We made 10:30pm dinner reservations on Saturday, for my Dad's birthday dinner. It was the only time they had available for a table of 5. Needless to say we were all very hungry. We arrived early hoping to get seated a little quicker, and they sat us just after 10pm. Perfect.
The interior is undoubtedly cool. So much detail! It really makes you forget that you're really sitting downtown Pittsburgh. We were seated at a table upstairs and had a great view of the antler chandelier. Loved the rustic cabin vibe.
Unfortunately, it wasn't an exceptional experience and the atmosphere couldn't override some of the issues. It was literally 80 degrees at our table and the A/C was off. The staff was sweating, we were sweating, the patrons at the tables around us were sweating and I have no idea why there was no air on! It was a 90 degree day! I heard people ask for the A/C to be cranked, but nothing ever changed. It was cooler at Heinz Field sitting in the sun the next day. Absolutely miserable! It was also so loud!! You could barely hold a conversation over the music.
We had the cheese platter as an appetizer. It was okay. Definitely not large enough for 5 people, but we kind of knew that. The waitress recommended me the Bee's Knees as a great drink, but I wasn't crazy about it. My Mom felt the same about the drink she ordered and they were really small for being $12 each. I ordered the Seared Scallops and really liked it! Everyone else also liked their food, but didn't really love it. My Dad capped off the meal with Strawberry pie. Same result. I think if we were comfortable the food would have gone over much better.
Service was on the slow side. Long waits in between courses and the check. Our waitress was super nice and attentive with the water though!
Just very hard for me to stomach paying hundreds on a nice dinner, when it wasn't that enjoyable. On the positive side, I think I sweat out 5lbs. of water weight. All jokes aside, I'd like to give it a second chance some day. It seems our experience wasn't the norm and people seem to love it. However, I don't think I'll hurry to make a reservation anytime soon.