Del’s Bar and Ristorante DelPizzo

I had planned on delaying this review, but an article in the Post Gazette says that Del’s will be closing on May 2, similar to other restaurants featured on Restaurant Impossible. This makes me so sad because Del’s is super super cheap and decent Italian.
My dad and I came in last Thursday, and contrary to other reviewers, most of the service was pleasant. Our waitress was in a rush but totally competent, and the other employees were pleasant enough. Maybe because they are closing? Anyway, we got the $ 10 dinner buffet, which included unlimited soup, salad bar, bread, five entrée choices, a drink, and dessert. Does it get any better than that?
The five entrees were delicious. The Pasta Mafalda (Marinara and Alfredo sauce) was my favorite. The chicken and eggplant Parmesan were delicious as well, and the scalloped potatoes were good. I didn’t try any soups, but the salad bar and bread were good too. The brownie dessert hit the spot, as well. I prefer the Italian at the Pleasure Bar up the street, but this was good and heavy Italian food on a graduate student budget!
The owner has a valid point in the news article: It’s not that Del’s food is bad, but a lot of people want to eat at only the most trendy restaurant. Del’s is old-​fashioned. I like it the way it is.
I’m bummed Del’s is on its way out, but I really enjoyed my meal here!

I hear that they are going out of business May 1, 2015.
After a mighty decline in quality this is not surprising news.
Even for the sake of nostalgia I would not recommend this restaurant anymore.

Cheese and rice! How is this place still in business? Del’s is a relic of a forgotten time, before Americans realized what actual food tasted like, and before there were so many restaurants that the consumer had multiple options for traditional Italian fare.
There was literally no aspect about my experience that I enjoyed. Who honestly wants to eat a microwaved chicken parmesan, with sauce that contains more water than tomato? Thankfully I didn’t bring my girlfriend here, or the I might have had to seppuku for the shame I had brought the Italian side of my family
Also, instead of being treated to some sort of soft rock or easy listening music, or even the cheesy italian classics, you’re treated to hearing the owner screaming obscenities to either the staff or other guests. What a joke! If she spent less time trying to tell people the food is good and more time actually making the food good, this restaurant wouldn’t be the joke of the restaurant industry.
Though I haven’t been back in months, I really enjoy seeing the ridiculous promotions employed to attract customers (that by the way, reek of desperation.) Magicians? Pet psychics? Is the owner crazy? Is there some sort of sphylitic madness keeping management from making sound business decisions? Who knows! Thats half the fun!
I really wish I could give this nightmare 0 stars, but I can’t. So here is a positive note. Try the bread, it’s passable.

Never wrote a review before, but this place was so bad, I had to comment. I personally ordered some pizza for my girlfriend and I, and she ordered some cheese sticks based on her co-​workers who recommended them. I will list the things that were bad.
— We sat at the bar figuring that it would be quicker, it was not.
— The gentleman serving as the bartender seemed like he was more interested in BSing with the regulars than serving us. At one point, my girlfriend was out of water for over 10 minutes.
— The sauce with the cheese sticks was inedible. We actually had to eat our cheese sticks with ketchup. We told the bartender/​waiter the sauce was awful, he didn’t care at all.
— The pizza was undercooked and overall bad. I got ill about 3 hours after eating and my girlfriend complained about her stomach hurting, ending our evening early.
Overall, my expectation was raised after Robert Irvine was there, but if that is Robert’s sauce… he sucks as bad at this place does. The cheese sticks were good and seemed homemade. Other than that, I give our experience an F-.

The crab legs were good, however they advertise «all you can eat crab legs» yet they have a 4 plate max. The owner made a point to stop at the table and make that clear to us. The service was great. He was very attentive and when I was finished with one plate he brought out the next batch right off the stove.

A group of my colleagues from work chose to go here for the Italian buffet for lunch. A friend recommended this place due to being on food networks restaurant impossible with Robert Irvine. They unfortunately have not continued with his recipes because the food was AWFUL and made me personally sick the entire night.
About the buffet itself first there was no chicken, veal or eggplant parm there was only fried and bake cod that was greasy and dry. Ziti ala vodka no regular pasta dish but another ordered the spaghetti and meatballs and they stated there sauce was very acidic.
Years ago they food was outstanding their parents or relatives must be highly disappointed in what has become of this place save your money,

Del’s was my favorite restaurant growing up as a kid. I would get a full size serving of rigatoni with meat sauce. Times have changed, it is no longer my favorite restaurant, but it will always be a place I’ll remember fondly. I don’t think the food is what it used to be. It’s not bad, but there are many other options out there that are preferable.

The best part of the meal was laughing about how bad it was. Do not eat here unless you have a sense of humor and some money to waste.
Stouffers-​caliber stuff. That’s not an exaggeration. Our waitress was very nice, though.

So this place has a rather limited beer selection, but had free and very fun karaōke when we were there. I can’t speak to the food but if you’re into karaōke this place is worth a shot.

I enjoyed the aesthetic but the music was too loud, it took was 20 minutes to just get water, the floors were dirty, our waiter was awkward and didn’t ever check up on us, the spinach artichoke dip was very cheesy, and the meal was very average. They had a really great house salad dressing though!

This place is great if you like eating frozen microwaved entrees.
I feel really bad for the staff at this place because I’ve heard that it’s such a terrible place to work. Tip your server well if you go here because they are treated like shit!

