Stack'd Oakland — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

I visited Stack'd on Saturday, November 4, around 4 p.m., and if I had to describe the service, it was atrocious. My sister, eager to show me around Pittsburgh since it was my first time in the city, suggested Stack'd for their good burgers and wings. When we entered, there was no hostess in sight, and the main area was not busy. We stood around confused about what to do. I approached a woman at the bar, whom I assumed was a server, and asked, "Should we seat ourselves, or will someone direct us?" She gestured for us to follow her, and we did.

However, we were then seated near the entrance, where a family of five was also waiting. After a 10-minute wait with no server, explanation of the menu, or acknowledgment, another server brought us water without asking. Confused by her question about ordering besides water, we handed her the menu we had filled out without her help. We ordered burgers, fries, and one order of wings.

While we waited, we observed that other tables received their appetizers and drinks promptly, with multiple servers attending to them. We watched the family of 5 get served their appetizers, another group of 2 get seated, and immediately approached by another server, and another family of 5 get seated and have not 1 not 2, but 3 servers approach them within 5 minutes to not only seat them, but take their order, and another waitress ask if they have been attended to. We witnessed the initial family of 5 finish their appetizers, and approached by their waitress who asked, "is there anything else I can get you while you wait for your food?" The other group of 2 had also gotten their drinks and appetizers, and the other family of 5 had gotten their drinks and their appetizers were trickling in.

Meanwhile, our server barely approached us and seemed disinterested. At one point, she mentioned passing us to another server, leaving us frustrated.

I considered leaving the establishment, but I chose to stay, hoping for a better experience. We asked when our food would arrive, and she promised to check on the wings but never returned.

In the end, I couldn't justify spending money at an establishment that didn't seem to want our business. I decided to speak with a manager, but I was met by the same server who had passed us over. She apologized for the intial wait and said she didn't know she had a table. At the point where I was explaining my grievances, a server had approached our table with our order and the server I was talking to says, "well your food is there now. "

The server who brought our food over said our food had been ready but it was just sitting there...huh!?

This lack of attention and the fact that other tables received better service left me questioning if it was because of our race.

When asked if I still wanted to see the manager, I felt manipulated emotionally. If the service had matched the food quality, I would have rated this place highly. However, the disregard, long wait, and dismissal of my requests, along with the unfavorable comparisons to other tables, made this place truly...

The service isn't up to par like it use to be back in 2021, although it's ran by University Of Pittsburgh the lack of initiative by its employees really says alot and shows a lot. The staff aren't fully trained and some of them look like they don't even want to work there anymore. They lack motivation and clear communication, there's no reason why the waiter should be constantly called out for ignoring their table and making proper accommodations

The atmosphere doesn't give out positive vibes it's very dull and way to loud, half the time you have to constantly get your waiters attentions to be attentive to your needs which can be a 10min wait

The waiters don't have name tags like their supposed too - but expect you tip 18% for poor service

The waiters are constantly coming to your tables every 6 - 7 minutes like as if they're trying to rush you out the door/table when you just arrived

The food is ok it's not great by the time your food gets to your table it's warm or half cold it's not fresh and hot like it supposed to be. I have had food where I have had to send it back because the food was still raw and not cooked thoroughly, their silverware isn't always clean.

The lack of cleaning/hygiene amongst the restaurant is another big problem the tables are usually covered in food the tables get half spray and wiped and they wipe the food on the floor - that's very disgusting as a restaurant you should not do that - that's a health code violation

If we're being brutally honest the restaurant has a problem with consistent hygiene procedures and maintaining proper cleanliness

During the winter they do not take the proper steps in keeping the restaurant warm and making sure their guests are warm - THEY HAVE THE AC ON DURING THE WINTER INSTEAD OF THE HEAT. I have had to tell 3 employees to turn the heat on and it became an issue. As a restaurant it is your responsibility to maintain proper temperatures based on weather conditions - includes salting outside the restaurant during the winter and as needed per snow days.... OSHA VIOLATION

It is also the restaurants responsibility to have a positive attitude and create a positive atmosphere this place not provided that. It's time to retrain all the staff or fire everyone and shut...

At Stack'd they are doing the most out of what they're given and doing ok. Positives: The main thing here are burgers. The menu is quite solid, a lot of options and base things are covered, so that's good. Main price comes from the amount of addons. When it comes to taste, I wouldn't say it was the best burger I've had: the patty wasn't very juicy and kind of crumbled, mid tier. Addons were fine, but red onion was raw and kind of unpleasant: who puts raw onion on a chef burger, come on? And the main problem with a burger was, that the gluten free bun I ordered for additional price (while it's nice that they have it) was cold. Like, really cold. Assuming, unfrozen in the toaster just to the level of being consumable, but not more. Overall, bun was the least pleasant thing, but maybe I'd have better luck with a regular one.

Didn't want to spend on a drink, was given water (which was nice), but it had a very strange taste and I didn't drink it. I have fine taste when it comes to water and I'd say it seemed like the filter wasn't working well.

The service was very nice, the servers were quick, helpful and nice to deal with.

The atmosphere during the day: it was very busy, bustling even, nice crowd that you'd expect to see in a student populated area, music was inoffensive (which is almost the highest praise I can give unless it's a live band or a specific theme) and I was able to get a seat even in this busy hour.

Conclusion: generally acceptable, I think I'll give their burger another shot just to have a more rounded experience. Definitely better than many, but also definitely...