Roman Bistro — Restaurant in Forest Hills

I wanted to love this restaurant!! Their menu looks divine! I saw osso bucco and greens and beans and was really in my glory eyeing up all the Italian food. I ordered the lasagna. It came and was actually 2 lasagna ROLLS, which is fine, I don't care, I love anything with ricotta! But the inside was cold. I don't mean room temperature or sat in the window for 10 minutes, I mean it was cold like a refrigerator. I wouldn't be able to eat that even if it was heated up so i apologized and I asked if I could replace it with the Bolognese. The waitress said sure. In the meantime, a gentleman came over to check on us and we said everything was fine. We really didn't want to cause any problems. The waitress comes with the Bolognese and immediately I can see something is wrong. The pasta was hard and clumped together, and half wasn't even edible because the pasta was stuck together. It was so hard it didn't wind around my fork. Some of it was gummy like a rubber band. I really didn't want to complain again so I tried eating it. Then the waitress brought me on her own an entire bowl of Bolognese sauce because ''for some reason my pasta looked dry''. At that point, I told the waitress I was so sorry again and I know its not her fault but the food really wasn't good. I showed her all of the pasta that was stuck together and hard. Here's where my problem came in.... The waitress told me that no one ever complains and everyone elses was fine, implying my complaint wasn't legit, even after I showed her the half a plate of clumped up hard pasta. I told her I believe it could be rare because their menu looks delicious, But, I've never sent food back once in 37 years, which is the truth. I think never getting complaints is all the more reason to listen to one when you do. Also, what I didn't say to her is that i've been a cook at a country club, waitressed for years, started bussing tables at 15, so if I'm sending food back TWICE it's really, REALLY bad. I have the highest regard for restaurant workers. Tip over 20% no matter how bad the service is. And I hate to inconvenience anyone by complaining. She did offer dessert which we declined. A few minutes later a gentleman did tell me he took my meals off our bill which I appreciate. What I think happened, and I could never say for sure because I don't work there, but based on my experience cooking, they either had that ricotta mix in the fridge and rolled it up into lasagna ROLLS last minute because they were out of actual lasagna or had a pan of rolls that was already prepped sitting in the fridge. . When they sent it out to me, they didn't test it for temps. The center of that lasagna roll was like a refrigerator. To keep me from complaining a second time, I'm guessing they threw the Bolognese pasta in the microwave to make it extremely hot (because it was piping hot) and completely ruined it. I really wanted to like this place. I saw so many items on their menu that sounded good but I won't go back. It was my first and only time going. You don't get any sides with pasta. No soup or salad unless you pay extra. No one offered any cheese for pasta. I'm not sure if they do that though there to be honest . The biggest reason is the response I got. Everyone else's food, like the guy seated next to us, or the table a few feet away (which was embarrassing and demeaning for them to be pulled in my complaint) was fine, per the waitress. But I do appreciate them taking my food off the bill. U really can't ask for more than that and they corrected the issue. Hopefully you'll have better luck! And hopefully it was just a day that's not...

Ridiculous. This place, for lack of a better word, is ridiculous. Foremost, the manager (or owner?) Rose, is a total nightmare. She's rude, abrasive and completely disinterested in the comfort of her patrons.

We dined at Roman Bistro last year for Mother's Day brunch (which was absolutely delicious - LAST YEAR. I'm getting to this year's Mother's Day train wreck.) The restaurant was clearly full to capacity and diners were stepping, tripping and falling all over one another. I, at one point, stood up to greet my grandmother who has walked in, and God - I mean Rose - vehemently berated me for blocking the aisle and ordered me to sit immediately. I took an instant dislike to her. The service was poor and the meal was entirely uncomfortable. So what do I do? I make reservations again this year like a complete moron.

When I called and made my reservations for this year, only 3pm was available, so I chose it. Fortuitously, the restaurant was less crowded at this time, so we thought we could enjoy their delicious spread in peace. This is where the problems started.

