Hoffstot's Cafe Monaco — Restaurant in Oakmont

I went to Hoffstots for the first time Saturday night, and I will not be going back. It wasn’t bad, per se, it was just mediocre and completely uninspired. There are so many truly good restaurants in Pittsburgh that it just seemed like a waste of a Saturday night. The salad dressing, cocktail sauce and sour cream were in disposable plastic cups. The butter was foil wrapped in individual pats. The crackers with my soup were in a little plastic wrapped package. That’s what I expect in a fast food restaurant. The shrimp bisque was thin and watery, and the shrimp were obviously not fresh and previously frozen. The breaded fried shrimp tasted fine but they too were obviously frozen from a package and just thrown ion the plate. My friend’s pork chops were two boneless chops stacked on one another with literally 1 teaspoon of chopped peppers and onions on the top. They were gray. No Grille marks or anything. And they were tough. One of the worst things about the evening was the atmosphere! The lights were so bright and white. It was like being in an operating room. We laughed about needing sunglasses all night long. Our ketel one martinis were cold and strong. I’m not sure there was any vermouth. I asked for blue cheese stuffed olives, but they didn’t have any. The best part of the evening was our server, Pete. He was attentive without being overbearing. He did come back to check on our meals and to pour more water in the middle of the evening. We did not stay for coffee or dessert because at 9:45, we were the only people left in the restaurant on a Saturday night. And it was so darn bright. We just wanted to get out of there. The reviews online were generally good so we were really surprised that everything was so average. This was not a fine dining experience. It makes me wonder if the people leaving the reviews have even been to a good restaurant before. When I first moved to Pittsburgh 40 years ago, I quickly learned that when a local said that a restaurant was good, that meant they had big portions. Basically, such is the case with Hoffstots. Big...

The service was good. We got food to go due to COVID, but the dining room was busy on this Thursday night. I'm from out of town. But this place is a family favorite. Somehow this was my first time there. I ordered the pecan encrusted cod and my companion ordered the cod sandwich.

I learned there is a reason this place is a favorite of the older, less adventurous eaters in my family. The food was basic. I was disappointed by the lack of seasoning and how bland everything was. I don't usually add salt to my food, but it needed it. My cod was cooked well, but the sauce added nothing. The crust was vaguely sweet and needed more herbs or something. I had the veggies of the day as my sides. The roasted veggies weren't caramelized and needed salt desperately. They were too crunchy for my taste. The dill and cucumber salad needed a punch of vinegar or something. It waa one of the most boring renditions of the dish I've ever had.

The piece of cod on the sandwich was gigantic. It was fried well in a nearly tasteless shell of batter. Again, more salt and seasoning please! The fries weren't crispy at all. My companion didn't like that, but after some salt, they were okay.

I feel like the customer service and preparation of the food was good, but the recipes lack the punch you find in a good restaurant. Perhaps the bland, boring, low-salt dishes are what people like since they were obviously busy, but as a bit of a "foodie," I found the dinner functional but...

I had been looking forward to dining at Hoffstot's for the first time ever when we returned to Pittsburgh to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. We ordered 2 appetizers, the calamari and the stuffed artichoke hearts. Both were excellent. The calamari was extremely tender. My husband had the mini blackenzola, and it was delicious too. I ordered the veal romano after asking our waiter, Sam, for a recommendation. It was horrible. The veal inside the pancake-like romano batter was so thin you could see through it and barely taste it. The whole dish was extremely dry, and it wasn't until I checked the menu today that I realized why. It was supposed to come with a lemon beurre blanc, but apparently they forgot that. This is inexcusable; to forget an essential ingredient of the dish and for no one to notice. I feel cheated and did not enjoy the veal at all. One more thing, the restaurant was absolutely freezing.Our waiter Sam was great, or so I thought at the time. Now, however, after having him recommend the veal romano, I'm disappointed that even if the chef didn't notice that he forgot a key ingredient, I would have thought that someone who saw fit to recommend it would realize that it...