Meat & Potatoes — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

My co-workers and I have been in the Pittsburgh area for about a month now and last night finally had a chance to grab a nice dinner out. Meat & Potatoes was a fantastic choice. Our server, Jessica, was extremely personable, took the time to answer all of our questions, and made great recommendations! For cocktails I tried both the Corpse Reviver and the Mexican Honeybee and both were extremely tasty. We also ordered the Buffalo Mac & Cheese and the Cheese Board for our appetizers. While the mac & cheese wasn't necessarily for me, the selection of cheeses were all sublime. The blue cheese in particular was probably the best I've had. For my main course I decided to try the mussels with frites. The mussel "style" for the evening was Thai made with some coconut milk and lemongrass. I am a huge fan of moules frites and these definitely did not disappoint. I also got to try a bite of the potato gnocchi special and the duck ragu was absolutely incredible! Overall we had a wonderful evening getting to finally see downtown Pittsburgh. The only reason I am giving a review of 4/5 is because the hostesses were quite rude. In particular, Olivia was extremely short with us and told us it would not be possible to get a table until 8:15 (this was around 6:45). Then we we left to go grab a drink and kill some time, we had walked maybe ten minutes away and I received a text saying our table was now ready. Luckily we were able to run back across town and grab the table before it was given away. Some communication from Olivia would have been helpful. Though, we probably should not have worried so much as by 7:30 there were at least three empty tables and the bar was basically deserted. No one even acknowledged us as we were leaving. We ran into a couple of other ladies on our way out who were also commenting on the lack of basic customer service skills by the girls upfront. All in all, however, if you are able to make it past the host stand, you are in for a great evening! Thanks again to Jessica and all of the chefs for providing a great night away from...

This was my first experience with this restaurant. It was a beautiful place, though I have to admit the seating was a little inconvenient. The tables for two were mere inches away from other tables, and one party would share a bench seat with others. I've seen this arrangement in other restaurants, just never quite as tightly together. The atmosphere was still pleasant, ant the service was good.

We decided on the Beef Wellington for Two, which came with a hefty price tag of $114. We were told it would take an hour to prepare and we were absolutely fine with this, we were (as stated) pleased with the atmosphere, and I had a couple of cocktails. My favorite of the evening was their tropical take on a gin and tonic, highly recommended. We also had the Foie Gras, and that was absolutely incredible.

When our main course arrived, it looked beautiful, but surprising. It was the same price range (perhaps $10 less) as a giant Tomahawk steak for two) and yet it was a small serving of beef wellington. Yes, it's what we ordered, of course, but when a couple orders "Beef Wellington for Two" one expects, I suppose, something other than a typical plate of food. Maybe the intact wellington? I don't know what we were expecting and it was perhaps on us for not asking, but we were a little disappointed with the presentation. We had high hopes for flavor!

I did want to like it, but the pastry crust had a slightly burned taste to it. The steak, though it was perfectly cooked, was somehow somewhat flavorless. There seemed to be a lack of seasoning through the whole of it. I WILL say that the vegetables served with it were absolutely divine and I'd go back simply to have those.

Am I unhappy with my experience? Not at all. Would I get the wellington again? Nope! I'd like to go again and try something different and see if that was simply an off night.

(To add: they do not validate parking for the garage, for those looking for that...

I recently made two visits to Meat & Potatoes for the first time in years, the first time with a group of friends and the second for a business dinner.

First of all, the service is excellent - both times our waiters were attentive, flexible, and extremely polite/ personable/ professional. Seriously, no notes - an +A experience on all fronts.

The atmosphere is great too - they strike the perfect balance between being fairly casual but with an upscale feel, all the while avoiding any pretentiousness. I think my two visits (and a recent one to the Rib Room) sum it up well - it's a great place for a date, a dinner with friends, or even a business dinner.

The food is excellent overall, but I do have to knock a star off for one glaring issue on each visit. Good stuff first - the sides were all excellent, the portion sizes are generous, and most of the entree's were fantastic on both visits (a few people SWEAR there must be meat in the vegan meatloaf, in the best way possible).

The first issue though was with the Steak Frites - the strip was a decent sized portion, but the sear was pretty much non-existent, and (perhaps correspondingly) it was far into rare territory as opposed to the medium rare I ordered. The amount of connective tissue also leads me to think that it was a "vein steak", or a cut from the hip end of the striploin, which was a pretty huge disappointment for the $65 price.

The second issue was with the scallops and crab risotto that a few of us had on my second visit. The scallops themselves were excellent and were cooked perfectly with a great sear, but the risotto was very clearly undercooked with a noticeable "grit" to it. Neither of these issues are "unforgivable" and can probably be chalked up to timing for parties of 6, but they they were disappointing nonetheless.

Overall, I was pretty happy, and between these two experiences and a recent one at the Rib Room, I would certainly give them...