Such an amazing restaurant with great food and fantastic service!!…read more Let me start by praising the ambiance of this place. It's definitely giving Palms Springs vibes! I felt like I wasn't in Pittsburgh for an evening. The decoration was and vibe is so cool. I went to celebrate my friend's birthday and Palm Palm did not disappoint. I'm very impressed by the service and very pleased with the food,m. We had Oysters, fries, caramelized oranges, bread & jam. It was all so good! I can't even pick a favorite. I also want to thank them for arranging a fun large candle with our desserts as a surprise even though it was such a short notice. I highly recommend this place! Will definitely be going back.

We had a family dinner over here - made a reservation of a private room near the kitchen. This is…read moresuch a fabulous restaurant. Everything we ordered was delicious and impressive! We loved the roasted carrots and beet salad as starters, the orange was delicious too, they served cod tonight and it was excellent with the nutty topping. The mussels and scallop, served with rice cake was also tasty. Then we ordered several desserts, my favorite was the pistachio cheesecake, and it came with a big volume. Our server was very charming and she celebrated the night with some fireworks. Having access to a private room was so nice for the family setting so we can hear each other more easily. I really loved my overall experience tonight. Too bad there is only five star.

This is a cozy, classy spot tucked in by Bridges and Bourbon. Perfect spot for a drink and a snack…read morebefore or after dinner! We got the "girl dinner" which was pork rinds and popcorn. Both had great flavor, with the pork rinds having good heat. For dessert we had down the rabbit hole, which was a carrot cake. It was excellent! So moist and tasty. The walnuts lacked the brown butter flavor, but the cake was exceptional. We really enjoyed our visit!

Our party of four enjoyed our night at this cozy wine lounge with a food menu including many…read moredesserts. On the smaller size and no reservations. Service was outstanding!

We stopped by on a whim for an after dinner drink last Wednesday evening. We asked for a table…read moresince the bar didn't have enough seats for all four of us and were told the tables were for people eating food but we could sit in the lounge area that's the area to the right of the bar. We were told we had to go up to the bar to order but someone from the bar came and took our orders. The person who carded made a big deal about carding us and would remark on our ages which was kind of weird. We got our drinks and while they were on the pricey side, they were pretty good. The lounge area has a nice fireplace which was cozy.

So I don't want to bash this place too much cause we where rushing to get to a show and could only…read moreorder salads and soup but even that was enough for me to know, this place ain't special. Nice waiter, but it took 30 minutes from when we arrived for us to be seated, order our drinks, and get them (this took the longest). The food was meh. I guess I just had higher expectations. My 'veg' soup was actually a bean soup and had zero condiment...no chz, no crouton, no herb thing...just soup. My dates French onion had two slightly melted slices of cheese...no dark brown coloring on the cheese. This would be an execution problem. My salad had 4 ingredients- greens, squash, nuts and blue cheese...I've seen more complexity and flavor from a eatnpark salad bar. We wanted to order oysters with trout row but was told they were out of the caviar. I will say, the two cocktails we received were very tasty. Enough to bump this from a 2 experience to a 3 . I would definitely go back for drinks and maybe some apps but I'm nervous about the main dishes being underwhelming...we'll see, maybe one day The ambience and views are impressive. Not great service, and not great dishes leave me thinkings even the entrées are gonna be a let down. Sorry

My mom and I stopped into Lot 17 for lunch and had a great experience overall. We started with the…read moreprovolone wedges, which were absolutely delicious - crispy on the outside, perfectly melty on the inside, and a great appetizer to share. To drink, I ordered the pomegranate spritz, and it was so refreshing. We also shared the chimichurri steak wrap. While the flavors were good, the steak itself was pretty chewy, so it wasn't my favorite dish. A special shoutout to our bartender, Charlie, who provided great service and made us feel welcome throughout our visit. I'd definitely come back to try more of the menu (and order another pomegranate spritz!).

My wife wanted to have burger. Lot 17 did not disappoint her. She likes it pink and it was cooked…read moreto perfection. She also gave two thumbs up to the sweet potato fries. I usually get their wings (top notch), but decided to try the Jalapeno Steak Wrap--it was fabulous. The beer selection is always extensive and diverse. They had a Guinness special along with a deal on Broken Heels. The bartender was attentive without being overbearing and the vibe is always pleasant. One of the owners stopped by to check on us as well. We will be back soon.

