Sal's is supposedly the Italian wing of the well-known Malone's in the Landsdowne Shopping Center. The decor is wonderful, but last night's meal with my wife was a disappointment.

For the price you pay (two entrees and a bar beverage each cost us over $50) one would expect near perfection for this class of restaurant.

However, upon arrival our reservation had been lost due to computer trouble. Next, we were given lunch menus instead of the correct dinner menus. Third, our server had to take our drink menu away to borrow for another table (we asked for it back).

Our entrees were brought out before we were able to finish our salads. My ravioli with crab meat sauce was great.

My wife's steak was delivered without a steak knife; the server brought one later. Her steak was unspectacular; unusual for a diner whose partner restaurant Malone's prides itself on having the best steaks in town. She wanted A1 to help the flavor.

All in all, this would have been a perfectly fine meal ... if we were at Applebee's and paid Applebee's-type prices. However, it was not as good as I expected for Sal's.

My wife and I ate at Bonefish Grill last weekend. We arrived at about 6:15 on Saturday night, and we were quoted a 30-45 minute wait. We sat at the bar and no sooner than our drinks had arrived, our buzzer lit up. Approximate time elapsed: 5 minutes.

At the table, we were greeted promptly by the server. We both ordered our entrees with salads. The salads came in good time and were both better than average. I had the Bonefish salad; my wife had the Caesar.

For my entree, I had the Ahi Tuna. It came over a bed of mashed potatoes that were very tasty. Although mild, the tuna was cooked perfectly and very tender. My wife had the encrusted pork entree. It was outstandingly delicious, far better than my tuna. The server said the pork entree was their most popular non-fish entree.

The background music was very much to my liking, a nice mix of modern pop and alternative tunes that are not heard in heavy rotation on the radio.

When my family and I ate at this Fridays location a few days ago, we were seated in a large booth in the bar area. What I presume was a bar server waited on us.

We had two appetizers plus entrees, including the mozzarella sticks and artichoke dip. I had a burger. The food was good.

However, the service was lacking. The table was not clean when we sat down, and I had to ask for silverware. When we were finished, we waited a long time for our plates to be cleared and for the check. The check finally came; the plates were never cleared.

The trick was that it was the middle of the afternoon and they were not very busy.