Scoglio's USC — Restaurant in Green Tree

This well-known restaurant moved locations a few months ago and now occupies this space. A group of us decided to give it a try and see if it’s as good as its reputation and the online reviews we’ve seen. We all know the space it’s in as we have visited in under the various guises it’s been in the past years. Unlike the last two restaurants that occupied this space, the new owners took over more square footage and used the extra area to expand the dining area as well as add a semi-private area for larger parties. The décor was freshened up and a large name sign highlights one of the walls. The bar is where it was and appears to specialize in Bourbons as the menu mentions that they have over 100 bottles.

The menu features a collection of standard American-Italian dishes with a few divergences. For instance, they do not have a Vodka sauce since they cheekily announce that Vodka is for drinking! They do offer two specials every night. On our visit, one of the specials was a Salmon dish which one of our party members tried, so we were exposed to a special as well – although all the rest of us tried things from the regular menu.

Service was rather “relaxed.” We spent over two hours in the place with rather lengthy gaps between the various stages: from arrival to drink orders … from getting drinks to ordering food … getting appetizers … getting the entrees … getting our checks …. Waiting to get our receipts. The place was relatively full, but not completely, so I guess that one seating a night was all they really wanted.

As to the food. Well, it was OK. Some dishes were good, some were okay. None were exceptional and none were bad. There were some mistakes made in the kitchen and I’ll start with those. The Chicken Marsala that we always order (because it is such a standard and easy dish to prepare. If an Italian restaurant does not do a good job on that, they should not be in that business!), had a decent tasting sauce that did taste like Marsala wine, but it was too runny, the chicken was slightly overcooked (i.e. rubbery), and the mushrooms were added at the end, so they did not incorporate the flavors. Those are pretty major problems for a standard dish. The Herb Risotto could have used a few more minutes in the pot as it was still chewy. The dinner salad was a basic set of greens, with one tomato chunk – very boring. The good news about the salad was that it was not overdressed and the light balsamic dressing tasted good.

As for the better stuff, the Eggplant Parmesan was done very well with crispy slices slice of eggplant in a tasty sauce. The Fresh Tomato sauce on Spaghetti was redolent with basil and garlic. The Pastina soup was very flavorful and obviously simmered for a long time. The Zucchini plan appetizers were done right: thin planks of zucchini; not too thickly breaded; and not greasy at all.

The other dishes were just OK. The Salmon special was nothing special; the same could be said about the penne with marinara sauce and the shrimp. Surprisingly given the bar discussing how many bourbons they have; the wine list was limited to seven offerings with no prices. All of them are California wines. Where were the Italian wines? That was disappointing.

Summing our experience, while it was a decent place, there are far better places at this price point in this...

It pains me to give a bad rating, but after my experience last night I am inclined to express my disappointment. I had dinner last night with a party of 11, which included several family members who always speak highly of Scoglio's. Service in general was slow, despite being fairly busy for a Thursday evening, and we found the server to be less than attentive. It could have been BETTER, much BETTER. The biggest disappointment was my order. Being Italian, I always look forward to trying different Italian cuisine. I ordered linguini marinara, a fairly simple dish. My entree was the last to be served, and I waited 10 minutes after everyone was eating. When my dinner arrived, it looked like spaghetti, not linguini. I commented that it looked like "thin" linguine. The server responded, "yes, I know". The presentation was poor, served in a large bowl, with the sauce mixed into the pasta, as if it had come from a Chef Boyardee can. It was not at all appetizing, or what I expected, so I asked the server to take it back, and told her that it wasn't linguine - at least the pasta I was used to. The waitress picked it up and said this was 'their' linguine, and promptly went back to the kitchen and returned with a box of DeCecco pasta, showing me that it WAS linguine. I was never offered an alternative or another option, but just left to sit there while the rest of our party enjoyed their dinner. At the very least, the server should have offered another type of pasta, or another entree. I learned later that the Chef had told the server to bring the box out to show me that it was THEIR linguine! When the bill came, there was a $24 charge for the Marinara pasta. By this time I had gotten up and left the table. My wife asked to have the charge removed, and the server summoned the manager on duty, who eventually came back to tell me that she would take the entree off the bill, but still insisting that there was nothing wrong with the linguine. My wife and I are visiting family from out of state, and this was to be a family dinner at one of their favorite places. I am sorry to say that, based on my experience, I don't care to come back. I hope my comments will be shared with staff AND the chef, who felt he needed to prove the point! There is a lesson to be...

Was on my list to get back to since it is only 2 miles from my home. My mother randomly suggested we try it for lunch... Long story short, man am I glad we stopped. From my past experiences, I always remembered even though an Italian restaurant they had good fish. One of the daily specials offered was a Spots and Grouper combo in a lemon butter sauce. I ordered and also had pasta as my side dish. To summarize quickly: Salad was excellent, rolls and dip very good, Pasta very good. Spots and Grouper entre was WOW awesome. An amazing seafood experience in Pittsburgh. If blindfolded and told I was on the coast I would have agreed and said makes sense. Hunter our waitress was also very good. All in all, a great dining experience! Highly recommended! Well done Scoglio's. Went back for lunch on the first Friday during Lent. Ordered fish again as did my companion. Summary: I had the Halibut with tomato and spinach in a balsamic sauce, soup to start. Soup was excellent, halibut entree was 100% stellar. My partner said her fish sandwich was also wonderful. Another excellent experience. 👍👍 A quick update: I have had the fish sandwich myself a few times and again, excellent. I would rank it super high on taste and quality meter. An update from January 2024. Stopped for a late Wednesday lunch. Ordered Chicken Marsala with Risotto as a side. It was 100% excellent! One of the best Marsala's I've had anywhere! Again, great job Scoglio's! I wanted to add a brief note - After decades in the same location Scoglio's will be moving to the Upper Saint Clair borough in Pittsburgh's South Hills area. The Greentree location it's in now will miss this quality restaurant. My understanding is the move will happen in September 2024. Update from 9/4/25 my mother attended a group meeting at the Upper Saint Clair location. I inquired about the food quality at the new location. She said it was exactly the same as the Greentree location. It was still a very good experience. I'll have to get there and check it out one day and...