I had high hopes for The Millhouse in The Joinery Hotel. The restaurant had a cute atmosphere, and…read moreit is tucked away in a cute, little boutique hotel. My friends and I visited during Restaurant Week, and the menu looked really great. Boy, was I wrong. The bartenders were also the waiters so service was VERY slow. They had trouble seating my group of 3, and they even sat us right next to the supply cart and refused to seat us downstairs where there was plenty of seating. We ordered drinks, and many of our orders were wrong. I, fortunately, really enjoyed my passion fruit cocktail. We proceeded to order off the Restaurant Week menu. Our appetizers came out, and we all really loved the smoked clam chowder. After that, service went completely downhill. Our waiter was not attentive at all. At one point, he completely forgot about our entrées, and we waited about an hour for our waiter to even realize. I ordered the cacio e pepe ravioli, and they were not great. My friend thought her pot roast was OK, and my other friend really loved the fried chicken. Once again, when it was time for dessert, we waited another 30 to 45 minutes to order and get our dessert. They had forgotten about us again. By that time, it was the end of the night and all the desserts were gone so we couldn't even get what we wanted, which was chocolate creme brulee. They allowed us to order whatever dessert we wanted. I got the lemon bar and my friends got the tiramisu. The lemon bar was so ridiculously tart that you couldn't even eat it. My friends liked their Tiramisu but it was nothing special. In the end, the service was absolutely atrocious, and I will not be back. They did comp us our meals and we paid for our drinks, but I wasted a good 3 hours of my life at this restaurant. The restaurant wasn't even busy, so there truly was no excuse for the poor service. They definitely did not seem prepared for Restaurant Week.

We're in Pittsburgh for the Steelers game and staying at The Joinery Hotel. We decided to have…read morebreakfast at their restaurant, The Mill House, and it did not disappoint. The moment you walk in, the place smells like smoked wood--so cozy, with a wonderful, inviting ambiance. From the looks of it, the morning was busy with just one server and the chef running the show. As it got busier, the chef was the one who brought us the menu, while the server remained incredibly attentive--smiling, friendly, and present with every table. You would never have known she was the only server working; she never missed a beat. As the crowd grew, the chef stepped out from the kitchen to run food, clear plates, and bus tables. And now, let me tell you about the breakfast--because eggs should never be taken for granted. The eggs were perfectly cooked over medium, with crispy edges just the way I like them. The bacon was spot on, and the cubed potatoes... oh my goodness. Perfectly seasoned, golden brown and crunchy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. For "just breakfast," it was honestly perfect. The teamwork between the server and the chef was amazing--you could tell they genuinely enjoy what they do. The server was extremely gracious, kind, and helpful. This was hands down one of the best breakfast experiences I've had in a long time--good enough that I felt compelled to write about it.

Great little spot in Mount Lebanon. Small menu but has a lot of great GF options that you don't…read morenormally find (fried chicken sandwich for example). GF dessert was really good. Service was decent, food was slow to come out but in their defense there was a table of at least 8 ahead of us. It's a small space so be prepared to wait; also has horrible acoustics so it gets pretty loud inside.

Highly recommend this place and highly recommend getting there early! Limited seating in this…read moretrendy gluten free friendly bar/lounge. They do not take reservations and we joked about there being a line. Well, when we showed up 10 minutes before opening, there was indeed a line. However, we went on Valentine's Day to one of the only GF places in the city, so that was to be expected. They were able to accommodate our party of seven no problem, and the staff were so friendly. Our server was amazing. One of our party members is hard to please, but our waiter was on top of it! We ordered a variety of apps for the table - wings, brussel sprouts, and fried provolone. All tasted fantastic. My husband and I agreed we would come just for the wings alone. Perfect smokey flavor. We got the hot buffalo garlic and they weren't super spicy. The marinara with the fried provolone was creamy and delicious. The Brussels were your standard side that every place has with the balsamic glaze. Not mushy at all and the garlic aioli was the best touch. We saw the food coming out and had to make room... the portions are huge! I could only finish half my burger and took the rest home. It was juicy, full of flavor, and easy to handle. Sometimes when you get a massive burger it ends up so sloppy and the toppings just slide off. Not with this! Perfectly stacked and ready to be devoured. The fries were a little greasy but still crispy. They earned my crisp seal of approval! The drinks were strong and everybody loved them. I got the blushing lady and it was sweet but not overly sweet and I could actually taste the spirits. Fantastic bar food options for people who are GF. We visited for the first time because someone in our group was GF and we would definitely go back!

Here's a place that offers locally sourced foods with the misson of getting you to think globally…read more The food is very good, and is not your typical fare. The drinks are outstanding, all hand-crafted. The photographs on display are thoughtful and support a theme of international justice. The live music is quite good. There's a funky bohemian vibe that is all part of a unique experience.

