PRIMANTI BROS.

A couple of years back, we spent a wonderful day visiting with friends who live in a suburb of Pittsburgh. Part of the fun included a guided tour of some of the city's sights, like Point State Park at the confluence of the Ohio, Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, the Duquesne Incline and the Strip District on 18th Street. The latter, a mile-long stretch between the Allegheny River and a huge hill, provided us lots of fun searching for goodies in the many shops that sell everything from fresh produce to cookware.

The area also is home to the original Primanti Bros. restaurant, and we were delighted to have lunch at this notable eatery. Since then, our thoughts have returned there but we haven't. Imagine our thrill, then, when our son-in-law told us he'd seen a Primanti Bros. restaurant right across from the outlet mall at Grove City, Pa. Needless to say, we wasted little time getting there. 

The original restaurant got its start in the 1930s, when Joe Primanti opened a cart in the Strip District to sell sandwiches to truckers (or so the website tells me). Since that venture was successful, he opened a small restaurant on 18th Street. When a man brought in a bunch of potatoes to see if they were frozen, the cook - John DePriter, Primanti's nephew - fried them. When customers asked for them, he put them on the sandwiches - marking the birth of the famous Primanti sandwich (more on that later). Along the way several other restaurants were opened, and the company now has 17, mostly around Pittsburgh, and three in Florida.


Most of the locations, including the one in Grove City, sport the rust exterior with hunter green trim. That famous Primanti sandwich, for the record, is an all-inclusive deal: Meat topped with fries, cole slaw and usually a tomato. Back in Pittsburgh, I tried the corned beef and cheese, and it was fabulous.

Here in Grove City, we arrived for lunch and found the place large enough that we could choose a seat either on the restaurant or bar side - as is our custom, we picked the bar. Good thing; it was fairly crowded, and if I recall correctly, ours was the last available table. The walls are covered in Pittsburgh Steelers memorabilia (Cleveland Browns fans that we are, we sucked it up, kept our mouths shut and didn't look up very often). The tables and chairs are wood, there are plenty of TV sets and it was clear this is a fun place - all the other diners seemed to be having a great time.


The menu basically is casual food - lots of sandwiches plus pizza, wings (regular and boneless with 12 sauce choices) and "really big" salads. The latter are a bit on the unique side, such as the Caribbean Chopped Salad, which includes marinated flat-iron grilled chicken breast tossed with roasted peppers, sweet corn, crisp cucumbers, croutons, applewood smoked bacon and farmhouse cheddar cheese with mango vinaigrette dressing for $8.29. There are a few Italian entrees as well - chicken spinach Alfredo and hot sausage al forno, for instance - 

Whatever else I decided on, I knew I'd have to try the Almost Famous Hot Chili Bowl, Pittsburgh style ($3.29). Add cheddar cheese and chopped onion for 49 cents each? Of course! I hesitated before deciding not to get one of those fabulous whole dill pickles for $1.99, but I figured the chili plus a sandwich would be too filling to allow for anything else.

Jack stuck with his favorite sandwich, Sicilian cheesesteak (from the Crostini list, which pretty much means it's served on a hoagie roll). Inside is sliced beef mixed with mushrooms, onion and green pepper, and it's topped with mozzarella cheese, lettuce, tomato and parmesan-horseradish mayonnaise ($7.99) He added a side of cole slaw to top off his meal.


Once again, I hit the "everything is on it" list, but this time I opted for hot sausage and cheese ($6.29 for the original, but for $7.79 you can get double meat). All these sandwiches are served on fresh Italian bread with the slaw, fries, tomatoes and provolone. Onions are added by request, so I asked for them as well.

The chili was excellent, though it had a few too many beans to suit me. There was lots of melted, gooey shredded cheddar on top, so even though it's not a large bowl, it's extremely filling; that and a small salad would be quite sufficient for me as a whole meal.

To be honest, Jack wasn't too fond of the vinegar-based slaw (he much prefers the kind made with mayo). It's shredded but not chopped, so it comes in long strings - no doubt making it stay on the top of a sandwich much more easily. They did not, however, skimp on the quantity - too bad he didn't like it all that well because it almost could have made a meal in and of itself. The sandwich itself, though, he absolutely loved, especially the horseradish sauce.

I'm not a big fan of that slaw either, so I ended up taking much of it off my sandwich. Besides that, I've got a really small mouth (just ask my dentist), so trying to get my teeth around a nearly 7-inch-high sandwich was virtually impossible until I removed a few things. Once some of the slaw was gone and I pulled out some fries to eat the regular way with ketchup, I was able, though barely, to get what was left in my mouth.

It was quite good, although I probably will choose double meat next time. The sausage patty was great, but all that other stuff on top was so overwhelming that I hardly could taste it. Both sandwiches were large enough to be cut in half, making it easy for both of us to bring half home (they're way too big for us to polish off in one meal, especially lunch). Next time, though, I'm planning to try that Caribbean salad - if I can get them to leave out those nasty cucumbers, that is.

If you go:

Primanti Bros. Restaurant & Bar
Leesburg-Grove City Road (PA 208 at I-79)
Grove City, PA 16127
(724) 748-9955

http://www.primantibros.com

Open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Saturday; Sunday from 11 a.m. to midnight. 

ELEPHANT & CASTLE PUB AND RESTAURANT

If you think the name of this restaurant is intriguing, you're not alone. Every time my husband Jack and I go shopping at the Grove City Premium Outlets near Grove City, Pa., we drive by one of the 20-something locations, always saying, "That place looks really interesting. We've got to have lunch there someday!"

