J. Gough's Tavern — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

UPDATE: we've been back now several times, and had excellent experiences every time. We've gotten to know the owner Bill fairly well, and he's always quick to offer new suggestions and recommendations for us to try. The only downside is it's a bit of a drive, though if it were located within walking distance to our house..... that wouldn't be good either!!

I'm really torn on this. Our experience was very mixed. As others have noted, the whiskey selection here is excellent, and very reasonably priced. The food we had (meat & cheese sampler & basil mushroom flatbread) was all very well-made. The atmosphere is very nice - clean, modern, and cozy. Our server was very friendly... but seemed to be extremely inexperienced. We had a party of 8 there for the bourbon & bluegrass night, and our server forgot to bring several drinks, did not place food orders that were put in over the course of the evening until everyone at the table ordered - meaning that some people waited over an hour to get their food, because we did not all order at once. We had separate checks, and three of the four checks were missing items - not something I would complain about (we corrected ours, it was only missing a drink or two) but it's also not going to help the business succeed.

I will absolutely be back to try again, because I think this place has the potential to be an excellent whiskey bar. But last night's experience showed that there's still a lot of room to grow & learn...

Where to begin... when you first walk in it resembles an old pub in Ireland which was really cool. Lots of natural wood, small intimate seating areas and a wall with bottles upon bottles of whiskey. We were there to celebrate a friends birthday and the first 30 minutes were great, and the bluegrass band was awesome, but soon after they got busy that experience changed. We were there for about 5 hours total and only saw our server maybe a handful of times. Most of our drinks we had to go to the bar to get, which wasnt much better as there was only one bartender. A few of us ordered drinks that never came, ordered food and waited an hour for it to arrive and one person's food was never ordered. There were only 3 people working the front end, 1 bartender and two servers, for 50-75 people. I really want to like this place because it has a great atmosphere and incredible selection of whiskey, but until they can get a hold on their service i don't think i could recommend...

A Greenfield Gem with the Best Bourbon & Guinness in Pittsburgh!

I can't believe I’ve been working just down the street in Squirrel Hill and wasn't aware of this bourbon & Guinness Godsend otherwise known as J. Gough's for the past eight years! IMO this pub is hands down the best bourbon spot in Pittsburgh, with an unreal selection that any whiskey lover will appreciate. And if you're a Guinness fan, you won't find a better pour—perfectly done every time. Throw in some top-notch bar bites and affordable pricing, and you've got yourself a go-to hangout. If you haven't been here yet, you're missing out! 🍻🥃 #JGoughs #BourbonLovers #PerfectGuinness...