meat & potatoes

a nice gem in the cultural district. had a chance to take my dad for a thank you dinner in town and a friend recommended meat and potatoes on penn ave. i don't spend muchtimein town these days so i am always excited to hear about a new place to eat. meat & potatoes is a self described gastropub and i would agree with that moniker.

we were in a bit of a hurry so not as muchtimeas i would like to sit and really enjoy the place. we did havetimeto enjoy the poutine appetizer and some small entrees. i had the short ribs flat bread and my dad had the bbq brisket sandwich special. i really enjoyed the poutine, although the cheese curds did not give quite the squeak of the curds you get in canada for the same dish. the brisket had a great spicy slaw and sauce that made for an excellent sandwich. the meat was tender and moist which is not as common as it should be in around town. the flat bread was also fresh and delicious. i would like to have had some more of the short ribs, but the dish was well balanced and very enjoyable.

the place has a great buzz and reasonable prices especially considering the location and quality of food. i did take home a pot de creme for my wife which she indicates was quite good and you will find no harder critic of desert than my wife, so that's high praise. after my recent "fear and loathing" food experience in las vegas, this was a great welcome home

damn good burger. i dined here last night with my wife an mil and overall had a great experience. the inside is nice; though i found it to be a little dim-lit for 7pm in the summer, and also somewhat chilly. after reaching a consensus on this matter, we packed up and moved to the patio. the patio is really cool; tables aren't stacked on top of each other and there is plenty of space for a private conversation (somewhat in contrast to the inside). our stellar waitress gave us the low-down on drink and specials, including the fact that the chefs spent 4 years in france learning to bake authentic french bread, which she offered as an appetizer. how could we refuse? the bread certainly lived up to its hype. it came with a very smooth salty/sweet butter and a home-made berry-ish jam, that when combined constituted a holy trinity of flavor! i offered away the last piece and was slightly disappointed when i was taken up on it. i'm a real sucker for a burger, and love sampling different varieties at new venues. as such, i ordered the "pub" burger, which turned out to far exceed its name. pork belly pastrami, horseradish cheddar, a fried egg and a special sauce [pause to allowtimeto drool while i pine for this amazing creation]. i ordered it medium-rare and it came out cooked perfectly. it was divine! another reviewer mentioned that the portions were quite large and that indeed is the case. i like to eat, and i could only finish half the burger and fries and had plenty left over for later. they also had a pretty decent draft beer selection. i went with the brooklyn star ale (i think that was the name, it was brooklyn-something but not brooklyn-brown-ale - super delicious none-the-less). they served their draft beer in mason jars, and looked to be a slightly smaller portion than that of your normal pilsner-glass portion. a good deal in my opinion at $4 / glass. the wife is on a diet and went with the flatbread. she liked it but wished she had ordered differently once she saw my burger. the mil had the "plain jane" burger, which was more of your standard burger and she was also very satisfied. overall had a greattimeand will most definitely go back soon.

we each had a drink and split the appetizers and our bill was still over $50 each. nexttimei go i will know to order much less and not to listen to the waitress - but i will not be passing up the dirty martinis!

meat & sardines. no, they don't serve sardines, but that is what you will feel like in this too cramped restaurant. tiny little tables do not work when meals are served on a cutting board. we ordered the meat and potatoes for 2, and everytimei tried to cut the steak, the people next to us had to move out of the way. we could not eat off of plates because they would not fit!
steak was good, not great. loved the confit potatoes and mushrooms. bone marrow was a big let down. hardly any was in there, and to add insult i had to pay $3 more for bread to put it on!
so many better places to eat in pittsburgh!

