When you walk into this family-owned Italian grocery, you instantly feel Italian, no matter what your heritage. Labriola's carries a selection of meats, cheeses, fresh and frozen prepared foods and baked goods.
Most of the activity is in the back, where the deli counter is situated. We were amazed at the selection of hot and cold foods available for takeout.
We weren't sure where to start until spying the Eggplant Parmesan ($5.99 a pound). Two versions were available -- the regular layered version and a rolled version. The rolled eggplant basically was the same, except the ricotta cheese was rolled inside the breaded eggplant, then covered with sauce. Both were excellent.
The oven-baked Chicken Romano and Chicken Parmesan ($5.99 a pound) were moist and tasty. The chicken romano was dipped in flour and sprinkled with romano cheese, and the Chicken Parmesan was dipped in bread crumbs and covered with Parmesan cheese.
We also sampled the Antipasta ($5.99 a pound), Tortellini ($4.99 a pound) and Artichoke ($5.99 a pound) salads. The Antipasta Salad contained a little of everything, including diced ham, Genoa salami, several cheeses, green and red peppers, black olives, cauliflower, carrots and pepperoncini.
For something sweet, we chose Almond Biscotti Twists ($6.49), which made for excellent nibbling. These were so good they almost had a non-coffee drinker ready to convert.
The baked goodies included HoHo-like creations ($2.99 for six) and Ewans ($3.99), light, airy dough dusted with confectioner's sugar. They're like funnel cakes without all the grease.
Compiled by Sis Reola and Rebecca Killian. Meals are paid for by the Valley News Dispatch and are unrelated to advertising.
Additional Information:Labriola's
Address: 605 Freeport Road, Aspinwall
Phone: 412-784-0111
Hours: 9 a.m.- 6 p.m. Monday-Friday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday
Credit cards: Accepted
Smoking: No
Handicapped-accessible: Yes
Prices: Salads, $3.99-$5.99 a pound; entrees, $5.99 a pound; desserts, $3.99-$7.99
