Mendoza Grill in Greentree (Pgh)?

[VictoriaL]

We are meeting friends there for lunch on Thursday and have never been to this restaurant before-- does anyone have any recommendations?

[yayadave]

This is not a high class joint. Think cantina. Not expensive. I usually look at the special board near the door.

Food's good.

[Davecli]

yayadave, I agree. As long as you are OK with the atmosphere, (cantina's a good description) I would recommend it. The food is very good.

[yayadave]

Maybe I shouldn't have said "cantina." There are no spurs and pistolas. Maybe I should have said that it is like a diner on Rt. 66 in Arizona or New Mexico. Nice, clean place.

Good food. Mexican soda.

Nice old pictures of Alcapolco on the wall.
Truth is, I like the place.

[VictoriaL]

Thanks,guys, this sounds exactly like the kind of place I like. :) I'm looking forward to it!

[Davecli]

Report back about your experience! I sometimes hesitate to recommend this place because some might not like the suroundings, but I really like it and think the food is very good, and a good value.

[VictoriaL]

It was a good experience! :) Was this place a gas station in a previous life? The exterior resembles one, but that just added to its charm. It really is tiny, though, I counted 26 chairs but as we were there at 1:30 on a rainy Thursday afternoon there were only a few other customers there. The interior decor is nice and cheerful.

But the food was excellent. All three of us had something different and we sampled each others' meals (I still preferred my basic chicken enchiladas with tomatillo sauce). One note, though, most Mexican restaurants serve refried beans and rice with many of their entrees and they're often rather bland. Both the beans and the rice at Mendoza were much better than the usual offerings at other restaurants. And our server was better than average, too. All in all, a great experience and even though we live on the other side of town (about 50 minutes drive), we will return any time we can possibly be in that area.

Dave, if you live anywhere in that vicinity, I envy you simply for your proximity to Mendoza Grill!

[yayadave]

Yeah, it's tight quarters. That's why nobody wears their spurs. I think they do a decent take-out business.

I fall in there once in a while because it is so close and it's independent. It's just comfortable and the service is that way, too. And the food's good.

[Davecli]

Glad you liked it! It's just the kind of place that I like, (and you too I'm guessing), but you can see why I hesitate to recommend it sometimes. I think the best description of this place might be "quirky"!

[MrKotter]

If you are not aware, there is another Mendoza's on Rt 88 in Bethel Park, not as 'quirky" nor as busy, food is great, and they have beer!