Peter’s Pub

Had their beef stew sourdough bowl, and it was just okay. It was a nicely sized portion for lunch, with plenty of stew and having the bread around it to fill up the rest. It was fine but rather dull for the most part. There were quite a lot of beef cubes, though the Guinness Au Jus that it was served in tasted like any other gravy. There also weren’t a lot of vegetables in the stew to complement the beef, and it certainly felt like the stew was largely premade and just heated up to be served. The bread was fine, though not as strong tasting as sourdough usually is. Service was fine, and the overall environment seems fine for a drink and perhaps their other food if they make those better.

You’ll see people walking around in viking hats in Oakland, and if you don’t know the story (or are under 21), you’re probably wondering, «Where’s the costume party?»
When you or one of your friends turn 21, it’s a tradition to go to Peter’s and «get your horns» (a free viking hat). It’s carnival-​prize quality. If you can’t get their attention or they can’t hear you, the bartenders recognize the sign of putting your fingers up by your head like bull horns that you want a hat. They only check your ID outside, and not at the bar where they give out the horns. Some of my friends have three hats.
College students go here to drink and dance. Weekend nights they charge $ 1 cover (sometimes), and another $ 1 to get upstairs (sometimes). Weeknights there are specials, like $ 5 fishbowls on Wednesdays with country music. They also have a free popcorn machine. People usually dance on the weekends. Upstairs is the dance floor with a different DJ and smaller bar. The upstairs «bouncer» lets people in whenever he feels like it (e.g. 15 people might leave but apparently it’s still too full to let people in).
It’ll remind you of a frat party with the type of guys who come and try to grab and dance up on the ladies. There are also some guys who follow the ladies around the dance floor, even if it’s apparent they’re trying to escape. But I guess you get creepers anywhere you go. It’s one of the two or three drinking establishments in Oakland that have dance floors.
Afternoons normally have older patrons drinking at the bar or eating food. It’s bar food rather than pub food. The kitchen is open until 10pm.
I saw a bride there one night, in her wedding gown with her wedding party.
Crowd ²⁄₅
Food ³⁄₅
Atmosphere ³⁄₅
If you’re bar hopping, put Peter’s on your list.

Good place to go to grab a drink, was pretty crowded with people having a good time getting ready for the Steelers game.
Even though it was busy here the service was really really good.
The menu was just your regular pub food from burgers to appetizers. I went with the chicken tacos they were ok not something I would recommend though. Beers on tap were mostly simple ones nothing to get excited about.
Overall this pub seems like it is an excellent place to go if your ready to start your partying.

I love peter’s pub. It’s your friendly, local college bar, with friendly bartenders and a scrumptious pub menu. The daily happy hour special from 5−7pm which rotates from burgers, to wraps and appetizers. There’s a simple selection of beers on tap and in a bottle and hanging growler’s on the wall which you should totally ask about.
Food is totally affordable for which you get a good sized portion. If you don’t sit at the bar, the dining room has been redone in the past couple years to have a bunch of cool booths. However, if you catch a second at the bar, you can engage in friendly conversation of current and alumni pitt bar goers, for all whom Peter’s has been a staple in Oakland memory. If you’re lucky, you can even ask the owner himself about how Oakland has changed over time. After all, it’s been a few decades. Some of my favorites included a lot of bonding of good friends and drowning my best friend in shots when her drunk bf [now husband] decided to mistakenly change his facebook status to single.
If you get here at night, the bar may become a tad crowded as Peter’s is a staple spot for many a 21^st birthday candidate, coming to gather their Viking horns or a bunch of dancers looking for the 2^nd floor stage.
All in all, make a stop in, you won’t be disappointed.

