I have conflicted feelings about Palazzo's and you will soon see why.  Walking in on a Wed night solo, I was greeted by a very warm (albeit empty) old-school Italian restaurant.  I sat and the beautiful marble bar and immediately the cordial bartender Larry, was at my beck and call.  I ordered a Beefeater Gibson martini up, and he seemed very happy to make one; not too many Gibsons are made these days.\n\nHe was very pleasant and made an excellent drink.  Since the place was pretty empty, the manager was also in the bar chatting about Pittsburgh, sports, politics, and also was very friendly.  I went with my order: started with the escarole with beans, followed by a stand-by spaghetti & meatballs.\n\nThe escarole portion was large and almost like a stew; nicely cooked leaves of escarole mixed with a spicy tomato sauce and a good amount of cannellini beans.  It was excellent, satisfying and could well stand as a meal on its own.  I then proceeded to have the worst pasta I've ever had in a restaurant.  The spaghetti tasted and looked like it came from Chef Boyardee.  The sauce was flavorless and bland.  The noodles were cooked light years beyond al dente and were mushy, starchy and awful.  The meatballs were decent, but the pasta was so bad filet mignon couldn't have saved them.\n\nI really want to give Palazzo's another shot since the service, staff, ambience and escarole were fantastic.  But to screw up such a simple and classic dish I am worried about how some of the more complicated items will come out.