Alta Via — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

I really like the food here I dined here once before with a wonderful experience. This time I had the worst experience I had ever encountered in the restaurant industry. My friend had ordered a cocktail but because I was the driver I got a non alcoholic beverage and our server Ava carded us, okay that's normal. She proceeds to kneel down near my friend and say in the most condescending way possible "I'm sorry I'm not going to be able to serve you today since your friend has a fake id. My id is real and I have pictures of my passport on my phone I told her it was real and she continued arguing with me that it was fake and refused to serve us. It was so very frustrating because what can I do should I have called the police and had them come in to scan my id? I wish she could've had her manager come over and check it again. She continued on "sweetie I know it's fake I had the same one, it's a good fake but I know it's fake". Again so frustrating because first of all I didn't even order anything containing alcohol and my id is real. I asked for a new server and after an agonizing wait a new server came over and apologized for Ava's actions, we decided to still dine there until Ava came back over and continued to belittle me loudly in front of other patrons saying it's not possible I am over 21 because she does not believe I look so. I tried to politely ask for the other server again but at this point it had been an hour and we hadn't gotten drinks nor been able to order our food. I have horrible social anxiety so this stress caused me to burst out into tears because I was so embarrassed and frustrated that my real id was not being accepted and there was nothing I could do about it. I ended up having a panic attack and had to get the bill to go to my car for my inhaler I felt like I could not breathe. This is the most stressful restaurant experience I've ever gone through and I don't recommend anyone to dine here although they do have pretty good food. Do a better job hiring servers, they represent your restaurant and Ava just makes the place a burning landfill. An hour of my day wasted, left hungry and with a panic attack, paid $13 for parking all...

Pretty disappointing. Went to the fox chapel location when they first opened in 2019 and it wasn't great but we were looking for some place new to go to downtown when we go to shows.

We tried 3 white wines and they were all terrible. All tasted watered down, like I put 5 ice cubes in there and they melted. Even the color was off. When we told the waiter he had the manager come over who suggested different wine (less expensive than our $16 dollar glasses) and that one was at least stronger and didn't taste watered down, but it still wasn't good quality wine. Other places nearby offer Kim Crawford, Oyster Bay and Lovestruck as their top contenders. Alta Via had a very limited wine list with limited regions - almost all white wines were from Napa Valley or Veneto.

I got the short rib pasta, which was not good. Pasta and sauce were good, in fact the sauce was very flavorful, but short rib was overly fatty or tough depending on the piece. It was also cubed vs shredded which made it not as good as other places that have a similar dish I have tried. It was not tender at all and that leads me to believe it was cooked too fast and on too high of heat as short rib will fall off the bone if it is cooked low and slow.

We asked for coffee with liquor in them (Bailey, frangelico, ect) which the waiter had to send a manager over for clarification. He also never came back to get our dessert order so about 20 mins later we gave it to the manager when she brought our dessert coffee drinks.

All in all I would not go back. The server was very nice and so were the managers but there are better places to go downtown. For an Italian restaurant they DEFINITELY need...

Visit #1-- Surprisingly good find among downtown high-end spots! No first come, first serve at the bar - have to have a reservation even for that, odd. A couple spots set empty for a while, even after we had our first course once were seated. Cocktails were ok, bar view isn't greatest facing all what's behind the scenes and appears to be always overwhelmed. One of the salads was decent, mushrooms and pork chops are worth coming back for, not the desert though. No bread was offered or suggestions off of the menu for 1st time visitors nor specials of the night - basically as expected at the bar. Fairly quick service for full-house night.

Visit #2-- Returned just a couple nights later and enjoyed everything more thoroughly, so I'm changing my review a bit and adding more pictures :) Our bartender Ernest was at the top of his game. Stake & Calamari are also worth coming back for! Wife's gluten free pasta with mushrooms is a HIT ✅️

Visit #3-- Was as good but dining room servers are less accommodating - it's absurd that you can't get just a side of potatoes from the other dish on the menu, while the place is claiming the ambiance & price tag of a steakhouse. This was rather disappointing when you already spent $150 on a mid-week slow night dinner.

Visit #4-- It was our new year's eve dinner 🎄 before the fireworks. 5 out of 5 ✅️ Server Trent was at the top of his game despite fully seated section - accommodated all our requests and checked back in every little while, just as necessary. His recommendation on deserts was excellent, as well as the duck dish i was tempted to try for 3 visits before 🤦‍♂️!!!

This is our place of the year for 2023! 1,000%...