Sienna Mercato — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

I want to give a thorough review of our Sunday brunch experience at Il Tetto on July 9th, 2023.

The themed pop-up brunch was advertised heavily with local Pittsburgh influencers, which made us very excited to check it out with a group of friends. Unfortunately, it was a disaster from start to finish- with no concern at all from the staff there. I would recommend spending your money anywhere else.

TLDR: Things to know before you go that you won’t be told at the restaurant- brunch ends at 1pm and last call is at 12:45pm. You have to get the $28 p/p unlimited buffet- you will be charged even if you do not eat or even if there is no food left to eat. The buffet is not refilled past 11am. There are no frozen drink options available and they were out of many ingredients for their other featured brunch cocktails, the menu is not accurate at all. There was no air conditioning.

Service was awful. We waited 30-40 minutes for drinks once we sat down and they were out of many of the featured brunch cocktails, including the frozen espresso martini and the bluemoon-mosa. None of the other frozen cocktails were available either. Each round of drinks came out at different times, so our table did not all have a beverage at the same time for the two hours we were there. Our water pitcher was never refilled either despite the sticky hot atmosphere. Il tetto was not busy, I would understand a wait if it was packed but there were hardly any tables occupied.

Our waitress did not tell us that brunch ended at 1, we were surprised by last call at 12:45. Also, you must purchase the buffet brunch- you can’t go for just cocktails- I am not sure why no one ever mentioned that? Or why brunch is an option then on the menu. The food was never refilled past 11:15am- everything was sitting or empty, with the lids open for two hours. We were all charged $28 per person for brunch, without even eating. I asked if any additional food was going to be put out an the waitress said “no, there was some when you got here”. I snapped a few pics of what was left for us to choose from, hence why we did not even get a plate.

I was so disappointed, don’t be taken in by sponsored social media posts- take your money and...

I had a very interesting experience over a long weekend in Pittsburgh. I had the opportunity to dine on all three floors of Sienna Mercato, and each one was delightful.

Emporio's meatballs are fantastic, and the rooftop brunch on Sunday is a fun time, but the floor that takes the cake (or, rather, the zeppole) is definitely Mezzo.

You can tell that this is the floor to go to for a more elevated dining experience. It's a cozier space, and they do that thing where there is a big utility shelf of giant cans of tomatoes and such just out in the open as decor-slash-storage (a term I will now coin as "decorage", you are welcome), which is fun.

Something pretty cool to note is that they run a zero waste kitchen here, which should really be more important to more people. I had delicate sauces, surprisingly umami vegan stock, and the best kimchi I have had in my life at this restaurant, in one meal, and it's because Chef Jared doesn't let things go to waste. It feels nice to eat somewhere like this. And this man can pickle! I have never in my life enjoyed watermelon, but I ate pickled watermelon rind and it got some synapses firing.

Now, the food itself-- I am clearly not a food reviewer, but I do enjoy talking a lot. I talked very little when the food from this restaurant was in front of me. This is rare, and should mean something. I was fed surf and turf (Berkshire pork belly and sweet Argentinian shrimp), risotto (made with locally sourced shroomies--the texture with this dish was amazing), and the zeppoli donuts that I love so very much. It was one of the neatest dining experiences I have ever had! I also had a few cocktails, which were well-crafted and thoughtful. I enjoyed my first whiskey drink ever here!

Everyone that talked to me about the food and the drinks knew what they were talking -about-, and that made the whole thing so much lower stress on me, a decision fatigued baby. You can trust them to steer you right here.

Anyway, I highly recommend stopping in. It doesn't matter which floor you go to--it's all gravy! (Well actually, the gravy is on the top floor at brunch.) These folks bent over backwards to make each time I dined here a pleasant experience, and they really...

Have eaten on the first floor (meatballs and drinks) have always had a positive experience. Have had drinks on the rooftop, never before had a negative experience, although they close very early. This evening we made reservations for a larger group (20) a week in advance…when we arrived (only 17 in our party) on time for our reservation the 2nd floor we were greeted politely, yet they were unprepared because “they didn’t read the notes” - we were immediately seated. Service from management and our new server Tyler including the food was outstanding - cannot compliment them all enough. At 2035 hours I asked for the check, and all but 3 of our party went upstairs to enjoy the rooftop and have 1 drink before last call (2100 hours). I received the check at 2039 hours, immediately provided my card for payment - it was returned at 2050 hours (I had one question that I needed confirmed, the tab states “service charge 20%” and I just wanted to confirm this was a automatically assigned tip and Tyler would be in receipt). I immediately signed and the 3 remaining demon my party went to the first floor elevator to access the 3rd floor. The elevator would not travel and an employee inside advised “since it’s last call it is locked and won’t travel to the third floor”. When I exited I pointed out to the same employee / first floor manager that I just spent $1,200.00 and all we wanted was to go upstairs and have the drink our advanced party upstairs had ordered and were served.

After an incredibly inappropriate exchange, the three of us exited to the sidewalk and we phoned our party upstairs. Our party upstairs advised they too were rudely treated, paid for three drinks they weren’t in fact served (they were waiting on us to come upstairs.

Reviewer local to Pittsburgh and brought out of town traveling colleagues to enjoy, but will NEVER return due to this experience. Very unfortunate that my colleagues experienced this, as I reminded them this is not the essence of...