emporio: a meatball joint

neighborhood:  pittsburgh the setup the second stop (though first chronologically) is to emporio. on this trip is official friends of dcwd rajistan and chill, and official co-writer/wife of dcwd texas. the vibe emporio is the bottom floor of a three part concept called sienna mercato (think what mbk was trying to do in dc). the bottom floor is the typical rustic bar space: exposed brick, dark booths surrounding a large bar area in the back. several tvs abound in this space, while more traditional seating sits upfront. the food emporio's concept is meatballs. that's it: pick one of four meatballs, one of nine sauces, and the method of meatball delivery - sliders, panini, grinder, or just in a pile. in some ways, this is refreshing: a bar that knows its target audience and just gives them comfort food, rather than trying to gussy it up needlessly. and you know what? they nail it. we all go sliders, and the fist-sized hunks of meat - or in texas's case, mushrooms, white beans, and cauliflower - are delicious, pork bolognese and arrabiatta sauces offer a hint of spice, while a spinach-almond pesto is a delicate counterpoint to the parmesan and herbs in the turkey meatball. and don't sleep on the government cheese: all the satisfying parts of kraft, but a whole lot better. the verdict pretty good bar food. food rating: *** (out of 5) date rating: 2.5  hearts (out of 5) dress code: casual bar rating: party in the usa vibe: energetic cost: $  (out of 5) (less than $25 for two)

good stuff!. the "no wait" app wouldn't let me sign into line because of a bug in the app (not the restaurant's fault) but the wait was only 10-15 minutes, not bad for friday night around 7. service was good. the meatballs and sauces were awesome and the root beer was amazing - by far the best i've ever tasted. atmosphere was perfect except for being a little louder than i expected from a gourmet meatball place. the prices are perfect for a classy-casual, quirky date for a college couple, but the restaurant population was very diverse. definitely a good pick!

skyline, ambiance, meatballs, music, drinks. life is good.... me and my wife loved the new emporio: meatball joint. we made reservations using the no wait app and had no problems with it whatsoever. when we arived we still had some time for our table, so decided to check the bar upstairs. coincidentally the bar upstairs il tetto also opened that night, 05/09.. the ambiance in the roof top was amazing. great views of the city skyline was offered from the retractable roof. all in all a great spot to hang out with friends just for a drink and order some light fare from the menu. we decided to head down to emporio once i received a text from no wait. we started with an order of poutine with chicken gravy and a fried egg. opted for tator tots instead of fries, and it was delish. i wanted to try something different so i got the vegetarian meatballs panini with creamy parm sauce and she got the chicken meatballs with pesto sauce and pasta on the side. great entrees, and everything tasted good. we were also impressed with the service. all in all a very pleasant experience and i am definitely returning back.

i've seen some bad reviews but this place was top notch. our party of 4 used the no wait app and were seated immediately upon arrival. the staff was courteous and attentive. our server, vince, was excellent. good and drinks arrived promptly and both were delicious. we ordered poutine and pepperoni fritters to share and varying types of meatballs with sauces. pork bolognese, arribiatta and pesto were our favorites. everything was delicious and vince happily split our checks for the two couples even without prompting. even the appetizers were split in half! we had a great experience and i would definitely be back.

good not great. the space is contemporary and the service good. the prices are typical for the cultural district. our party of 5, one raved about the traditional beef meatballs with almond aioli. the others enjoyed their meals. the spicy pork meatballs with spicy marinara was acceptable. the risotto tasted just like i make at home--from a box. overall we settled on a 7 of 10. i liked it--but i won't make a special trip to return.

