Common Plea Restaurant   

It's just a block from the Allegheny County Courthouse, so Common Plea is a favorite watering hole for the city's legal community. Its fine wood paneling and leather chairs create an English-style atmosphere that would make Horace Rumpole feel right at home. The cartoon-style artwork of bewigged judges and lawyers around the room includes several lithographs by the French painter Honore Daumier, whose caricatures appeared in humor magazines during the 1800s. The menus continue the legal theme, their covers designed to resemble summonses. There's a TV in the bar, but the dining room is quiet if you want to talk business.The menu features steaks, home-made pasta entrees and veal favorites such as veal capricciosa, a long-bone chop butterflied and marinated in egg, garlic and fresh sage, then sauteed and topped with arugula, tomato, onion and lemon dressing. Seafood lovers will find a treat in bouillabaisse, made with rich tomato-wine broth. The lunch menu has quite a few specialties, too, such as penne pasta primavera and veal scaloppini, but if you want just a quick bite before dashing back to court, go for a burger or turkey panino.The wine cabinet spans an entire wall in the dining room. You won't find Rumpole's favorite, Chateau Thames Embankment, here, though you can enjoy fine selections such as Nathanson Creek chardonnay and Estate Cellars white zinfandel. Thankfully, no powdered wig is required.