced beef with onions, mushrooms, a bit of marinara sauce with mozzarella cheese. It took them about 10 minutes to make the sandwich.
The menu says they use "Lotsa" Mozzarella on these sandwitches, but its a very thin covering. The sandwich really isn't that big; the bread is very light and when I pulled it together it wasn't very thick. It has an interesting taste, but at first it was very bland. I had to salt it. There's no cheese flowing into the meat as it does with a Philly cheesesteak. It's not a bad sandwich. But if you're a Philly Cheesesteak fan you won't want this. It's not nearly as good.