Let me start by saying I have been an avid customer of Goo's for over 30 years, and considered him a friend that I've known since I was a kid. Goo's was a remarkable Italian style restaurant but was also well known for their Steaks and Seafood. Goo insisted on top quality ingredients and consistently served great, not just good, food.
Goo passed away nearly 20 years ago, but the tradition of his restaurant continued and remained a popular spot for good food in the areas surrounding Mt Pleasant and Pittsburgh. The last 2 or 3 times I ordered food from Goo's, the food just didn't taste the same. With Italian cooking, a few recipes can make or break the quality of the food, and the food just didn't taste like it used to. I'm certainly not saying that the food was bad, because it is never bad here. It was just different...the fried hot peppers with Garlic, which was a house specialty, somehow tasted less "fresh". Perhaps its the type of garlic, or the oil, or peppers...something was just a little below par.. The other item we ordered was a "Goo's Special Pizza". This was basically a large pizza with layers of hot peppers (not the pickled kind, more like oven roasted or pan fried) and cheese, pepperoni, and whatever else they added to make it taste great. The pizza we got was burnt to the point that the crust was blackened and very hard. The peppers seemed/tasted different, perhaps tey were prepped differently or taken out of a can, but they were not of the same quality that I remember from years back.
I realize that the restaurant business is a very difficult business nowadays, with people spending less and prices doubling in the space of a year or two. It seems like the supplies or ingredients used might not be strictly the fresh cut ingredients of years past. I don't truthfully know what is different, as I would imagine that the recipes are the same as when Goo was running the show. Maybe its just attention to detail, like the burnt pizza. I also didn't try their steaks or other specialties recently, but they still seem to get good reviews. I have never had a bad meal at Goo's, and I don't want to make this experience to sound negative. It just seems that the food was not quite as top notch as it used to be. Maybe the usual chef was on vacation. I love Goo's and will continue to patronize it. I'm hoping that this is just a slow period that will come back around. Goo's has a lot of history and tradition. Stop in and enjoy the old style SW Pa Italian cooking.