Lot 17 Bar & Grill

I was recently visiting Pittsburgh and had the opportunity to dine at Lot 17 with a few members of my Pittsburgh family. Though it wasn't an overall bad experience, the establishment hardly deserves a 5 star rating, not even a 4. I'm rating it a 2 only because there aren't half stars (2.5). My biggest issue, and it was also expressed by my family members, was the totally lack of salt in the cooking process. I'm by no means a salt-a-holic, nor is my father who has high blood pressure, but if I didn't turn up the salt shaker 5 times it might have approached 10. Anyone who knows cooking will know that unless you salt ""during"" the cooking process, you could dump a salt truck load on your plate and it would never ""repair"" a dish. Virtually everything we ordered (5 entrees and a appetizer platter) need salt and more salt. However, I'm mature enough to look past this issue and judge the food for itself, and though not spectacular, the food was at least a 2.5-3.0 star rating. My only other issue with this establishment were the waitresses. I found it odd that despite the restaurant not really being full they seemed harried... It left me wondering if along with their waitressing they might be responsible for bar duty, dish duty, etc. and thus were busier than the dining area seemed to indicate they would be. The prices were reasonable, and if in the area, I'd consider eating there again though I'd be more careful to pick items that weren't salt dependent - - a difficult task. more

So I'm not sure why this place received 5 stars (and is the only reason I ordered from this place), but it is certainly not worth it. They do a decent job of trying to make their menu creative, but for example their steak salad that I ordered would have been excellent with strawberries and blueberries, but you can't add savory red peppers and extremely salty feta cheese to it too! It would have been great with goat cheese, no red peppers or strangely hard to chew fried onions. Same with the onion soup - too salty and cheese on top didn't go well. Even the portobello hamburger was decent, but again, not great. So yeah overall I'd say maybe this place is great in person, but I'd never order from here again, and now that I have I won't visit. Pros: Decent attempt at being creative with food Cons: The food more

Pros: Food was great. Good service. I recommend the Mediterranean salad,lots of calamari and crab meat. Candles on the dinner table gives this place a warm and welcomed feeling. You forget your in a bar. It's a nice place to take your partner or lover. Not crowded during the 5pm rush. Pros: Great food and service. Cons: No wheat beers. more

I can't say enough about this bar! I find myself sitting there for hours because of the company that's there and the food is to die for. They've figured out the recipe... good beer selection, amazing food, and good people. Keep up the great work. Pros: Just all around great service, food and drink! Cons: None! more

I've been to the Lot a few times. Great food, hot broads, & a decent beer selection. The bartenders are all freindly and the service is good. The stuffed peppers are hot but amazing and their daily specials are pretty good. You can tell the 2 brothers that own this take pride in their place and it shows. Its the perfect mix of people and the layout is good too. Pros: Great spot, good people, quality food Cons: parking is tough to find sometimes more