I'm a huge fan of the McCandless North Park Lounge. I know the staff by name and it's our favorite restaurant in Pittsburgh.
The Lawrenceville version, not so.
I was so excited when I found out the NPL was coming to Lawrenceville. I regularly drive over 30 minutes just to go to the NPL and now it would be in my backyard. We were legit shouting for joy in my house and it was like a dream come true.
What I found out was that it was only the NPL in name.
The environment: It's kind of a club/bar environment, which is different from the McCandless NPL restaurant environment. Loud music, high bar stools and crappy club tables. Everything is pretty squeezed in and the booths are not for anyone over 200lbs. The McCandless NPL has an older and more family type of crowd, while this is for hipsters and club-goers, of which I'm not.
The prices: The McCandless NPL is expensive and this place is about 5%-10% more expensive.
The food: The McCandless NPL is famous for their "Lounge Fries". They attempted to change how their fries were made randomly a few years ago. The new fries were smaller and thinner. The experiment lasted less than a month and everyone rejoiced when the original Lounge Fries returned. Unfortunately, the Lawrenceville NPL got those new Lounge Fries and I was disappointed when I saw those on my plate. They aren't that bad, but it's nothing to be excited about. My burger was similar to the McCandless NPL burger which is always good/
The menu is a little bit different. They have a much smaller menu with multiple items missing. I can't remember which ones in particular, but it's just not the same.
Overall: I was really disappointed with this take on the NPL. It's an impostor. I'm sure the owners and staff meant well enough and I wish them success, but I'd rather drive the extra 30 minutes and get the real NPL experience at the Mccandless NPL. We went there once and we probably won't go back.