Wooden Nickel — Restaurant in Monroeville

RUINED OUR VALENTINES DAY!! First off, let me start with that I had a table reserved for 6people (3 couples) 2 days in advance for 645pm. They featured a Valentines Day special menu (which we were all looking forward to eating because it sounded delicious). The waiter first fails to give us his name, I had to ask for it after the 3rd time he came to our table. Then, he (Paul) informs us that they are out of filet mignon...we were okay with that since the majority of us were there for the lobster anyways. We order a ton of appetizers and drinks still trying to have a good time (we asked him for a list of brandy's and he never gave us an answer on that). When it's time for us to order our meals, he informs us that there isn't anymore lobster or steak (only a certain cut)!! How are you going to have a FEATURED menu and not have the main food that is featured! Also, not letting us know in advance that way we could go to another restaurant BEFORE we ordered apps and drinks?! Then, Paul goes to say to my cousin that "You've been here before haven't you? I've seen you before" (none of us have ever eaten there) she says no and then he says "Well you must have a twin, she must be the good one" what was he implying with that comment... the only person that was nice was the hostess and a waitress that offered to take our picture when we 1st got there. Paul was horrible and subliminally rude. We left and went somewhere else to eat dinner. I was embarrassed since I picked the restaurant and planned the whole gathering and even said I've heard great things about the place. First and last time for us. If only Paul knew that we tip very generously and just missed out on a day's...

I stopped by The Wooden Nickel today for a casual lunch with my mom—not for a big Easter celebration, just a quiet meal together. Upon arrival, we were handed an abbreviated Easter menu, which I can only assume was meant to ease the pressure on the kitchen during the holiday rush.

We started with the shrimp cocktail and fried zucchini appetizers. Both were fine and pretty much what we expected—no complaints there.

I ordered the glazed ham entrée, especially since it had been a while since I’d had a good ham dinner, and this place is known for its elevated food. The menu described it as glazed ham with pineapple salsa and roasted red potatoes, which sounded great on paper. But when the plate arrived, I was caught off guard. Instead of a composed dish, everything was tossed together—pre-cut ham, potatoes, and the salsa—more like a warm, chunky salad than a thoughtfully plated entrée.

Maybe it’s just that glazed ham has always felt like a traditional, comforting Easter staple to me, but this missed the mark—especially from a spot with a reputation for quality.

Add in the perceived holiday pricing and an automatic 20% gratuity on every check, and we left feeling more disappointed than satisfied.

So, Wooden Nickel, making it to the top tier of Pittsburgh dining is no small feat—but that’s exactly why staying there means never getting too...

My husband and I went to wooden nickel for Valentine’s Day lunch and our 2nd anniversary. I feel like for our first time the waitress was a little meh 😑 she wasn’t very personable. Didn’t ask how our day was simply brought us our drinks and food but did fill my water multiple times.

They had a specific Valentine’s Day menu. When we heard the market price for twin lobster tails that should have been a tip off when the couple next to us asked. 70$ my jaw dropped. We will probably not be going back the appetizer was very small for the cost 13$ for 4 bacon wrapped scallops. The soup was great the drinks were a bit niche and a bit more than most places as well. My husband salmon was supposed to have a sauce and was very dry but he said the crab on top was very good. The one redeeming factor.

Their dessert menu wasn’t too great either and kind of small. We also weren’t told what drinks they had that weren’t the featured cocktails and were not offered a wine menu 😭 they just took away our wine glasses without even asking. We don’t look that young do we? They have us a mule and champagne without asking.

I wanted it to be so much better than it was. At least we tried it. And it was filling for the size of the portions and what we got and we spent time together and I worked hard to...