Eddie Merlot's — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

My partner and I went for an early dinner at Eddie Merlot's, arriving shortly after they'd opened for the day. We were met at the front desk by the Manager, with whom we had a pleasant conversation as he was seating us. In the reservation notes I'd mentioned my use of a cane, and the Manager asked if the table he chose was appropriate. The chair he chose for me rolled, making adjustments near the table far easier, so we gave a thumbs up. The Manager then offered to close the curtain for us so we could enjoy our date without the thousands of spotted lantern flies on the other side of the window we were seated next to. We accepted, and it gave a lovely dimmed ambience to the meal.

Our service was wonderful. The young woman that was our server was just attentive enough without being intrusive. Our drinks were never empty and we didn't wait long for anything.

Because their day was just beginning, they were just finishing baking the bread that goes to each table. Lucky us! It was warm and fresh, a lightly seasoned sour dough, and I really liked that they don't bring too much of it. I don't want to fill up on the bread no matter how delicious it is!

The French onion soup. My partner and I shared a bowl, though I was quickly wishing I'd ordered my own. When I say it was probably the best French onion soup I've ever had, I'm not  exaggerating. The top was gorgeously browned, crunchy and cheesy, and the broth was rich and delicious, and surprisingly complex. The onions were flavorful and still had just enough texture, and it all came together perfectly. Perfectly enough that I didn't get any picture of it before we finished the bowl off!

The entrée: My partner ordered the 16 oz prime ribeye (cooked rare), and an order of parmesan truffle fries to share between us. I chose the yellowfin tuna with Asian rice and vegetables, also cooked rare.

His steak was cooked perfectly, though he did have to add a bit of salt. To be fair, he often needs to add more seasoning to his steaks because he enjoys his steak a tad saltier than others, and we both agree that it was likely seasoned wonderfully. Better than over salting! The truffle fries he didn't care for, but I absolutely loved. He doesn't much like crispy fries; these fries were crisp and just a little tender inside, and I couldn't get enough of them.

My tuna was extraordinary. My partner and I often decides who "wins" each date by who chose the best dish (with no prize whatsoever haha), and he and I agreed wholeheartedly that I'd won hands down. The tuna was seared perfectly and the flavors mixed well with the lightly sweetened sauce that was mixed with the Asian rice underneath the tuna. The vegetables were delicious as well. Each component tasted great alone, and even better together as a bite.

For dessert we decided to go with the bananas foster for two. Our server came to make it for us tableside, which was a fantastic show of flambe and presentation. I admit I'd never had bananas foster before and my goodness it was stupidly delicious. Why haven't I tried it before? What planet have I been on?? Regardless, I was too caught up in watching the flames and cooking of the dessert to get photos of the process.

Through the meal I had three cocktails. The Burnt Orange Manhattan was strong and delicious. Our server brought it over with a slice of orange zest she squeezed gently over an open flame, spritzing the orange oil over the drink. It was very bourbon forward which I like. The second was a Blueberry Mojito. It was sweet and refreshing, and instead of tasting highly alcoholic it tasted fruity and light, with freshly muddled mint swimming in the bottom of the glass under the ice. The third was a Rose Punch, made with passionfruit puree instead of peach puree. It, too, was delicious if just a little too sweet, but it was around dessert so it was nice timing. The only downside was the amount of time it took for the bar tender to make the drinks.

I'd suggest going here to anyone. I'm looking forward...

