Eddie Merlot’s

If you love a great variety of food, Eddie Merlot is the place to go. My wife and I have been several times and are never disappointed. The staff is great and the environment is classy and laid back. Not to mention the food is amazing. Highly favored!

Food — steaks were just ok. Not nearly the best I’ve ever eaten. Other stuff was great. Creamed corn was excellent. Dessert was fantastic but way too large. Could make half the size at half the price as a matter of fact we all only ate less than half of the desserts.
Service — our waitress was great. The rest of the service was just ok. Couple slip ups with the steaks being cooked right.
Wouldn’t make a special visit.
Reminded me of a Cheesecake Factory Steak House, but much more expensive.

Went here during restaurant week, we couldn’t pass up a deal for $ 36 that included soup/​salad, excellent steak and a dessert. The service was almost too good, they constantly kept checking on us and filling up our water, kinda annoying. I got the pork chops which were done perfectly. They came with a peach on top which I never heard of before. My fiancé and future mother in law got the stuffed tenderloins which was stuffed with vegetables. Extremely delicious however the wine was overpriced but definitely would go back again

The food was phenomenal and the staff the most courteous and helpful from the time that we set foot in the door to when we left. I must say to anyone who has ever though about coming to this establishment, «This place is AMAZING!!! Bring the family, friends or significant other. you are sure to be impressed!!!»

My family wanted to show us a great time in Pittsburgh after Christmas and they brought us to Eddie Merlot. I Our first impression was not great as the valets ignored us while they watched a fight that had broken out across the street at in front of McDonald’s. Our waiter was too familiar in how he addressed us and he did not fix things that were clearly subpar — e.g., my Manhattan cocktail that was brought to me half full, sans cherries, even though I had asked for extra cherries. We all made comments about it and he ignored us and, throughout the meal, we had to flag down another server to have an issue addressed, such as extra salad dressing. Many steaks had to be sent back for being improperly cooked and my ribeye, the only steak I ever order, was ok and not well marbled. The sides were good.
For the price of this meal I expected much better quality food and much more attentive and professional service. This was NOT value for money. 2.3 stars is the accurate rating so I rounded down.

Eddie Merlots disappointed us tremendously. The wait staff was rude and condescending and they made us feel unwelcome. Not the kind of environment one would expect after a steeler win !!! Don’t go here. Ever.

The quality of the meat was excellent. And the service was very good.
For that I would give them 4 stars.
But the ratio price/​quality is not there. I found it to be way overpriced. A New York strip of 12oz. for 45 dollars (and then you have to add $ 10 for mashed potatoes or a broccoli side) is way too much for me.
Location was very nice but not enough to justify those prices.
I would pass.

My experience here is from a work reception, so I can’t fully review the restaurant. However, I can at least warn anyone else looking to have a reception here.
The reserved private «Board Room», which seemed more like a glass closet, was not ready for us when we arrived at our reservation time. It still took a good 30 minutes to an hour after letting us into the room for them to finish setting up and bring the hors d’oeuvres out. Several of my coworkers had to change their drink orders repeatedly because the restaurant didn’t have the tools or ingredients to make it, or didn’t have the alcohol. Most of the hors d’oeuvres were not gluten-​free, but luckily I had requested beforehand that at least one gluten-​free option be provided. This ended up being shrimp cocktail and a fruit and cheese plate, so not too bad, although my stomach wasn’t feeling too hot afterwards. There were also skewers of meat, grilled onions, and peppers. I tried one, and the meat was so bad I couldn’t even cut it with the steak knives we had to request specifically for that purpose. I understand wanting to use up the less than stellar stuff in things like skewers, but that was just bad. My coworker’s piece was hardly cooked at all, and he couldn’t eat it. Not too promising for what is supposed to be a steak place. I can’t say I’ll ever come here again.

Ouch! This was a pretty rough experience to say the least.
My boyfriend and I were walking around downtown the night before Thanksgiving when we decided to stop into Eddie Merlot’s for a cocktail and a lite bite to eat. We took a seat at the end of the bar. I should note that there were two bartenders working, one of which was gobbling down what looked like chocolate cake or ice cream. There were less than 10 guests dining in the area. The chocolate devouring bartender approached and gave us a happy hour menu. He then walked away and continued noshing on his food. A couple minutes later the other bartender approached and asked us if we knew what we wanted. There weren’t any cocktails that looked appealing to me, so I asked for the wine list. She then walked away and never returned. We gave it a couple minutes, hoping she’d pop back over but we ended up leaving. No water, no drinks, nothing in almost 10 minutes. Very disappointing experience. We made it a point to mention what occurred to the host and some other employee that was standing at the host stand. The other gentleman, not the host, offered to make it up to us. We kindly declined, left and walked over to Morton’s for drinks and dinner.