i live in louisiana, and all i can say is that this place could definitely hang with the top places in new orleans. i had the fried pickles (best i've ever had), along with the wild boar sloppy joe w/ bbq chips. everything was awesome. the true star of the show, however, was the grilled bread, which only cost $3! it came with an amazing butter and homemade strawberry jam and was absolutely perfect. my buddy had the fried chicken which came with biscuits and a coffee-bacon jam. he gave me a biscuit with the jam and it was off-the-charts good. this truly was one of the best lunches of my entire life. i'll definitely be back, the nexttimei'm in town.

absolutely amazing, love it everytimei go. the pork shoulder is incredible. great for brunch. love the interior decoration. definitely recommend to anyone.

sunday brunch here is a must do. this was our fifthtimeat meat and potatoes, but only the first for brunch.  our group thought the brunch food, although somewhat eclectic, was very good. some standouts were the short rib hash, the bi bim bap (if you like korean, you'll love this), the huevos ranchero and the shrimp and grits.  the stand out of the meat, however, was the bloody mary bar.  a generous serving of vodka with ice in a tall glass and the you can go crazy. i've been to many bmb in the past but this one offered more mixes and toppings i've ever seen and for only $7.  absolutely (no pun intended)  incredible. if you're not a bloody mary fan and want to go over the top, try the old fashion breakfast, featuring bacon bourbon, maple syrup and bitters.  but, please get reservations well in advance, unless you want to wait and hour or get stuck crammed at the bar.

disappointing experience. well, as suggested i made reservations. however, to get a reservation at a 5:30 i had to make it 4 weeks out. we were about 20 minutes early so we checked in and told the hostess that we were going to be at the bar to get a drink, until our table was ready. my wife was exited to check out the bloody mary bar for $5.00, that we’ve heard so much about. the bar tender proceeded to tell us that the bloody mary bar is only for lunch, but he could make her one. so a bloody mary and a jack and coke came to $22.00 plus tip. ouch! that was a bit more than we were expecting but we were out on the town and just wanted to have a goodtimeand enjoy ourselves. so 5:30 came and went and we still didn’t get a table. so about 5:45 i went back out to the hostess stand and asked about our 5:30 reservation. they told me it would be another few minutes. so we finally get a seat right next to the corner of the bar. the problem is that it was so narrow between the bar and my chair everytimesomebody went by they would bump into my chair or me. so i asked out waiter if we could move over one table. he did allow us, so that was good. so my wife is sitting against the wall on like a big long velour couch and i was sitting in a velour chair across from her. she was complaining how uncomfortable she was, and so was i at this point. both of our seats felt like the springs were blown out and we were sitting in a hole. the velour upholstery was all stained up and looked filthy. the mirrors on the wall looked filthy at first, but then i realized they were just old pitted. with all of the high ratings, despite the tiny tables, i was expecting better. so as an appetizer we ordered the bone marrow and mushroom risotto. both were very good i must say. for our main course i ordered the hudson valley duck breast and my wife ordered the wagyu flat iron. we both ordered them medium rare as recommended by our waiter. my duck breast was very chewy and gristly, even after i trimmed off what looked fat and gristle. i couldn’t even find a piece that i didn’t have to spit out after a few minutes of chewing. my wife gave me some of her wagyu flat iron to eat instead. it wasn’t bad but defiantly didn’t seem like wagyu beef. i didn’t complain though, i just wanted to get out of the uncomfortable chair i was sitting in and go home. our waiter asked what was wrong with my dinner because i obviously didn’t eat it. so i told him it was very chewy and gristly. he said that was one their signature dishes and after talking to his manager, he took my dinner off of our check. the service from our waiter was good so he got a nice tip, but as for the restaurant, we were very disappointed.