I called this morning to inquire about the price of the buffet and the young girl who answered stuttered and handed the phone to Rose. I then asked her what the price was and she snapped "we are booked through the night, try again next week." I calmly replied that I had already obtained reservations and I just needed a ballpark figure so I could get the appropriate amount of the ATM. She gruffly replied "Oh, nineteen dollars," and hung up. Color me nonplussed.

When we arrived, we were never greeted and sat waiting for a solid twenty minutes until the rest of our party arrived. Once were were all assembled, we were thrown to a table where three waitresses fought (loudly) over who had to take us. We were then given the go ahead to visit the brunch buffet, where we happily made our way up; to our surprise, much of the buffet was already picked over. This was at 3:34. After our first course, we were debating whether to go back for seconds when one (of our three) waitresses informed us that it was "last call". Now, mind you, dear reader, we are not gluttonous people. But we certainly did want to try a little of everything, and were surprised that they'd give us reservations and seat us so late, to turn around and tell us that they weren't refreshing the food. Plus, what was left, was cold, tasteless and dry.

Then, to add insult to injury, at the end of the meal, I took my 5 year old son to the restroom. When I came out (wearing four-inch stiletto heels) of the restroom holding my son's hand, my feet slipped out from under me. I looked down and the floor was positively soaked. The staff had decided to mop and not put a 'wet floor' sign up - I then proceeded to watch an elderly woman and a son and father slip and nearly fall, while the staff looked on. This whole time, Rose ran about and barked orders, ignored her patrons and hid behind the hostess stand.

I will never patronize this establishment again, and hope you don't either. There are so many lovely, warm, and innovative restaurants in Pittsburgh, but Roman Bistro isn't...

My fiancé and I have frequently patronized the Roman Bistro for several years. It was at one time, one of our favorite places to eat. At one time, both the food and staff were consistent and great! Over the past year or so, the quality of the food has gone down hill severely. Unlike some of the other reviews, I can't say that we have had terrible service but I did witness a bartender get extremely snippy and rude with a patron a few weeks ago. Sometime last year we got some really bad food (soggy fish on dried out bread with half done fries tasting like old grease), so we pretty much stopped going. However, recently we decided to give it another try. The past few times, the food has been mediocre at best, but acceptable when you are hungry late evening after getting off work. Last night however, will likely be our last time. My fiancé ordered a beet salad, which he has gotten many times before and loves, and wings. I ordered the new menu item, turkey panini with fries. Now I must tell you that we eat out often and are well traveled, so we are very familiar with how certain foods should be. I LOVE panini sandwiches, and have eaten them often in various restaurants. My fiancé salad arrived and we both just stared at it. It looked nothing like the beet salad he had gotten on other trips to the Bistro. It had what looked like colored potato chips in it. The waitress summoned the manager, and they explained they were dried beets. Also, they said there was a new cook and he didn't prepare it correctly. They did take it back and make a new one and did not charge for the salad at all. When our main course arrived, I was a little appalled at the appearance of my "panini". It was more like a grilled cheese, on two slices of plain white bread, heavily buttered, and looked grilled, not toasted in a traditional panini maker. The slices of turkey and mozzarella cheese, which wasn't even melted,were fairly thick, and the sandwich began to fall apart as I picked it up. It was clearly not a traditional panini, and the cook clearly did not know how to make a panini. It was more like having your Mom try to make some gourmet grilled cheese without the proper equipment or ingredients. It was awful, possibly the worst sandwich I have ever gotten from any upscale restaurant. The waitress and manager explained that it was a new item and that is how they make it. They did offer a different sandwich, but I was so tired and disgusted by this time that I said no and choked down what little bit I could. Also, I think that it's ridiculous to charge for a side of blue cheese with wings, most places this comes with it or is complimentary. I believe that the owner opened a new restaurant in Mt Washington about the same time Roman Bistro started lacking in consistency and quality. It's a shame that one place has to suffer while the attention...