Y'all. Yinz. Yes, I mean you (plural)…read more Stop what you're doing and change your dinner plans, because you need to meet your crew at this unassuming eatery with adult beverages. It may look like a hole-in-the-wall, but inside it's shabby chic (with the nicest bar bathroom I've seen in a while), and there's an outdoor space that can be re-arranged to host a group of almost any size. Plus, the music was speaking to me: it began with "99 Luftballons" and ended with "All the Small Things" from Blink-182 ("Work sucks / I know"). I met some girlfriends there on a Friday evening, and we split the Norwegian, vegetarian mezze, and Basque mussels platters. 1 per person seemed to be the right ratio, and everyone had enough to eat from the finger-licking variety. We enjoyed our meal while watching / listening to / feeling the rumble from the freight trains passing beneath us and across the railroad bridge over the river. (#ThatsSoPGH) The proprietess is a chef first and foremost, but the cocktails are hardly second rate. I really want to give a shout-out to the hard-working bartender! Although the margarita was mostly grapefruit juice, the whiskey sour was delicious, and the old fashioned was just different enough to be interesting. Beware! When the menu says the Oaxaca Sunset is spicy, they mean it! (It was too spicy for me.) To top it all off, after the sun had set, while we were trying to decide whether to wrap things up, a wild raccoon crested the hill and looked confusedly at all of us humans, as if to say, "Scram! It's my turn to eat!" Our little group paid up and left, at any rate, with plans to come back.

I was fortunate to have gone to the Table Magazine happy hour tasting, and overall, I was pretty…read moreimpressed with Sakari's offerings. The one downside of the tasting was that many of the items up for grabs weren't on the actual menu, so we ended up ordering a few extra items to get a more accurate idea of what Sakari was up to. Overall, the atmosphere is excellent. Would it be so nice without the incredible view of the city? I'm not sure, but the restaurant is very modern and uses a dark palette throughout, which works fine since there's so much light from the windows. The service was so-so, and probably the real down point of the experience. Perhaps it was the free tasting concept in the wait staff's mind, but many people were still ordering food off of the regular menu (we spent $90 on two rolls, the grilled cheese small plate, and a glass of $13 rosé), so I'm not sure why the waiters/waitresses seemed so disinterested. I would've been even more disappointed if this was the service provided, say, on a romantic evening when the bill would quickly escalate to the $120-150 range. They were fast to clear the table, but it was almost disruptive, as the staff continually interrupted conversations, reached over us for plates while we weren't quite finished, and even spilled stuff on my wife's purse. Really made for a meh experience. The food, though, was good...I think. I'm torn, as Monterey Bay promotes their use of fresh fish (and the fish used WAS wonderful), but the sushi rolls were sort of victims of trying so hard to be unique that the fish becomes a backdrop to the other 5 ingredients in each roll. We tried about a dozen things, from fish-focused rolls and savory wagyu rolls, to dessert rolls, and almost all of them suffered from this. If I'm being honest, my favorite item from the evening was the sashimi. It was melt-in-your-mouth good. Which is probably why I walked away feeling like the rest of the rolls were overthought. If you have access to such incredible cuts of fish, why disguise the quality for the sake of trying to fit every flavor profile imaginable in each roll? Don't get me wrong, the rolls were all tasty, but if you pay $20 on a roll, I think I'd prefer to taste what I'm really paying for: the fish. Presentation, though, is spot-on, so the chefs certainly aren't slacking behind the bar. The two non-sushi things that we tried were the dumplings and the grilled cheese small plate. The dumplings were awesome, with a pork sausage filling and a sweet sauce lining the plate. I was a bit surprised by how large the portion was, as well. The grilled cheese was good, but I probably wouldn't get again. It's simply too filling, and the stomach space would be better spent on the sush/fish options. All-in-all, Sakari has loads of potential. The atmosphere and view are sensational. The staff is okay, but could use work on reading their customer's needs (the bussing of the tables was disruptive, but they at least kept waters topped off) and giving off a more positive vibe...epecially for the type of bills they're handing to customers. Perhaps, most importantly, the food is creative - almost to a fault - and delicious, so let's hope they pull everything together and make Sakari a top restaurant in experience, and not just elevation.

I thought it was exciting news when our neighborhood seafood restaurant with the best views of…read morePittsburgh decided to remodel and add a sushi bar! We decided to go check it out on a Saturday night. Unfortunately the dinner turned into a comedy of errors: a tray of water glasses was spilled over Joe and our neighboring table's guests, the $20 appetizer we ordered was served at room temp, I received the wrong wine, and finally when it came time to pay our $90 bill, I was mistakenly charged triple that amount and the manager had to void it out. Although they did provide a free round of drinks for the water incident, I felt that for such a nice restaurant we should have received better customer service. The positives? Pretty good sushi rolls and a fantastic view of the city. Wanted to enjoy this local spot but will likely not be returning.