We had a 9pm reservation for 7 ppl on a Sunday night. Even though we were confirmed 3x the manager thought it was a good idea to call me again 2 hours before our reservation to be clear we were “the last reservation of the evening, please get here 15 minutes before”. I stated not a problem and arrived with my husband 20 minutes before and made sure our friends that had just flown in made it before or at 9. I received a message from open table - where the reservation was originally made stating reservation was changed to 8:45pm. I never changed the time I just agreed to make the effort and get there earlier. I should of known this was going to be a problem. Our server tried her best to make dinner not feel rushed but the time was mentioned several times throughout the course of the meal. It seemed to be coming from the manager. Why take a reservation at a time if your staff is in a rush and not wanting to serve customers??? 1.5-2 hours is a reasonable amount of time to spend at a restaurant. As a business owner if you can not accommodate that make your last reservation a lot earlier, don’t harass your customers! The food was good (not great, we dine at steakhouses at least once a week) we know a quality meal. I would not mention any of this if not for the treatment from the MANAGER……. For our main course we decided on the special and order 3 Porterhouse steaks with crab legs it came with a bottle of wine. Instead we asked if we could switch to champagne and pay the up charge. She said not a problem and explained pricing to us. We all agreed and placed our orders. Again time was an issue as the kitchen was closing and we needed to order desserts which they were out of with limited choices. We opted on one dessert as our friends were still eating their food. Now comes the check. When we received the check we get a 5 minute disclaimer before it is handed to us that they made a mistake on how it was explained and priced. Normally we wouldn’t care if we enjoyed a peaceful and delicious dinner. My husband proceeded to challenge this as it was different than what was quoted to us. $70 difference on a $1,200 check not a big deal but now it’s the principle. We asked to speak to the MANAGER as clearly the message was coming from her. When she came over she just kept repeating her speech over and over not acknowledging what the server had explained. It was a “take it, because I’m the final word” attitude and “I don’t care what was told to you” approach. She could have easily remedied the situation by taking off the one dessert or the bottle waters, or a drink or two from our tab and not mentioned it again. Instead she took the “ I’m in charge and that’s it!” approach. A little bit of advice, take a hospitality course, put your employees through better training if you claim to be a high end steakhouse. The person managing your establishment is a big reflection and the face of your business. Bad treatment of paying customers to gratify an ego does not make a good manager! I will NEVER dine at Eddie Merlots again! And neither will the 6 people I experienced this with. Certainly our friends always ask us for recommendations, rest assured you are not on the list with the people you have running your restaurant this way. Make a change we are not the only ones who have experienced this persons unprofessional approach. Management is mentioned on many...

I visited Eddie Merlots on 11/21/22 for a lunch service. Parking is hard to find and you will have to walk a fair distance to find a spot. That is to be expected with any establishment in the area. I had made a reservation for Noon for lunch. The place was dead so getting in was no problem. Their was only 1 other table of guests in the restaurant besides my party of 2.

I’ll start with a high point. Our waiter was fantastic. He was courteous, speedy, and offered suggestions and answers to any questions we had. The decor is wonderful. The stained glass is beautiful and really adds to the ambiance.

We started with the pot stickers appetizer. They were bland for my taste. The sauce was good but not enough to cover the lack of flavor the filling of the dumplings had. It just tasted like cooked meat with no seasoning in the filling. They also garnish these with cilantro which is a weird combination for an Asian inspired dish. When have you ever seen cilantro used in Asian cuisine?

We ordered off the Prix Fixe lunch menu which seemed like a great deal. A salad, entree, and side for $25 per person. Our salads were fine (my ranch dressing was great) and the bread that they bring for the table is also tasty. It took awhile after finishing our salads to receive our entree. We ordered the 8oz strips steaks. We ordered them Medium and medium rare. When we received our steaks they were not cooked evenly throughout and were overcooked. One was medium in the center and medium well on the outside, while the other was medium well and well done. We didn’t want to wait the extra 15 minutes for our steaks to be re-fired so we ate them. Flavor was okay. Still a little bland.

The mashed potatoes were the low part of the meal. They looked nice with a pat of butter in the middle and garnished with basil. To say they were dry and chalky is an understatement. I would compare these to instant powdered mashed potatoes, and not prepared well if they were. They weren’t creamy in the least, and again were not seasoned. It just tasted like a baked potato had been mashed up and put in a bowl.

For the price lunch should be a good bargain but not in my experience. I would not recommend them for a lunch service. Food gets 2 stars, while service and decor were close to flawless enough to keep this...