Not long ago, that someday arrived -- and we've added it to our list of favorite places to eat when we're over that way.

In the interests of full disclosure, though, I must tell you that the corporate owner, Elephant & Castle Group Inc., of Boston, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 5. That said, officials say no restaurant closings are expected, and you'll find locations across the United States and Canada from Toronto to Boston to Chicago to San Diego and San Francisco.

Update March 1, 2012: The Elephant & Castle Group Inc. has sold substantially all of its assets (19 locations) to Original Joe’s Acquisition Corp. for $22.75 million. All locations and "substantially all" employees will be retained, officials said.

Of course, it's the name that's most intriguing about this place, so let me give you a condensed version from a company-provided brochure. As legend has it, there once was a fair maiden who lived in the French province of Castile. Her parents wanted to marry her off to a rich English prince. Because English nobles often spoke French as well as English, the daughter became known as L'Enfant de Castile (the child of Castile).

Then, a London innkeeper decided to name his place after her; but the Cockneys had a bit of trouble with pronunciation and the pub became known as Elephant and Castle. Even today, an inn of that name is located across the Thames from the Houses of Parliament.

I will note, however, that as soon as I posted the blog, I heard from someone who's a U.K. citizen informing me that this version is a common misconception but not the true story. Not wanting to get in the middle of an elephant tussle, I'll share the link I received and let readers draw their own conclusions: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ele1.htm

However the name came to be, fast-forward to 1977, when twin brothers Paul and Jeffery Barnett and their associate George Pitman opened the first Elephant & Castle in Vancouver. I have no idea where the Grove City pub stands on the development timeline, but I do know I'm glad we found it.

We stopped for lunch around 12:30 on a Tuesday afternoon after a relatively quick stop at the mall to check out our favorite Bass, Van Heusen and Izod stores as well as look for a new pair of walking shoes for me at the Nike store (no luck on the latter; the most I'm willing to spring for a pair is about 40 bucks, and among the less-than-a-handful I found on sale at that price, I found nothing I'd ever willingly put on my feet).

The restaurant has a look and feel similar to others of its ilk -- among them Applebee's, TGI Friday's and Ruby Tuesday -- but the abundant glass, dark wood, old books and ale tankards and the like do give it an atmosphere somewhat like I'd expect at a pub in Merry Olde England. There's an extensive beer list with plenty of specials; on this day, one of the best deals was $2 pints of Coors Light, of which we happily partook.

I'll also alert you that it's a great place to go on your birthday; just show your ID and you'll get a percentage discount on your meal that's equal to your age. Next March, trust me, I plan to be there with bells on -- and clean house with my 71% off! We'll follow that up in June for Jack, who'll get an even bigger 72% discount.

Since this was our lunch, we zeroed in on somewhat lighter fare; sandwiches come with a house or Caesar salad, pub chips or soup. Jack chose a salad, asking for the homemade viniagrette. I opted for soup, with three choices: The cream of broccoli soup of the day, onion soup or chicken and leek (it was the latter for me).

The soup and salad were delivered almost immediately, and Jack said the dressing was very creamy and flavorful. He was less enthusiastic about the salad, since it was filled with all different kinds of greens he claims make him think he's eating the front yard. Never mind, I said, eager to polish off what he left.

The soup had a thin chicken-flavored broth with lots of celery, leeks, small chicken chunks and other greens. It tasted great, and I discovered that the delicious salad croutons (terrific flavor and not so crisp that they threaten to break your teeth) made an excellent addition to my soup as well.

For our entrees, Jack picked the Loaded Beef Dip ($8.99), with caramelized mushrooms, jack cheese and au jus for dipping. My choice was the bruschetta chicken sandwich ($8.69), a chicken breast topped with jack cheese and bruschetta tomatoes on a rosemary Focaccia bun with pesto mayonnaise.

Jack really loved his sandwich, although he did find it a bit hard to dip it into the small cup of au jus -- it was quite funny watching him bite it in very strange ways just to get it to fit. My sandwich was delicious as well, with finely chopped, flavored bruschetta tomatoes. The chicken breast didn't even come close to filling the bun, although it was fairly thick. If I'd been the cook, I'd have simply pounded it thinner to stretch it out (and it would cook faster as well). I do admit, though, the bun was quite large to begin with -- and that rosemary flavor came through loud and clear.

By the way, the website serves up a wealth of information, including current promotions, special features (see the link below). For fall, I've got my eye on the sausage sampler, a grilled bratwurst and British banger with a hot pretzel, beer mustard and braised red cabbage for $8. Or, the grilled bratwurst -- two char-grilled German-style sausages with wine braised red cabbage onion gravy and garlic mashed potatoes ($11.50) sounds like a wonderful alternative. For dessert? My mouth is watering at the thought of a Stout poached pear ($6.50), served with stout syrup and vanilla ice cream.

Much of the food, understandably, has a strong British flavor; the menu can vary slightly from location to location, though, so it's a good idea to check the website for the menu specific to the location you plan to visit. I should also note that in case you want to spend the evening sampling the beers and ales, you can spend the night as well; the Grove City location offers 12 air-conditioned rooms with cable and Internet connections, a continental breakfast and 10% off on restaurant meals for overnight guests.

If you go: The Elephant & Castle Pub and Restaurant
1923 Leesburg-Grove City Road
Grove City, Pa. 16127
(724) 748-1010
www.elephantcastle.com

Open 11 a.m. to midnight Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday; 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.