Primanti Bros. Restaurant and Bar — Restaurant in Pleasant Hills

Wait time was short. Got a table and drinks came quick. Ordered a doctor pepper and it was way watered down. My dad ordered a Yuengling and the waitress took the order, came back 5 min later, and then told him that they were out. Whatever, no big deal. They were out of almost all types of beers except for a few. My family member and I both ordered flatbreads and fries. The waitress wrote down the order and left. About 5 to 6 min later, she came back and told us they were out. I wasn't annoyed necessarily because they were out of flatbreads, I was annoyed because the waitress was not informed ahead of time. Now it got really annoying because you would think that the kitchen management and such would inform the waitress that they were out of items before the waitress takes the order from the customer. The waitress asked if we would like the menu back to have another look but instead of actually handing us back the menu, she went on to tell us certain things like "I can give you a pizza, like personal ones, or a big one." We finally got our order in for a "supreme" pizza, which included 3 toppings. My family member and I decided on green peppers, onions, and mushrooms. The food came out in a reasonable amount of time. The waitress put the pizza down and left. We looked at it and thought that the "mushrooms" didn't look right. We started eating it and realized that they screwed up our order. It wasn't mushrooms, it was steak. We didn't bother returning it because it would have been a big hassle. Also, our waitress still gave us our fry orders, meanwhile our flatbread orders got cancelled, so naturally, wouldn't it make sense to cancel the fry order too? The food was mediocre in taste, presentation, and quality. The pizza was really doughy and greasy and the dough tasted like city water. The fries were pretty good but insanely greasy. Very disappointed with my experience. I do want to give a shout out to the waitress though, who continually possessed a positive attitude throughout our whole meal. This place was supposedly really good but was a major letdown. Major issues:

1. soda was way watered down
2. pizza order was screwed up
3. food was mediocre and not worth the price
4. fries were incredibly greasy
5. waitress was not informed ahead of time of what they were out of

Maybe it was just a bad day for the restaurant, but I was in no way impressed. I will definitely not be returning here. I hate being a negative reviewer, but I'm sorry Primanti Bros, you really...

A local Pittsburgh legend, and perhaps our biggest addition to larger food trends in living memories. (Though Wedgies seem to be spreading, and I'm happy for us to take the credit.)

Primanti's being a local chain, there's a lot of unique quirks and features to be aware of. The little things noted on their menu, such as onions being free and available on all sandwiches - but you have to ask for them. The fact that adding an egg or extra cheese to a sandwich is dirt cheap by modern fast-food prices. Also, the fact that everything comes loaded with 'slaw, a thick tomato slice, and french fries is sometimes ignored to the peril of newcomers (unless requested otherwise.)

There are also other menu items. Like their pizza (which is pretty good for a place that doesn't specialize in pizza. Very cheesy, thin crisp crust, and light sauce.)

Also, its pertinent to mention that not all locations are created equal. Sometimes you find a Primanti's that's not quite the same as some of the legendary locations.

How does this one stack?

When I first moved up to this neighborhood from my hometown area in a neighboring county, I was stoked. I ate here once, and I wasn't very impressed. I'm not sure if that was the food then, or if I perhaps didn't understand the menu and didn't treat myself as I should.

This time, when I ordered, I was very happy with everything I received. Two sandwiches, very different, tasted very good in two very distinct ways, while having the same touch. The personal pizza with pepperoni was also very nice.

That being said, while the food is great, I think Primanti's is likely to get some stiff competition from other local sandwich places, if it isn't already. If I could suggest a few things for the chain in general: getting the Italian bread crisp and toasted/fried instead of just very lightly toasted is probably the way you want to go in the future. Just as well, I would strongly consider offering pictures of even your basic sandwiches just to give people an idea of what they might get if they aren't in store - maybe even showing them disassembled with the meats / non-stock components to one side.

So, definitely a good place to stop that's a hallmark of local cuisine. However, don't put them on a pedastle. They have a lot of good...

Here's a classic example of... and unchanged restaurant gets bought by corporate idiots... now, bean counted to death. The pizza is worse than domino's but somehow made the same way. They scraped their gas brick ovens and hand tossed dough. It's now frozen and electric convaor belt crap. I wouldn't care and the 5 star review I previously had at all locations would stand. Until my attendance today where in I found out salami and cheese is no longer on the menu.. you gona take the cole slaw off the sandwiches too? Unbelievable. Every bit of original decore is being removed. The bread company that once served is gone. And everyone I knew that worked here had been replaced. I don't recognize a single face.

When the margins tank for this location and corporate closes it, no one will ever hold the people who did this accountable. Your "market research" will say people lost interest and it failed. You sunk this brand. Its got 3 years left max. Thanks for that. All we wanted was cheap drinks and cheap sanwiches. You removed everything that got people in here. And they will be. Quickly reminded you arnt doing justice to this family's name.

I guess they coulent take the original menu off the wall fast enough for their new condensed selection. I hope the 40 cents you saved is worth bad reviews.

This in no means reflects poorly on the staff. They are doing the best they can to man a ship someone else is sinking for them. They even custom made me an off the menu item. But the bread change is bad. And you should...