Andora: Come for the ambience and stay for the food

The Andora restaurant carries on the tradition of old country elegance at the former Cross Keys Inn, an historic landmark.

Nestled in the wooded hills along Dorseyville Road in Fox Chapel and built in 1850 as the Cross Keys Hotel, the longtime saloon provided lodging and served as a way-station for travelers between Pittsburgh and New Kensington.

Its checkered past, once a house of ill repute and a speakeasy replete with ghost stories, does not dim the presence of the Cross Keys, which has been continually maintained and still has its original fireplace and interior woodwork.

Because it was an inn, the historic building has multiple, private dining rooms, eight of which are on the second floor alone, able to seat from two to 35 diners. Families and friends use the rooms for intimate dinners, as do the business people from the nearby RIDC Industrial Park.

“For weekend nights in winter, you have to book the rooms a couple of weeks in advance,” said Buddy Fiedler, a server who has worked the Cross Keys for more than eight years for different owners.

The rooms are used in summer when rain threatens and drives diners in from the restaurant's spacious outdoor patio.

Andora is still a locally owned restaurant with a sister location in Sewickley. The Fox Chapel location has been in business for five years.

While the food is well made, this restaurant is more about an authentic sense of place, a quality missing from too many dining experiences.

The Mediterranean bistro style food is mostly made from scratch. The menu changes seasonally and the kitchen cooks with local produce when available.

The grilled salmon salad ($13.90) topped with candied pecans was nicely blended with blue cheese and strawberries, tossed lightly in a raspberry vinaigrette.

This immensely satisfying salad made eating the main entrees a challenge.

Indeed, we regretted that we didn't eat less salad to try the popular three-cheese stuffed zucchini ribbons with sweet pepper cream sauce ($10.90), an appetizer highly recommended by the staff.

Lunch entrees include flavorful and interesting salads, sandwiches and entrées, which always includes Andora's fresh fish of the day.

The lobster roll ($13) was tasty, yet texture-wise proved to be more of a salad than a roll.

If you are looking for pure seafood, try the jumbo lump crab cake ($14.90) which has very little filler and is on the lighter side as it is broiled rather than fried.

The horseradish-crusted Alaskan salmon ($13.90) with house teriyaki glaze was smooth with the horseradish not too strong but holding up enough to keep the salmon in check. The asparagus, though a side dish, was perfectly cooked, tender with just a little snap.

Andora is a place you will want to return to with your favorite friends and family members.

Mary Ann Thomas is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-226-4691, mthomas@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MaThomas_Trib.