I Love the décor of this restaurant and all the floor to ceilings windows to see outside. I had there filet and shrimp it was really good. The waiter we had was very nice and attentive. They gave us fresh bread, and were always filling up the water glasses. We went for an early dinner at 5pm on saturday so no problem getting a table at that time. The menu is a bit pricey

UPDATE TO PRIOR REVIEW!
We revisited the Eddie Merlot’s Pittsburgh location. All we can say is WOW!!! A“night & day” experience! All food was presented, executed and served on point. Temperature was hot when it should be — Lobster bisque steaming hot, flavorful with correct expected consistency. Did not appear to be «held over». Each and every menu selection we made did not disappoint. The cauliflower au gratin was savory and full of cheese. The meat was cooked to precisely our requested doneness. And the attentive graciousness of GM Larry Stakes’ interaction with us and his interest in honest feedback was genuine!
We say — JOB WELL DONE LARRY & your wait and bar staff at raising the bar, paying attention to feedback and details! Keep up the good work in a continuance in both fine food and service at your location!
A complete pleasure to write this 5 star update!!!

We were attending a concert at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh and needed to find a place to eat before the show. We ate there on a Monday evening around 5pm. Reserving a table on opentable was quick. We ran a little bit late — person answering the phone was friendly, and happy to change the time.
First, the restaurant itself is large, spacious, huge windows, and gorgeous. Exactly what I would expect from a nice steakhouse. They spread the tables out but still manage to serve 300 simultaneously. This is a nice change from a Ruth’s Chris, or from Morton’s where they pack you in considerably tighter.
We started with drinks, both Ketel One Martini’s and mixed cocktails suggested by the waitress. They had a few interesting ones, and they were all very tasty. This might be a great after work place to grab some apps and drinks, albeit an expensive place.
We started with the Alaskan King Crab legs and Barbeque bacon-​wrapped Shrimp. The legs were conveniently cut in half and ready to eat — no fussing around with them like at a Joe’s Crab Shack. The barbeque shrimp were large and delicious… great sauce, and everything is better with bacon!@#
The steaks were the main reason we came here. Both steaks were succulent, full flavored, and very nicely seasoned. Like most steakhouses we’ve been to, our Medium+ orders came out closer to Med Rare, and were simply not cooked perfectly. Both the waitress and manager came around to check on us (a few times, actually) and offered to send them back. We were hungry, somewhat pressed for time, and the cook wasn’t so far off to be worthy of much fuss. We would have been happier sending them back, but hindsight is usually ²⁰⁄₂₀.
The desserts were both delicious — one was a molten chocolate lava cake type thing, and the other was a HUGE, and I mean HUGE piece of carrot cake. Or was it a whole cake? This thing was probably 5×5×8 inches. A serious hunk of cake. It was delicious, but after all the food, way too much.
Overall, I really liked Eddie Merlot’s. Yes, the cook on the steak could have been better, but they offered to rectify that. Most of the food was delicious with careful attention to detail. This was our first time dining here, and it was exactly what I’d hope it would be.
The service was friendly, prompt, courteous, and not at all stiff like we’ve experienced at other similar places. The recommendations on drinks and appetizers was spot-​on. I think we even received a thank you card from the server for dining with them.
Let there be no mistake about this: this place is a top-​notch
The 30oz (!!!) $ 99 Wagyu Tomahawk Ribeye is calling my name. I didn’t order it because I didn’t want to have to be rolled to the concert, but one day I will order that. It sounds huge, awesome, and that over-​the-​top dish that you simply can’t get anywhere else in Pittsburgh.

I was here with a group of people for my sister’s birthday. We all had differing opinions of the restaurant, but personally, I was satisfied overall.
I’m not a huge fan of steak, so I never like it when I am invited to these types of restaurants. You know the places where everything on the menu is «aged to perfection,» ala carte, costs $ 60, and is the size of a golf ball. That being said, Eddie Merlot’s did have some reasonably priced menu options to choose from in addition to the steak.
I had the barbecue braised short ribs with garlic mashed potatoes and a caesar salad. The meat was prepared perfectly! It was fork tender and the sauce was delicious. I enjoyed every bite.
The down side was that the overall service was very slow for the number of people in the restaurant at the time.
As a side note that I did not include when giving my rating, everything that my party ordered looked great, but some of the entrée portions were unreasonably small.

