Forbes Tavern — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

Owner, Please contact me and I will remove/update my review.

Dined on 3.22.23 at 6pm. I'm going to preface this with... I don't write a review unless I raise a concern and it is either not heard or addressed in a fashion that is just preposterous.

Ordered a French onion soup, came quickly, I took a bite. Taste was great but I immediately noticed the entire bowl was filled with croutons and there was no liquid and no onions at all. I mean, literally only went up about .25inches on the standard French onion bowl (you know, those brown/tan crocks that they serve everywhere). No worries... I brought it to my bartenders attention and she fixed it quickly (no apology). If it had ended there I would have not written anything but it's what happens next that surprised me. The bartender upon delivering said that I have to eat it faster because the croutons soaked up all the liquid. I said honestly thought she was joking. I said I don't know I ate it immediately. she said, somewhat aggressively, "no that's what happens and it's because you waited too long. Just for fun, I let my second one sit for a couple mins. Guess what, The croutons didn't soak up 99% of the liquid. The first order was a joke but no apology or acknowledgement. The second one was great but the bartender earned the restaurant a nice low star review because of her additude and handling of the situation. On top of this, I had ordered some takeout food but she just never brought it over. I inquired with another bartender 40 minutes later if she could check on my food. She brought it right over to me and it was among some items that have been sitting for a very long time. I suppose the bartender was done dealing with me. Also, keep in mind the margarita flatbread on the menu is $12 but I was told that it's actually $14 with a $2 discount at happy hour. Also my to go pizza was never cut. See pictures.

Also I just want to add about the soup .. another bartender said she completely agreed with me that the first soup was just not up to par with the usual...

Upon arrival around 5 pm on a Sunday, we were sat immediately, as the restaurant wasn’t super busy. The woman who sat us came over to take our drink order and dropped them off rather quickly. We were not ready to order when she came back and requested a few more mins to decide. Well a few mins turned into about 20, as several times both the woman and man running the dinning room passed by our table and never once asked us if we were ready to order. In that 20 mins time frame, they both tended to patrons at the bar and one other table out of the 5 that had people sitting at them. My boyfriend finally had to flag down the guy to have our order taken. While waiting for our food, again they both kept their sole focus on patrons at the bar. From the vantage point of our table, I could see the kitchen window and could see when the cook put certain orders out to sever. Both the man and woman walked past the window no less than 15 times, saw the food sitting there and not once checked to see what table it should go to. After another 15 to 20 mins of the food sitting in the window, the woman finally picked up the plates and dropped them off at my table. My tavern dip sandwich and fries were cold at best and my boyfriends margarita flatbread pizza was lukewarm and barely cooked. No one came to check on us to ask how everything was or if we needed anything, but how could they when they catered to the people at the bar and one particular couple that sat at a table near us? To say this was a disappointing experience is an...

Came here tonight on a Friday and was really hoping this place would kill it.

Even though it wasn't busy the FOH was out of sync and weren't working together. It was, as I'm assuming, a FOH manager and a bartender solely working on a Friday night downtown. Her service was good but she received little support from him and it was discouraging.

I saw food being walked by sitting in the window and no one in the kitchen asked for a runner it just say there until it was convenient for them to get it at their leisure. So I see BOH and FOH at fault for this.

They have a nice beer selection and a cozy atmosphere.

I ordered the wings with house BBQ and the pork sandwich with a fried egg. The wings were absolutely amazing! They were literally falling apart in my hands and were juicy and wonderfully smokey, I can't recommend them enough. The sandwich I ordered was very average as it sat in the window for some time and my egg had become cold and rubbery, regardless the slaw was mediocre and it was an okay sandwich overall. My fries were old but seasoned well.

They just opened and I really want this palace to work. They may be understaffed (restaurant scene is booming and talent can be hard to come by with a thin workforce and I'm speaking from experience here)

I will be back again and have some more of them wings! And I will re write my review then.

I hear good things about the chef maybe I had too high expectations. Will be back...