How have I not reviewed this place before? It is always in my list of the top 5 restaurants in the burgh whenever I am asked and I was pretty certain that I had. From that you can probably gather that I come here a decent amount with the most recent time being on a Wednesday afternoon with my father for lunch. We had made lunch reservations for 12:30 and arrived some time around there and were seated immediately. Upon entering the restaurant it was easy to see that we didn't need the reservations but I would rather be safe than sorry. The inside of Eleven is pretty cool and very open as it has been built inside of an old warehouse. It is two stories tall with dining on both floors but with an open plan where you can see the ceiling pretty whenever you dine at. There is a lovely fireplace whenever you first walk into the restaurant and to the left is the bar and the right the main dining room. The bar is a pretty nice place and I have seen them open it up in the summer where there garage doors of the warehouse used to be. On this occasion we sat at a small two top in the main dining room where at the end you can see into the pastry kitchen. They is also a large two story wine cellar near the entrance which is cool to look at.
Since it had been awhile since I had been to Eleven for lunch I decided to order the Eleven Burger as my entree with blue cheese as my cheese of choice. Before our lunch was served the waiter brought out the bread basket. Inside was one of my favorite premeal breads, a salted foccacia which pairs perfectly with the butter that they have there. There was also some rustic Italian bread which was good as well. Whenever the burger came to table I was reminded of why it is my favorite burger in Pittsburgh. It is piled pretty high with all of the goodies inside of it and I have to cut it in half just to be able to eat it. The burger has braised veal on the bottom, meat in the middle and then is topped with the cheese that you choose, bacon and some crispy onions. This last time that I visited the burger was as good as every other time I have had it with the burger being cooked perfectly and the bun slightly toasted. It also comes with some seasoned fries that I always enjoy as well. My dad ended up going with the Flank Steak for his lunch entree which also came with some fries. He told me that the ends of his steak were a bit chewy but the middle was awesome. I guess that is what you get whenever they oversear a tougher cut of meat.
The bottom line for me is that I will definitely be back here in the future. Eleven is one of the most consistent and best restaurants in Pittsburgh and I am not sure that I have ever had a bad meal here.