We had a large group dinner for 50 people at Eddie Merlot’s. A group banquet like this is often hit or miss — even for the finest of restaurants, but Eddie Merlot’s brushed off the challenge like lint on a suit jacket.
First of all, we were seated in a private room that looked like it could hold up to 75 people and featured floor to ceiling windows. It is a beautiful setting that accentuates the restaurant’s location in downtown Pittsburgh and gave us plenty of comfort to browse around the room and talk with each other. The room featured 5 top round tables with comfy chairs.
Our appetizers were served buffet style with shrimp cocktail the size of my index finger and an awesome cheese board. My only complaint was that their cocktail sauce was little more than ketchup.
A steakhouse — let alone an expensive steakhouse — choosing to serve a large group is a disaster in the making, but I was amazed with the quality in presentation that they were able to achieve. As expected, the alternate entrees were great, but the magic was in the steaks. Every steak came out well plated, at the right level of doneness, and served hot. Side dishes were served family style.
The meal was capped off with an amazing caramel and sea salt chocolate cupcake.
Please consider Eddie Merlot’s for your next large group event — it may be expensive, but your peeps will love you for it and that is worth any cost.

The Short:
— Steak was decent, but expensive at that price point (3 of 5)
— Ambience was okay, tries to be fancy but isn’t (3 of 5)
— Service was inattentive, uncoordinated and slow the price point. (2 of 5)
The Long:
We came to the steakhouse after the baseball game around 10pm, and were told that the kitchen was still opened. We ordered the crab cakes, two steaks cooked medium rare and a few beers.
The crab cakes came out within 20 minutes, which was decent timing but we were waiting for the steaks for over an hour. What made it worse was the continual barrage from our host that the steaks «would be coming momentarily».
We ordered a second round of beers and saw them sitting on the counter for around ten minutes before someone bothered to bring them over. We were considering grabbing them ourselves.
The steaks were okay. Nothing special. To sweeten the deal our server told us that the sauces would be on the house, but when the bill came they had charged us for it. They took it off but the whole experience was rather poor.
My advice? Try another place to get your steak fix.

I’d been wanting to check out Eddie Merlot’s, so when Pittsburgh restaurant week came around, I grabbed the opportunity!
In case you haven’t checked out Pittsburgh Restaurant week in the past (and if you haven’t, you must next time!), you usually get a smaller menu to choose. You get an appetizer, entrée, and dessert for a set price. The restaurant week menu was pretty fair I thought, and the right price!, $ 35 for 3 courses compared to around $ 40 for just the steak. Yep, it’s an a la carte place, so be prepared. My first course was absolutely delicious. I chose the Caesar salad and it was a VERY generous portion. The fresh ground pepper really took it over the edge. They also delivered out a warm mini round loaf of bread for us to enjoy, which was quite tasty.
For my entrée, I chose the steak diane option. Now I know what steak diane is and all, but for a fancy restaurant I thought the presentation was really lacking. It looked like they had opened a can of wet dog food and poured it over mashed potatoes. Luckily it tasted WAYYY better than it looked! The steak was tender, melt in your mouth, with a wonderful gravy enhancing the steak’s own flavor. The mashed potatoes were thick, creamy, with just the right amount of chunks. It would have been nice to have a vegetable on the plate as well, but alas, it was a restaurant week special. If it wasn’t ridiculously expensive, I’d love to come back and have a true steak.
For dessert, I had the carrot cake which was an overall small portion, but was just perfect after all the food I had already consumed. More sweet than spicy carrot cake with a just right cream cheese frosting. Loved the pineapple in the cake that added that extra sweetness and acidity!
The service was amazing. Definitely a wine place, not a beer place. Nothing is on tap and the only problem with the service was that the waitress did not seem to be very familiar with the beer list. With craft brews becoming more and more popular, I would expect even a steakhouse to have a few that the staff can assist you in picking from.
Overall, it was a good, but not amazing, restaurant week menu and experience. Would I go again? Certainly not for full price, and most likely not for restaurant week. I would hope that next time restaurant week rolls around their menu would be more similar to other steakhouses in Pittsburgh with more options.