Food was ok, service was ok, atmosphere was nice. my husband got the lazagna and it had NO flavor. I had the chicken marsala and it was good. the portions were very large.
i think the thing that bothered me the most was the «before dinner» food. my husband ordered a cesar salad, it had absolutely NO flavor. seemed like it had no dressing. sent it back and got a house salad, still, no flavor. dressing was very plain. there were free apps on a buffet, everything was dried out and over cooked. seemed like it had been sitting there all day, meanwhile we arrived at 5:05pm on a saturday evening!
I’m not sure we will ever go back. sad.

Our experience at Del’s was a good one. We were quick to be seated (on a Saturday night), the staff was more than friendly, and the food was great. The atmosphere is very nice, dated, but nice and quiet. The bread (and Italian seasoned dipping sauce) was delicious and fresh. We bought 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and 4 specialty drinks and payed a about $ 75 including tip! We left fat and happy, and will be returning soon.

I have a few things to report on this place. Since this place appeared on Restaurant Impossible it is good to report that the décor and menu are still just about the same when on the show. Sadly, the management and higher ups haven’t really changed, same mentality.
What drew us in here was a sign on the side of the street: «All You Can Eat Pasta Bar.» Great we thought, let’s go in and try it out. Then everything seems to have gone down the toilet. When we got inside and attempted to order the pasta bar we were told it wasn’t available due to the street festival going on outside. Hmm, funny, because there is still a sign, if not two, posted outside advertising this. If you were not going to honor this special (which I believe runs Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday) then maybe you should have taken in the signs for that week.
When we decided we weren’t going to dine here and let our waitress know our intentions we got this great, drawn out excuse why we shouldn’t go. Instead of honoring the all you can eat portion of this, they would hand you a card with options on it to fill in for the pasta bar. Mind you, it wasn’t even all you can eat, just whatever you checked on the card (more like a slip of paper) was what you got.
After sitting there and made to feel guilty our waitress came back over and gave us the real reason for the guilt trip: Her manager (who just happened to be the hostess as well) would eventually yell at her that night and quite possibly fire her. I felt bad, especially since she was about to cry, but don’t guilt trip me into buying food at an establishment that was priced higher than should be and obviously didn’t honor their specials. (To our waitress, I am very sorry we didn’t stay, even your tears couldn’t get us to stay. I hope you still have your job. If the management fired you for us walking out, that is just bad practice, patrons walk out of establishments for far less than what we walked out for (This shows that the attitudes haven’t changed from the show)).
Will I ever go back here willingly, probably not. I’d return if whomever I was with begged and pleaded to come here. That would be the only way.

Outside patio table had bird poop on it when the hostess seated us there but rather take us to another table we waited until they cleaned it .the food was on the pricey side and had absolutely no flavor and the pasta was not cooked, it was almost crunchy.
The service was ok but definitely will never go back…

This place use to be really good, but it feels as if it is run-​down now. Our family of four was seated and it took an hour for our food to come out.
Also, the Caesar salad did not taste good. I ordered the eggplant Parmesan and it did not look appetizing at all. Our family also ordered chicken Parmesan and it was burnt all around the edges.
There are better Italian places to go. I don’t like waiting an hour for my dinner.

OMG ! I love this place everyone here was super nice and helpful. The pizza was fanatic!!! Super cheseeeeessy mmmmm
It’s a must u come here for dinner (date night)
O. And they have a new lunch buffa startn next month. See u there.

I live around the corner from Del’s. Their food is good, though I’d probably trade a little less quantity for a little better quality, but overall it gets the job done when you’re craving Italian.
The issue with Del’s is the service, and I don’t mean the waiters & bartenders. The hardworking servers at Del’s go above and beyond to keep the clientele happy. Unfortunately, the owners (specifically, the daughter of the owner) are on such a power trip that they ruin the experience of customers in favor of friends.
In one incident, the bartender was unable to let us know when last call was, because the owners kept telling her to «close. no, stay open, we have people coming» for which the bartender was profusely apologetic and accommodating, closing and re-​opening our tab.
In another instance, the daughter of the owner chewed out a group of servers in front of 20 – 30 customers for not holding an outdoor table for over an hour so friends could bring their dog to dinner while 1) there was a long line to eat outside and 2) I’m pretty sure dogs aren’t allowed inside of patio areas that serve food.
We have also, on numerous occasions, tried to order take-​out, which has never been entered into the system when the owner’s daughter takes our order, causing us an extra 20 – 45 min wait. Additionally, each time she asks to seat us, she wanders away and forgets us, requiring a waiter to stop serving to help out.
Essentially, I believe Del’s could be wildly successful, if only ownership would step adsde and let more competent management handle day-​to-​day operations.

Bully on the block.
Del’s is as many of you know located in Pittsburgh’s Little Italy. It’s situated at the very beginning of the main drag on Liberty if you’re coming up from the Strip or over on Baum Blvd. For that and the nice exterior a lot of people not familiar from the area give it a try. Though I really wonder how many people go back for a second visit. I sadly can say I’ve been suckered into going 3x’s and not once have had an experience worthy of a street packed with so many good options.
Del’s is a typical Italian place with prices inflated like their egos. Their dishes are typical and they can’t even pull off the simplest Italian fare.
I will say however though that the chicken diablo is a decent dish and what I get when forced to go.
Inflated egos, poor service, very average Italian food.
Discover a new place in Bloomfield.

Ummm… if you’re not open til 11:30am on a Sunday, then change the sign on your door which indicates you’re open at 10:30!!! There were 7 in our group and 3 others waiting outside til finally a gal opened the door to inform us of their operating hours.
We didn’t wait an hour for them to open, opting instead for Ritter’s.