doubt we will go back. have eaten there many times, lunch and dinner. went there on a sunday for our anniversary. waitress was terrible. took about 10 minutes till she noticed we were there and no it was no crowded yet...never told is the specials...ordered the devils on horseback, cold, nasty. our dinners were cold, had the fish in a sauce and the sauce was almost jelled when it finally made it to our table. ordered a cosmo and got grapefruit and gin, really????? had to adjust our check 3 times, eachtimehigher, $140, $170 and finally $185. bad, bad, bad

i complained and they sent a gift card. no idea of the value, called to ask and was told i need to use it to find out...i don't think so

loved the mussels!. my husband and i really enjoyed our meal at meat and potatoes. i would return soon to enjoy the mussels again. he had a pasta dish, and he said that it was fabulous! we were with a group and received our food in a timely manner intimeto make our show commitments. i will be returning soon!!!

over hyped. ok i decided to book a rezzy a month ahead oftimeso i could finally try out this place. since it's a tough table to procure, i had really high expectations...

bottom line, this place is way overrated. everyone is trying so hard to be hip and cool it's amusing. the food was ok but honestly the cuisine doesn't deserve the accolades it receives. honestly, it's on par with most manhattan diners (which are pretty good) but it is clearly not on the same level as places like altius, salt of the earth, eleven and the like.

anybody that has been anywhere outside of pittsburgh will tell you this place is trying too hard. this place would be an absolute joke in chicago, la or nyc. (probably out of biz by now)

and don't get me started on butcher & the rye...so annoying, get over yourselves yinzers.

don't waste youtimetrying to get a table at this place...

not just meat and potatoes. but great cocktails, sitting at the bar is a treat because the bartenders are great and will talk to you about various liquors and life in general. i loved our bartender on v-day b/c he tooktimeto describe some things that i could do when making cocktails at home!

also, if you're like me and don't eat pork or red meat (usually) you aren't out of luck. their fried brussels are to die for. the best bar snack ever, and at $5 won't break the bank. fried chicken livers are great too, but a little too heavy... i might get these instead of a meal next time! they always have a lovely fish dish and they have been very accommodating when i've brought along friends who had restricted diets.

most amazingly is that their aiolis are delicious. i absolutely hate mayo, but unlike most restaurants they aren't just modifying some cheap hellman's mayo and making their own mayo/aioli/whatever you call it.

favorite pittsburgh brunch. i have been to both sunday brunch and late night shindigs at meat & potatoes many, many times. the brunch selection has a refreshing selection of internationally-influenced breakfasts, and gourmet takes on american classics. and the bloody mary bar? check out the liquor infusions of the day (jalapeno tequila is a favorite of mine) and get creative with the buffet options for your morning drink! this is one of my favorite pittsburgh brunch traditions.

the cocktails and wines are also great in the evening, with a small but quality beer selection. great bar snacks, and a great place to meet up with friends. i highly recommend making reservations well ahead oftimeon almost any night of the week, especially if there is an event happening downtown or in the theatre district.

awesome everything. firsttimeat m

delicious. although i've had some mixed experiences in the past...one of my overall favorite meals of the summer was at meat & potatoes. i really do think you have to order thoughtfully at this restaurant, but if you do, the meal can be really great.

the outside seating area can be a bit cozy, but has just the right amount of seclusion from the street. i've always had good service at meat & potatoes, although the wait-staff is clearly instructed to educate the diners, and sometimes i do feel a little bit like, um, yes, i'm a semi-educated diner, can we move on? probably nice for people who don't know what some of the menu/cocktail items are, though!

the hudson valley duck breast is great--served medium-rare by the chef's recommendation, which is how i like it. the sauerkraut pierogies underneath were also fantastic--adding some texture and acid. i was not a huge fan of the spaetzle at the bottom of the dish. their purpose seemed similar to that of the pierogies, only less successful. still, a delicious dish. my partner had the pot roast--which was a perfectly sized entree with tender meat, horseradish sauce, and creamy, smooth potatoes.

we were not big fans of the mac'n cheese. it was overly saucy for us, with soft noodles and we weren't big fans of the cheese flavor.

from other trips, the salmon, bone marrow, and the lamb burger were also standouts.

they have some lovely revitalist cocktails and if you can manage totimeit right, you can get in without too much of a wait!