Jillian’s Restaurant — Restaurant in New Kensington

This is a very nice little restaurant that absolutely will blow your socks off with amazing tasting food, I tried a wide variety of the menu and there was not one single item that was lacking luster. That being said this location does have some very noticeable draw backs that are capable of taking away from the experience and having yourself rate lower than I did. To start the seating is not good, you are practically shoulder to shoulder with other guests really removing any sense of privacy, and if there is a loud group, you will find yourself having a hard time hearing your date, or even yourself. Also while walking in during the day you’ll notice it’s very dark, too dark but that’s only going to bother you for a few minutes until your natural night vision kicks on and everything is being seen normally. The hanging lights definitely do set a nice atmosphere for the room as well as each table has their own unique flower bouquet. Service is another area of concern where there is only the one Jillian who will be taking your order, has its positives and negatives. On the positive side Jillian is a very charismatic genuine and intelligent server that will be able to help you with any concerns you have as well as being very relatable and easy to talk to; seriously she’s awesome and is completely what changed this score from a 4 star to a 5 star. Now for the negatives of only having one super trooper to handle business, it takes quite a long time for one person to handle a full room with multiple tables of individuals. She pulled it off that night as I’m sure she pulls it off every night but only having one person that can take orders as well as explain the menu is not a sustainable idea and will need to be solved eventually. Now for what actually matters and that will be the food, the other saving grace for this establishment. Like mentioned earlier I ordered a wide range of what could be had on the menu, 2 appetizers 2 entrées and 1 additional side. The two appetizers I got were the ones that sounded the most new comer friendly, I got the bread and the bean dip. The bread was really good, the dipping oil was fire and definitely was not lacking on the seasoning, very good and for the price you can’t miss getting it. The bean dip was spectacular, easily the best bean dip/spread I have ever tried; if you are a fellow bean enjoyer this will be a complete delight for you please order it. For the entrees I got the dry aged sirloin with fries, and the cowboy ribeye. Both steaks were cooked perfectly and were delicious. The fries that came with the sirloin were amazing definitely not what you would ever expect from fries which is probably why they use the French dialect when spelling out the word because these fries put all other fries to shame. Also the cowboy ribeye let me just say I typically don’t prefer a ribeye, but this steak may have just done the impossible and gotten me to move away from my T bone addiction, the flavors from the meat, fat, and sauce were all combining on my tastebuds to create fireworks; the cowboy ribeye is a 10/10 you will try it on your visit, thank you. Last but not least the duck fat potatoes. They were quite good, soft but crispy it was simply the perfect ratio for a delicious starch based side. The food was wonderful and I hope the chef will receive my regards he is an artist that managed to hit the mark with everything he presented. After all that food I figured a dessert to go to eat whenever I like would be nice, why not. When in Rome do what Roman’s do and order a slice of pistachio cheesecake. Jillian being the MVP decided to not include it on the bill; whether or not that was a bribe I’ll never know (joke) but I will graciously accept her generosity every time because that was the best cheesecake I have ever eaten, tasted just like a hybrid between a vanilla cheese cake and baklava, fire. I highly recommend this location, as long as you are okay with the small amount of easily solvable red flags you will love this place it’s a very cozy location that delivers an...

A hidden gem that I’m so glad I found! Amazing food service and a cute little place to go for a birthday!

Wanted to try something new for my moms birthday and stumbled on this through an IG post. The images don’t do the food justice!

They have a small menu that changes and then some other items in the board when getting there. We ordered the Caprese salad, house made focaccia and then the wedge salad. OMG the focaccia was so light and the roasted garlic in olive oil to dip we couldn’t get enough and it was just the bread! Then the wedge salad had pork belly on and and blue cheese and an egg with a super light dressing so we didn’t feel full but I want to leaned how to make that. To me it remainder me if breakfast with the pork belly and egg and now I can’t get enough. The caprese was light and always a great salad to get when I go out one of my favorites.

The cocktails were spot on! My father got an espresso martini which I wanted to steal from him so light and tasted just like espresso woke him right up. I got an aperol spritz which I love! Super helpful with explaining cocktails and how the menus works because it all looked so good I was overwhelmed.

The BEST STEAK OF MY LIFE! I didn’t know what I was missing out on I had the Australian ribeye which I was told was fatty juicey kind of steak. I love the fat on a steak but it tasted like butter cut so easily and the sauce they had with it I could have bathed in LOL.

My mom got the prime rib which she loved with chanterelle mushrooms (which I kept taking hahaha) and duck fat potatoes which now I have to learn how to make those.

The mushroom risotto is what my father got and I could have stolen that from him hahaha. Creamy luxurious but not heavy which I was surprised this whole meal was filling but not heavy.

Loved Jilliand who came over and chatted and gave us the history of the place. So cool her and her fiancé work together and enjoy what they do so excited to see more from them. Her energy was amazing so kind and helpful. I want to go back right now! So grateful for the...

Bizarre experience. I entered 5:45 on Saturday and went to the bar, where I was the only patron. There was also a 4-top and 2-top, so perhaps 7 people total. The bartender greeted me, handed me a menu and asked whether I wanted tap, still or sparkling water (generally a sign that they expect you to dine). The menu was for drinks, so I ordered one and asked about food. The only menu is on the wall and as I was about to get up, bartender said that generally small plates are served at the bar (my experience is full menu is generally available at the bar these days, but I recall limited menus decades ago). Bartender said she would ask chef and went away. Upon returning, bartender said food would take ~ 90m and then proceeded to run down the small plate options (with one being raw oysters). Based on this, I assumed the wait time would be for the main courses, so I said I would order some small plates.

Bartender then said that she had told me food would take 90m. The comments plus the tone are starting to feel odd, so I asked if I heard correctly - that it would take 90m to get raw oysters?

Bartender replied that most people make reservations and that there were only 4-5 people working. Again, weird, almost passive aggressive vibe, so I commented that, I guess the people making reservations were also putting in their orders at the same time, so that's why they were so busy. Correct?

At this point, I knew I wasn't getting food, so I paid for my cocktail and left. Based on other reviews, other people seem to enjoy the food, but I can't comment one way or the other.

There were a number of ways the experience could have been different. Perhaps the easiest would have been the staff asking if I had reservations and then explaining that, despite the few patrons at the moment, they were fully booked and would not be able to accommodate. That is understandable, even when one walks into a sparsely crowded space. But to act as if they expect me to dine, then playing cat and mouse games rubbed me...