Armstrong's — Restaurant in Moon Township

First visit to Armstrong’s Restaurant in Moon. I did my homework by reading a lot of reviews and found that there were complaints about the wait for a table.

I called and found that they were BYOB and they had call-ahead seating. We stopped for a bottle of wine and were there a half hour after calling. We were told there wasn’t a table ready yet, but there should be one ready shortly. We were seated in less than 5 minutes.

Our server, Danielle, arrived promptly with menus and to take our drink order.

Since reading that the portions were huge, we had already decided that we would not order an appetizer, but after seeing orders of Fried Zucchini being served and also being intrigued by the Baked Artichoke Hearts that were on the menu, that decision was quickly overturned. The Baked Artichoke Hearts are what we decided on.

I had questions about the menu. I was torn between the Penne with Vodka Sauce and the Stuffed Eggplant Parmesan. Danielle told me that the Vodka Sauce was one of her favorites and suggested that I get the eggplant, but for a $2 up-charge, have one of my sides as the pasta with Vodka sauce. That is what I went with, but not being a Penne fan, I ordered it with linguine instead. As my second side I ordered the house tossed salad with Italian dressing and dry Bleu cheese.

My husband ordered the Baked Garlic Shrimp with a Caesar salad and baked potato for his sides.

Danielle returned shortly with ours salads and fresh Mancini’s bread, explaining that the artichoke heart appetizer took a bit of time.

My tossed was a mix of romaine and baby field greens, cucumber, grape tomatoes, red onion and topped with chick peas and dry Bleu cheese, garnished with a pepperoncini and black olive. I normally order an extra side of dressing, but the salad was so flavorful, I did not need it.

The Caesar was equally delicious with a real Caesar dressing and tender croutons. Both salads had very fresh greens and were generous in portion.

About a quarter of the way through our salads, Danielle brought the Baked Artichoke Hearts. An ample portion of tender artichoke hearts lightly browned and baked in a garlic-butter sauce. They arrived very hot, so I chose to keep eating my salad for two reasons, it was so good, I couldn’t stop and I wanted the hearts to cool down enough so that I didn’t burn my mouth.

The artichokes were delicious and we enjoyed dipping the fresh Mancini’s bread in the sauce with every bite of artichoke. This appetizer disappeared quickly.

Our entrees arrived in a timely manner and were again, so hot that I had to wait to take a bite. My husband, not having as sensitive of a palate, dove right in. He was treated to a bounty of shrimp that were perfectly cooked and sauced with a garlic-butter that was perfect for dipping bread into and so good that he spooned some over his baked potato.

After finishing the last remnants of my salad, I started in on my entrée. The Vodka sauce was delicious, as promised, with the linguine perfectly cooked.

The Stuffed Eggplant was excellent. I’m 100% Sicilian and both of my parents were very good cooks, so I am very critical when it comes to Eggplant Parm. Was it the best I ever had? No, my mom will always win that contest, but the sauce and eggplant were some of the best I’ve had outside of my mom’s kitchen.

We considered not ordering dessert because we were so blissfully full, but knew that an hour from now we would be looking for something sweet. We ordered the Chocolate Mousse cake to go.

This cake was in the top five of best desserts I have ever had. The cake was super moist, the mousse so light and flavorful, I wish we had gotten two slices to go. It was not too sweet, it was just chocolaty goodness.

I was a server for a long time in a variety of restaurants from casual to high-end. This is a very well run establishment. When you have a front of the house and back of the house that work in such harmony with each other, your dining experience is sure to be a good one.

I look forward to my next visit and am already planning on that...

Discovered Armstrongs over 30 years ago through a previous employer. Restaurant is about 45 minutes from our area but was in Moon township for work and was looking for lunch and Armstrongs was recommended so we gave it a shot. Fell in love with the calzone. We enjoyed our experience we started going the 45 minutes for lunch quite regularly and we all started taking family and friends and everbody Enjoyed the experience immensely. Times, jobs and situations change and didn't find the time to make the trip anymore. Over the last decades only had it on occasion but still outstanding. Not sure the exact timing but was in the area on occasion over the last few years and couldn't make dinner work because they have been going through some sort of remodel and some issue always seem to present itself. Today opportunity arose and was able to order. Restaurant is still in shambles but carryout was available so finally My Calzone! The Italian my favorite and depending on my appetite 2 to 3 meals for me. The calzone I remembered and loved was layers upon layers of the meats nice big rings of onions, cheese and sauce baked in a golden brown crust and always got a side of sauce. WOW!!!!! That vision is dead! I know costs go up but if you need to charge more. Charge more but keep the product the same. Tonight I got an undercooked, doughy mushy something or other. The confusing thing about tonight's experience was toppings are pricey I understand but I would have to say there would've been more meat on a personal pizza then what was in this calzone(in my opinion about 300% less than the way they used to make it) but now the punchline there had to be 3lbs(no exaggeration) of cheese in it! The poor helpless meat didn't have a chance. Doughy crust and 3lbs of cheese? Flavorless. Soo...

My family requested Armstrong’s takeout. I called and spoke to a gentleman, ordered 3 entrees, 2 with soup and one with salad, and an appetizer Saturday evening at 6 PM. I received a text at 6:17 that it was ready. I was surprised to see an empty parking lot and found out its take out only. The check out lady was curt. Said they changed to take out only 3 years ago. Admittedly I had not been there since before Covid. My bill was roughly $67. Did some mental math and the price seemed correct based on what I saw on the menu from my google search, could not find an official website. I paid cash, said keep the change (would’ve been more had she not been so cold), was handed a huge plastic bag full of food. I guess I should’ve checked it.

Drove to my family’s house, arrived at 7. Come to find out that I am missing an entree. Taking up space in the bag was a loaf of bread and butter. I called the restaurant. The same lady answered the phone. She said I didn’t order 3 entrees. I did. I read the first two and order of breadsticks from a text, then added my own. She again said I didn’t. I explained I didn’t talk to her, I spoke with a man. I asked why I got 2 soups and a salad if I didn’t order three entrees and why was the bill $67. I was told that is what I ordered, the prices online were dramatically wrong, that “they’ve been trying to change them” and since I didn’t pay for it I was out of luck. No apology. She bottom line did not care and repeatedly told me it was my fault. I understand mistakes happen. I understand prices go up. Post a menu with accurate prices! Apologize! Don’t be so rude! The food wasn’t as good as it used to be. No wonder the...