Joseph Tambellini Restaurant — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

I am extremely disappointed in the lack of professionalism and customer service from my first dining experience from here. I ordered the Filet Mignon to medium temperature but when I cut into it the temperature was medium-well. I did not complain until I actually bit into the steak and the amount of salt I tasted was overpowering the meat. As a frequent fine diner and steakhouse diner, I have never had an issue where I had to send a steak back. A good quality steak does not need an excessive amount of salt. I immediately told the server that I would not eat a steak with this much salt. The only thing the server said to me was “I will grab my Manager.” I waited several minutes as I ate my pasta side. My server came back and did not say anything about her Manager. She asked if I wanted to take my steak to go. I politely advised her once again that I was not going to eat this steak and that I did not want it. She took my plate and brought back dessert menus. I did not want dessert and asked for the check. There was no follow up during this time about what she said to her Manager and how the issue would be resolved. She delivered the check and walked away. I waited several minutes for her to return and asked why the steak was still on the bill since I did not eat it. She said, “I know it’s still on there. Taking it off the bill is not up to me. I will grab my manager.” A man finally walks over to my table stating that “the owner is not going to take my steak off the bill” and immediately became defensive and argumentative. He said, “Chef has been cooking steak this way for 4 years and maybe next time I should ask for no salt.” I stated that “I do not have an issue with salt anywhere else I have ordered steak. I was not going to pay for something that I did not eat.” To which he said, “We don’t do business ‘like that’ here and we will not take food off of the bill just because you don’t like the way it tastes.” At this point I was in complete and utter shock by his attitude, lack of professionalism, and lack of empathy. He said, there was “nothing wrong” with the steak and belittled me when I told him the temperature was wrong, too. I asked if I could speak with the owner, and I was advised that “He could not come to the table because he is cooking.” My husband stepped in at this point and asked if we could have the steak remade without salt. I said, “I wouldn’t mind having my steak remade without salt but that wasn’t even offered to me.” He walked away and came back with an offer of 50% off the steak, and an apology; to which I agreed. I just want to clarify; I love salt on my steak. I’ve never had an issue with salt anywhere else but here. I am just extremely disappointed, had I been offered a new steak and treated better my review would...

I wanted to patronize a local restaurant for my birthday dinner so we chose this one based on proximity as well as ratings. I have to say that I came home after eating there and read the posted reviews as I thought I wasn't in the same restaurant.

Service was good. We ate outdoors which was nice. There were 4 of us who ordered appetizers and entrees for dinner. As it was my birthday my husband brought a birthday cake he had purchased.

My husband and I ordered a fish entree which was mediocre at best. Neither meal had any flavor. It wasn't until afew weeks later that our friends admitted that their meals were terrible. They said they were surprised as the ratings all seemed so positive. The food we ordered not only lacked flavor but it did not seem fresh either.

After our meals which were exceedingly expensive we asked that the birthday cake be cut. When we were told that the cost would be $2.50 per person I thought they were joking. We've celebrated many birthdays in restaurants and were never ever charged or penalized for bringing our own cake. I thought, given the outrageous cost of our meals, that this was rock bottom. Since we live afew blocks away we took our uncut cake home and served it to our friends.

We were so disappointed in our meals and the cake experience that I wrote the owner a letter saying that I was sure he would want to know about our experience. I never received a response from him. I would never recommend this restaurant to anyone. I was not looking for a free dinner but I did expect a response from the owner. There are restaurant groupees who love this restaurant but there are 4 of us who would never return . Well Mrs Tambellini......I appreciate your response which is also two years old. You never responded to my letter to you. I did try and write a review immediately after our meal there and I had tried on Yelp which did not accept a review as you needed to be a "member:. It wasn't until I was talking with a neighbor about my up and coming birthday this weekend that he shared a similar experience that we had at your restaurant and suggested I try writing the review on google. Alot may have changed but your attitude about negative experiences has not. So I will definitely take your advice...

This review is going to be similar to a few others I’ve seen. My stepdad made a reservation here for my mom’s birthday. On the phone he was asked if we were celebrating anything and he proceeded to tell them it was for a birthday. They never said anything else about it. We brought a cake in for her birthday and the waitress asked if we wanted it refrigerated, which was appreciated. We ordered appetizers and meals for the 7 of us. Then when our salads were brought out the waitress informed us that they have a $5 per person cake fee. $35 for having a cake?? I’ve heard of a flat fee of $10-15 for a cake but never that much per person. An absolute rip off. This really did not sit right with us so we talked to the manager who really had a bad attitude. Again, similar to another review I read on here. Her reasoning for them charging this much was because we are “using their plates.” What a ridiculous reason. She then proceeded to tell us that a lot of places do that especially in Lawrenceville…? Well we weren’t in Lawrenceville and we didn’t ask about other places. Not once at any point when the reservation was made or when the cake was brought to the table in the beginning, was this cake fee mentioned. The manager said there was a sign on the door that said no outside food or drink. Obviously we didn’t see it so maybe say something when we sit down? Truthfully we wanted to take the cake and leave but we stayed and paid that absurd fee. Our bill was over $600 and they had to charge us to cut a cake? I’ve never in my life heard of such a scam this place is a rip off. The food was good and the service was fine, but I really didn’t appreciate anyone’s attitude there. It’s pretty clear that this owner/manager is greedy. Just look at how she responds to reviews instead of taking the criticism and making things better. Unbelievably unprofessional....