sienna mercato is in this beautiful building downtown next to august henry's saloon on penn ave. it is refreshing to have a bar located in the penn ave tourist corridor that i don't hate. sharp edge is expensive, august henry's is plain awful, seviche is colorful but passe, sonoma grill is where dads drink and ten penny is bunch of pretentious bologna. mark's was my go-to until they replaced it with a piece of crap reception area. i honestly never thought pittsburgh would have a meatball restaurant. it seems awfully gimmicky, but it works. the emporio meatballs are not cheap, but the happy hour deal isn't bad at all. half off all drafts until 6 pm, but sadly no food discount. as for the meatballs, expect to dish out $3.50 a pop. the wonderful thing about emporio is the plethora of choices. you can choose from four different meatballs: beef, pork, veggie and chicken. then you choose one of nine different sauces: sunday gravy, pork bolognse, creamy parmesan

the food is good! always try the meatball of the day. the portions are generous. the service is always terrible unless you sit at the bar. but beware sitting at the bar. we have sat there twice for dinner and both times encountered the local *ahem* ladies of "service" at the bar waiting for their evening client.

what i loved the most about the place is the ambience. querky interiors, really cosy feeling. great vibe owe it to the friendly staff they've hired.
huge range of options to choose from. loved the mac and cheese with meatballs. there's also one dish with noodles as it's base, enjoyed these two to the core! tender meat and flawlessly cooked to perfection. this is the place to kill your meatball cravings!

if i could give it a zero, i would. the balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing is what gets it a '1'. everything else is negative: waitress with an 'i don't care about you, i'm just making cash' attitude (i tipped her over 30% so she might have enough to take some personality lessons), the salad and the main dish arriving at the same time (i never have dreamed that that would happen anywhere), my main dish being cold by the time i finished the salad, the main dish (four balls over cheese tortellini with marinara) not being very good at all in the first place, the warm water which tasted like the mon...it all was just flat out horrendous. and why did i go there? because everybody told me it was great. everybody told me it was 'to die for'. everybody told me it was their 'go to' place downtown. and those people told me the exact same thing almost every other review on here is going to tell you: it's great! i'm here to tell you: it most certainly isn't.  and another thing i'm going to tell you: i ate here due to the fact that was i was participating in an event at the convention center.  the food put out by folks operating the in-house food stations at the convention center was twenty times as good as this dump. and the folks serving me at the convention center? chatted, smiled and treated me like they cared about serving me. i'm going to go see if i can leave them a '5'...

the food is amazing and the service is normally great, but occasionally the hostesses are a bit rude. if you like meatballs, this is a must, in spite of the hit or miss service.

i have walked through emporio a number of times on my way to the rooftop beer garden, but never actually had the food.  i came on a saturday night and i'm glad that i came when i did.  it was busy but there was no wait for a table.  we were seated near the street side.  the decor is the plain trendy exposed brick that you see so much nowadays.  if i had any complaint, it would be the reflected noise in the restaurant, or the ever present line of people waiting to take the elevator to the roof.  you have to cut through the line of people to access the restrooms.
the featured meatball was gyro style, and i can never resist that.  it was outstanding.  the tzatziki accompanying it was fresh, creamy, and tangy.  delicious.  the meatballs were cooked perfectly.  another person in our party ordered classic style with a tomato sauce.  i was able to sample it and it was better than i expected... neat.  prices are a bit higher than i'd like, but are typical for this region of pittsburgh.

get the beef meatballs with the pork bolognese!
great place, easy menu, panini size makes for easy sharing.
i try to hit ths place when i am in town on the weekends, love it!

my buddy suggested this place while we were up visiting from louisiana, but overall it was pretty disappointing. the chicken chili cheese fries were good, but the two sliders i had -- beef marinara and spicy pork arrabiatta -- were bland and lacking flavor.

didn't think it was anything special. the food was just ok. in my mind it met the parameters for sustenance, but i'm not rushing back anytime soon.

so this place was really good!! wait was only 10 minutes or less at 630 on a tuesday night which was nice because we had tickets to a show down the road. i had the spicy pork balls on parm mac n cheese. big balls! and the sauce was fantastic! my husband got the ball of the month which was a chicken chili ball which was also excellent. service was a little slow.