F. TAMBELLINI RISTORANTE

PITTSBURGH

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Situated in the heart of Pittsburgh’s cultural district... and just across the Allegheny River from PNC Park and Heinz field, the family-owned F. Tambellini’s Ristorante has been serving authentic Northern Italian cuisine since 1950.

The restaurant was opened by the Tambellini Family from the beautiful Lucca region of Italy. It is currently operated by Nello and Mary (Tambellini) Pellegrini and their son Charles.

The extensive menu features a wide variety of Italian dishes, seafood, appetizers and desserts... all carefully prepared and attractively presented. I decided upon the veal Marsala with a fresh garden salad and a side of ziti pasta. The tender veal cutlets were perfectly accented by the sweet wine mushroom sauce. I highly recommend this delectable dish to any meat-lover. My friend ordered the stuffed shrimp and graciously allowed me to sample one... again, a tasty dish for the seafood-lover.

F. Tambellini’s signature dish is not an entree... but an appetizer. They have a larger-than-usual selection of appetizers to begin with, but the fried zucchini should definitely be included in the diner’s first visit to this restaurant. The unpeeled 8-10 inch vegetables are thinly-sliced lengthwise, dipped in egg, and coated with a flour mixture before they are deep-fried. The zucchini is then served immediately with marinara sauce and sliced lemon. After hearing the preparation procedure from the delightfully friendly Mrs. Mary Pellegrini, I confidently attempted to duplicate the delicious zucchini in my own kitchen. Although they were tasty, my three attempts fell way short of the original. Moral of the story... order the zucchini at F. Tambellini’s.

Although this restaurant may be considered somewhat upscale, it is not stuffy nor pretentious. The moderately illuminated open dining room is decorated in contemporary Italian style... featuring Italian art provided by the Pittsburgh Opera.. Although its clientele includes a wide spectrum of demographics (including we sports enthusiasts), F. Tambellini’s is busiest before theater, opera and other activities at the nearby Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts. Many Pittsburgh Steelers and Pirates (including Roberto Clemente) have enjoyed F. Tambellini’s. It was also a favorite of the late U.S. Senator John Heinz as well as Mr. (Fred) Rogers.

The prices are reasonable for this type of dining. Expect to pay $50-75 for a meal for two. They have a children’s menu and also cocktails. There is a fee for on-site parking (we walked from our downtown Pittsburgh hotel).

F. Tambellini Restaurant - Pittsburgh

139 Seventh Street, Pittsburgh PA 15222

412-391-1091

F. TAMBELLINI'S FRONT

DINING ROOM

.

VEAL MARSALA - Recommended

STUFFED SHRIMP

DEEP FRIED ZUCCHINI

This is about half of the order. We polished off some of it before the photo