IMO, Monterey Bay on Mt. Wash is one of Pittsburgh's best restaurants -- certainly as far as seafood restaurants. The view is spectacular, the seafood is very fresh and the hot, fresh, sourdough bread is worth the trip on its own. Its moderately expensive (entree ~$16-25), but less than most of the other places up there and the wine list is reasonably priced (cost +$10 they claim). It is usually difficult to get weekend reservations unless you do it well in advance -- especially for a group that large. If you do call, try to get seated by the windows. -dan John G. wrote: > Hi all, > > I'm organizing a dinner for 20-30 people, many of them out-of-towners, and > am thinking about Mt. Washington as a locale. I'm curious to hear what > people think of the various high-end restaurants up there. Anybody want > to sound off? > > Thanks in advance, > > JRG > -- > John Groch | ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]][[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[ > Kibbutzing on an account at | For your enhanced viewing pleasure, this .sig > University of Pittsburgh | file is being presented in Letterbox format > Pittsburgh, PA 15260 | ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]][[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[
Pittsburgh, PA
Mt. Washington Recommendations
If you have the loot to spend on a Mount Washington restaurant, you have the money to go someplace that's actually good. Most of the Mt. Wash places are overrated, notable only for their locations. I'd suggest Steelhead Grill, Casbah, Le Pommier, Pittsburgh Fish Market, Bruschetta, or Le Perroquet. Want cheaper and more casual? Mad Mex, Church Brew Works, Fajita Grill, for starters. Good Luck!
Dan G. wrote: > IMO, Monterey Bay on Mt. Wash is one of Pittsburgh's best restaurants -- > certainly as far as seafood restaurants. The view is spectacular, the > seafood is very fresh and the hot, fresh, sourdough bread is worth the trip > on its own. IMO Monterey Bay crystallizes, for me, what is wrong with many restaurants in this city. I'll give you two points, Dan, the view from there is good, and the seafood they serve is fresh(big whoop on that last--not difficult if you can pay for it). I'll even grant you an additional point: the bar is well stocked, and might be one of the better places in the city to have a drink. The bar has the additional advantage of not requiring consumption of MB's food. I'd disagree with every other point. Monterrey Bay serves big entree portions, prepared in an uninspired fashion. The decor is cheesy, the waiters ill-informed, and badly dressed. Salads/dressings/desserts/vegetables are of the quality one would expect in Eat and Park. And the "really great bread" is a frozen product (I can tell you where to buy em, if you're a restaurateur). I'd *never* take out of town guests there, particularly if the culinary scene in their home town is better than the one here. I know I'm bucking the conventional wisdom here, but I stand by my opinion. I've been to both their locations, and the experience was consistent.
Jim M. wrote: > Does "uninspired" mean not creative, in this context. If so, I have no > problem with that. Perhaps I should qualify my original statements. Maybe I'm just odd. When I spend the kind of money one would spend at Monterey Bay, I want an "experience." I want to eat foods prepared in a fashion superior to that which I am able to execute(and as a 10 year veteran of the white tablecloth scene, that means something). In short, for the money they charge at MB, the food served should be better than I could make--it isn't. Monterey Bay does not, and cannot, provide that, IMHO. Their fish is fresh, their portions large, but they serve nothing that the average joe with a couple of brain cells couldn't whip up. > I like well prepared vegetables and deserts, though most of the time I view > the salad as that thing the restaurant gives you to pick at while you are > waiting for the food to come. (There are excpetions to this, when someone > makes a really outstanding salad.) The attention shown the "less important" parts of the meal, generally belies the overall quality of the kitchen. Relatively expensive meals should be of relatively good quality--at MB, they are not. Bad sides mar the overall impression of the meal. With desserts, the psychological concept of primacy and recency kicks in. As humans, we tend to remember first and last impressions. All the times I've been to MB, the dessert tray looked as if it had been out for a few hours--everything was limp/dry. Again, it speaks to the overall level of attention paid to quality in the organization. I guess I shouldn't complain. Pittsburgh is a city in which the "major" food critic actually has a comment about the quality of an establishment's deep fried zucchini. There hasn't been real and insightful food criticism here since Jim Loevner left In Pittsburgh.