Exceptional food. Exceptional service.
Being that I am a complete carnivore my lovely wife took me to Eddie Merlot’s as a surprise for my birthday. I had never been before so I was very excited. As soon as she gave her name I was not only greeted with a Happy Birthday from the hostess and manager but, a few of the servers actually sang me Happy Birthday. Once they finished we were shown to our table. I was never in this space when it was Palomino’s but, it is a very lovely space as Eddie Merlot’s
A few seconds later our waiter came and went over the features of the evening. After we had made our selections he brought us some delicious bread to start with. For beverages we all had the lemonade. It was very good and quite refreshing coming in from the summer heat.
For my entrée I chose the 16oz Prime Ribeye Steak topped with Bacon Gorgonzola Cheese paired with a Sautéed Crab Cake and Lobster Macaroni and Cheese for my side. My steak was just plain remarkable! It was very tender and juicy and cooked to perfection. The Bacon Gorgonzola Cheese was the perfect addition to the steak as it added a unique flavor to the meal. The Lobster Macaroni and Cheese was exceptional as well. Full of lobster and filled with different types of cheeses.
My wife started off with a Caesar salad which she absolutely loved. For her entrée she chose the New Orleans Mixed Grill. It features a 4 oz. Filet Mignon, grilled shrimp, Andouille sausage and roasted garlic mashed potatoes. Our daughter got the Filet Mignon topped with steak butter with garlic mashed potatoes as a side. She devoured everything on her plate so I think she was pleased.
After we were finished with our meals our waiter packed the rest of our food to go and even packed us a fresh full loaf of bread to enjoy with it. he also gave us each a Eddie Merlot piece of chocolate that was delicious.
My only two complaints are one like others have said is that I wish the food was served a bit warmer as the AC was on Antarctica so after 15 to 20 minutes our food was getting cold and two it would have been nice to of been offered a birthday dessert or something which I wasn’t which to me is strange. Otherwise our waiter has very good the entire evening.
Eddie Merlot’s is a chain steak house just like Ruth’s Chris, Morton’s, Hype Park and Capital Grill but they defiantly bring something different and unique to the Pittsburgh Steakhouse Fine Dining Scene.
Insider Tip: Be sure to park in the garage in the building where Eddie Merlot’s is located as they will validate your parking ticket.

Came here with a friend the other day for the first time and I was extremely impressed by the service, interior, and ambience. It’s a spacious dining establishment with a lot of contemporary/​classical décor. The warm wooden furniture and rich, vibrant colors were great, especially juxtaposed to the lovely green view outside the glass windows. Service was great — maitre d explained everything to us and gave us great recommendations on the wine.
I had a glass of Decoy — Cabernet Sauvignon that has the exactly the level of fruitiness that I want. Nice, smooth and refreshing. I also loved that they had an iPad app for their wine list — made things so much easier to look up (you can search by age, type, price, etc.).
For the appetizer, I got the house salad, which was presented in this lovely angled bowl. Salad itself was alright, croutons were fantastic and fresh. Not your typical, gross, stale, Olive Garden croutons.
Bread was amazing too — a bit logistically hard to eat without making a mess haha, but so warm and fluffy. Seasoned very well too, and the butter that came along with it was delectable.
Main dish for me was the Steak Diane. They asked me how I wanted the steak to be prepared and I said medium rare, like always. However, it was basically well done when I got it. Also, it wasn’t so much what I consider a steak rather than a stew. It really just reminded me of a beef stew sprinkled over mashed potatoes. Bland. Heavy. Disappointing.
Dessert redeemed itself — I had a slice of the carrot cake and it was probably the best carrot cake I’ve ever tasted. Moist, fresh, and perfectly seasoned. I was so impressed. The frosting was a bit heavy for me, but then again, most frostings are heavy for me. Very pleased with the carrot cake.
Beautiful venue, lovely staff, great wine, decent food. I think I just ordered the wrong dish — my friend got the cedar plank salmon and was very pleased. Might come back again!

Thanks josh for fantastic service and meeting
Our groups dietary needs! Enjoyed the seabass I had tonight and really liked the Brussel sprouts as well. The outdoor patio was great and the food came out fresh and looking great. I’ll definitely be back, especially after a great walk at point state park!

It’s okay, but I was disappointed.
The service was excellent — attentive, but not stuffy or too high-​brow. Our server read us well, and opened up a bit, and was very helpful in the process.
The environment is open and loud. There were many large tables, and these bigger groups were loud. Fine, but not what I expected. It was hard to chat with my lovely wife at times.
The food was good, but lacked a real edge to get me excited. Here are some notes:
— My New York Strip was cooked as I requested, but was on the thin side, had a big strip of untrimmed fat (which a NY Strip should not have), and lacked surface texture. I do not think they seasoned this cut much, if any.
— Their featured jalapeño potato side-​dish was blah. No bite at all from the peppers, and just potatoes, which are bland without spices. There is some cheese in there, but Hyde Park’s Gruyère Potatoes would crush this dish, as would Capital Grill’s au gratin potato dish.
— The Creamed Spinach was excellent — not soupy, like some do, and not overcooked to a mush. Very good here.
— My wife’s Ribeye was also good, not great, again, seeming to lack much surface texture and seasoning.
— The Key Lime Pie is very good, properly tart, and not artificially colored (thank you).
— Their coffee is excellent, served in a French press.
So overall, I was let down. In this area, I enjoy Hyde Park Grille much better, and would put Capital Grille ahead as well. If you have been to a Flemings or Ruth’s Chris, I prefer them Eddie Merlot’s as well.