Big Jim's in the Run — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

We are a band from Cleveland, Ohio who happened to be in Pittsburgh to perform at The Lumaze Festival. After our performance, we found that an appetite had developed amongst the band members so we decided to ask a staff member where a good spot was to eat. Without hesitation, the staff member recommended we head to Big Jim's and thankfully we listened! Upon arrival we were promptly seated by a friendly hostess. The atmosphere was very inviting; the room was warm, decor adorned the walls and gentle music played softly in the background. It was clear at first sight that Big Jim's was just as good a casual date night restaurant as it was a family type. For that we really appreciated because we almost consider our band as a family and luckily the staff treated us just as equal, which really made us feel welcomed. We travel often and sometimes other restaurants aren't as friendly to four grown men who look like they just got off a 36 hour Greyhound ride. Now we're seated, feeling very content and scrolling through the options of what to eat. Foods of all sorts displayed on the menu, both healthy and comfortable. I'm a vegetarian and instantly saw the eggplant parmesan as a valid choice, which turned out to be the best eggplant parmesan I've ever had. The portion was very generous and the timing between putting our order in and it getting to the table was a proper 20 minutes. I was very pleased with that because again, we were insatiably hungry and did not feel like waiting an obnoxious length of time to eat. It felt good that we didn't even have to tell our server this, she was just doing her job 100% correctly. When our bills came we were very happy to see that the total was very affordable, especially considering the quality of the food and portion size. All and all, next time we're in Pittsburgh you can expect us to eat here again. Oh, and they have great homemade salad dressings! Do...

I took my mother there for the first time and we were both disappointed. The service was excellent and our server (Cindy?) was incredible! She may have been the best waitress that I ever had! She was waiting on the whole small diningroom by herself and was hustling the whole time we were there, checking on us every few minutes with a smile on her face!

The salad and wedding soup were excellent. I ordered their delicious Italian dressing, but she brought me blue cheese dressing. She realized her mistake, but still left the extra charge for the blue cheese dressing on my bill.

I got their famous Veal Parm for the first time. It was 2 huge slabs of very good veal for a crazy cheap price! However, it had no seasoning whatsoever and even half a shaker of parmesan cheese didn't help. My mom and I both ordered the spaghetti. When my mom ordered hers, she said that she likes lots of sauce and was told that would not be a problem. When our spaghetti arrived, there was WAY too little sauce on it. When my mom asked for more sauce, she was brought a cup of sauce and charged for it even though they did not mention it. Even with the "extra" sauce, there was still not nearly enough. I only ate a few bites of pasta because, although there was sauce on top of the veal parm, there was virtually no sauce on the pasta under it. My mom ate less than half of her pasta and took the rest of it home, where she had to add jarred sauce to eat it. The garlic bread also looked way better than it tasted. Overall, a...

Big Jim's has been on my list of places to try for a while now.

We finally got to experience it yesterday.

We arrived around 5:00pm on a Saturday. Our waitress Cindy quickly took our drink orders and made some suggestions since it was our first time here.

She told us we made it "just in time before the usual rush". Well - she was right because by the time we finished our meals there was literally a line extending out the door waiting to dine!

We had one order of French Fries to share and as a family of 4 we were more than satisfied with that! The fries usually aren't a buzz worthy option to speak of in my reviews but - these fries definitely are! Fresh cut and perfectly done!

I had the hot sausage hoagie. The waitress suggested I order the whole and I was definitely happy I took her suggestion! It was huge and the hot sausage was sooo amazing! They get their hot sausage from a local butcher and Man - the sausage to sauce and cheese ratio was PERFECT!

My Mrs opted the Reuben. That sandwich was PACKED with meat and was one of those two hand holding, crave worthy experiences rarely found without a good recommendation!

Our Son had the Italian hoagie, and for my kid to say it was "the best Italian hoagie" he's had says alot in itself! It was maxed out with great meat and cheese and the bread they use is AMAZING!

Our Daughter had a regular cheeseburger which was perfectly done. She barely finished it so - it is worthy of a good appetite!

Great spot which we look forward to trying again in the very...