monterey bay fish grotto

the view itself made the visit to this place worth it. theservicewas excellent (💸), and the kitchen was quite accommodating. it’s a seafood restaurant but they do have vegetarian options and can customize the piscetarian dishes to be vegetarian as well. the best item on the menu was the steaming chocolate latte. which was basically a decadent molten hot chocolate cake topped with fresh cream.

this past weekend we went out for our anniversary dinner celebration. once again, we chose monterey bay fish grotto on mt. washington. we made our reservation for 5 pm in hopes of getting a table next to the window. happily, we did, a table in the corner with a terrific view.  . mbfg is a special occasion restaurant. it's one of the priciest places we've dined in pittsburgh, perhaps the priciest, but i'd have to really think about it and compare how much alcohol we drank, number of appetizers/desserts, after dinner coffee, etc., for a fair comparison. the food is good, theserviceattentive, but really, you're there for the view. here's what we enjoyed:

best crab cakes ever. huge lumps of crab meat, no ground up mystery meant. i come to this restaurant every time i come to pittsburgh and it never fails. the view is spectacular, and the restaurant has been well renovated. serviceis attentive to round out a great experience.

a nice dinner. we went for an anniversary dinner. we had a really nice dinner. theserviceis terrific, the food yummy and they even gave us a peice of dessert on the house for our celebration! the view is great! the inside decor a little odd/maybe outdated. but we would go back for a special occasion dinner again!

food was terrible,servicewas awful! we ate there last week. we waited 1 hour and 15 minutes for our food. when we asked to see a manager we were ignored. the food finally came and was warm at best. we didn't have time to wait for a new meal. i know we won't be back and my friends and family will be staying away as well.

nice, but. the selection and food quality were excellent. the wine prices were ridiculously marked up with the average bottle being $65 or more. $65 for a $12 bottle of wine is a "bit" of a mark-up.
the view is truly outstanding and theservicewas also very good. this is a nice place to take out of town visitors, but i think my visits here will be few and far between. my salmon was excellent, but the piece was so small. i know salmon does not cost that much no matter how good the quality. overall, i left with a nice impression of the restaurant, but if i am spending almost $200 on a dinner for two, i need to get a second job.

fish with a view.. the food is very good. the view is better. the oysters rockefeller was tasty, we also had the crab cakes, i understand why they are known for their crab cakes, excellent. my mako shark was good, it was moist and tender and flavorful and piping hot. my girlfriend had the sea bass, caribbean style, she was pleased. presentation was great,servicewas good. the view is amazing.

elevated views and foods. this place is not as stuffy as some of the other grandview establishments, and perhaps they don't see the need. with quite a list of "flown in fresh" fish, each with a variety of different preparations, salmon and cobia graced our table, accompanied by the char-grilled broccolini. both were well prepared and presented. craft brews graced the menu, although some local seasonals would garner more praise from me. for dessert, we shared drunken cappuccino and the chocolate cake, both delicious and subtle. want an interesting view? ask for a window seat on the far right: stare down at the modest neighborhood homes and feel like you made it in this world.servicewas knowledgeable, friendly, and not bothersome.

my boyfriend took me to the monterey bay for our two year anniversary on light up night. we received amazingserviceand got the best seat in the house. he got the shrimp alfredo dish and i got the stuffed sea scallops. both were delish! i had also ordered the lobster soup and didn't like it at all. upon seeing me not eating the soup and stirring it instead the waiter and manager came over and asked if there was an issue. i stated i didn't care for it and they took it away right away and removed it from my check. i later found out that our prime seating was due to my boyfriend calling ahead to tell them he planned to propose to me :) it was a magical night and they really made the night extra special for me. we will now go every year for light up night to relive the amazing time we had that i will never forget!

fresh fish far from the shore. very good seafood, fresh and well-prepared, and greatservice- even though it's hundreds of miles from the ocean. if you're looking for fresh fish that is prepared well, in a venue with a pleasant ambiance with a great view, served by a knowledgable and attentive staff, then try monterey bay fish grotto.

the only complaint we had was that they were sold out of our first choices - but that happens when a restaurant tries to serve only fresh food. the view is great, although it would be better if they washed the windows more often - they were fairly streaky.

we had the peppered tuna and the escolar, and both were excellent. prices are really quite reasonable for fresh seafood, probably because the serving sizes are not huge, and that is just fine with us. we would much rather pay for quality than quantity.

great!!. amazing view!!! greatservice!!! i can't recommend this place enough. every course was spot on. if you are looking for a special night out, i recommend this place. the prices are high but that is to be expected with this level of dining.

not impressed. my wife and i have dined all over the world and in the u.s. extensively. we've dined at michelin rated restaurants and those owned by the famous chefs you can see on the television. this place charges prices that put it in the category of the best restaurants. sadly the food, while fresh, is just not that impressive. they have an excellent selection of fresh fish. i liken this restaurant to taking your best fielder in baseball and sticking him in right field, or the best actor in a movie being relegated to a role as an extra. the ingredients are misused. the famous crab cake is broiled not fried, it has wet, soggy bread crumbs mixed with excellent crab meat laying on a flavourless sauce. what a shame and waste of good crab. should you find yourself dining here anyway, stay away from anything that is grilled. their grill destroys food, taking away the flavors of the seafood and leaving an acrid taste. i sent a grilled shrimp appetizer back explaining the grill issues and they came back out the same way. i received a shrimp cocktail as recompense with a cocktail sauce consisting of ketchup and...ketchup. my wife had the crab stuffed scallop. another case of ruined ingredients. as soon as we saw the grill marks on the scallop it was over. just not good enough for $50+ per plate. period. very unfortunate because the base for a great restaurant is there.serviceis good.

dinner with friends. this was absolutely the best dinner andservicei have ever had. also the view was lovely. i had a meal that let me try 4 seperate things which were all fantastic . can't wait to go back.

monterey bay. 10/5 stars. theserviceis great, the food is great too. there is a beautiful view of pittsburgh and it even has a kids menu. one of my favourite restaurants.

very disappointed. on a business trip from la, i stopped by the restaurant to have some fish with a friend since they claim to be the best seafood restaurant. theservicewas extremely slow in the lounge, the sashimi tuna appetizer looked like cat food. the sword arrived 2 degrees above room temperature . did i mention that they do not care to provide with a great dinning experience. i think if more real seafood restaurants open up in pittsburgh, the monterey bay will be closed in two years time.