I have never been to Peter’s Pub in the 4 years that I have worked in Oakland. I always walked past it but never made the commitment to go in. Our group picked it for this day because there was a parking spot right in the front. Yeah, it was as simple as that. We walked in and no one was at the front so we just walked towards the tables. From the bar someone spoke to us just saying, «sit anywhere you want.» Soon after we were seated our waitress came over and took our drink order.
Happy news! We were told that since we had a party of 4 or more we got a free appetizer! That is pretty exciting.
I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich with a side salad and sweet potato fries. I always will pick sweet potato fries because I love them so much. I was not disappointed. :-) Our group also ordered the meatloaf special, and dessert for lunch.
1. Meatloaf– This meatloaf was really good. I got to taste a bite and I was a bit jealous that it wasn’t my meal. It had a bit of a sweeter taste to it, something that I was not prepared for, yet still really good. It was juicy and feel apart easily. Yum!
2. The bite of brownie sundae was ok. I mean it was a brownie, so yum. But it tasted a little dry. I wouldn’t order it again, but if I was offered a bite I would take it.
3. Appetizer platter. It had onion rings, zucchini slices, stuffed jalapeño, mozzarella stick (only one??), and chicken strips (two). I will say that this platter was heavy on the onion rings and zucchini slices. I would have preferred more of an even mixture. A platter is to be shared so having only a few of the «good» things really makes it difficult to not feel some type of way when you don’t get any jalapeños or a mozzarella stick. (I still am upset.)
4. Main meal: Grilled chicken– The side salad was large and wonderful. I really enjoyed the fact that the lettuce was not just iceberg lettuce. It was a nice spring mix. Yum. The sweet potato fries were plentiful and fried just correctly. Now onto the chicken sandwich. I asked for onions on it. They came sautéed – weird right? But that can be ignored. I was not that impressed by the bun. Everything else was good but the bun was not thick enough. The bun was all soggy by the time I got it. I am not a fan of soggy buns. If the bun was thicker I think the sandwich would have been really good, aside from the sautéed onions.
I don’t know if I would come again, but it is a possibility.

I give it a three. Surprisingly, this is not a bad place to watch a few games on one of their screens and they have a decent selection of brews. Food’s okay and served relatively quickly. I have to agree with some of the others that the bartenders occasionally get too engrossed in their conversations with particular patrons, but I’ve not experienced anything ridiculous yet. I’ll keep going.

Yesterday, I celebrated meeting an important deadline by having a drink with CM at Peter’s after work. As an Oakland bar in close proximity to Pitt, I wouldn’t consider visiting Peter’s during the academic year. However, the summer provides the perfect opportunity to visit bars like Peter’s without being overrun by undergrads and made to feel my age.
Having heard that Peter’s served flaming pie shots ($ 6) from my lab manager, I of course had to try one, given that I’m a sucker for drink gimmicks involving fire. Although CM and I were seated at a table, our waitress informed us that I should head over to the bar to get one. Although slightly annoying, this provided me with the opportunity to watch my drink be flamed, unlike a similar drink that I’d ordered at Industry Public House over the weekend, which was brought to my table already smoked. It was cool to watch, esp. when the bartender sprinkled cinnamon over top of the flame, causing it to flare up. Just be sure to blow it out before drinking it if you order one!
Since I was hungry, we took advantage of a happy hour special and ordered two chicken tacos ($ 2.50 each) and a side order of Cajun fries ($ 2). Despite being dressed with salsa verde, the tacos were super bland, so I dressed them up with some mustard (weird, I know) and hot sauce to add flavor. (Great tacos can be found at Las Palmas on Atwood two blocks away.) The fries were your standard pre-​formed variety, lightly battered and then sprinkled with Cajun seasoning, which was spicy but not very flavorful. At least one of the fries was underdone, such that the interior was raw when I bit into it.
At the time of our visit, the clientele was quite varied, ranging from an older couple to grad students and undergrads, and from regulars to newbies (that would be us!). Although our waitress was often busy chatting up another table (friends of hers or regulars, I’m guessing), she was friendly and responsive when we got her attention walking from there to the bar/​kitchen to order. I didn’t detect any obvious cigarette smoke at the time of our visit. Overall, Peter’s fit the bill as a place for quick and cheap after work drink and grub, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to return.

I decided to try Peter’s Pub during Oakland’s Restaurant Week. It was pretty full, but not rowdy when I went in on a Friday for lunch. Most people looked middle-​aged. I got a blackened tuna steak on a bed of spinach and arugula in a roasted red pepper sauce. Everything was delicious. The fish was moist and well seasoned, and the amount of sauce was just right for the greens. I enjoyed every bite of my meal.
However, I was not as nearly impressed by the staff. I walked in, and, expecting a restaurant-​type system, waited by the door. At least three servers must have seen me standing there before one told me I could just sit anywhere. After that, I had to wait a while before she came to give me the menu. She took my drink order and left before I could say that I was ready to order. While the service wasn’t terrible, it wasn’t the most welcoming.
Although I really enjoyed the food, my glance at the menu found mostly bar food, so I probably won’t be returning anytime soon.

Greek central. Not bad, pretty much a frat bar, but decent atmosphere otherwise. It’s a pretty cool thing to get your horns for your 21^st. lots of fun with huge groups. I enjoy dancing here sometimes. If you come on the weekend, which you most likely will, just be aware it’s like any college bar: crowded, hordes of drunks, etc. Basically what you’d expect.
However, during the day, I saw my own server doing shots at another table. I’d get it if your shift was over and it was a tough day. But when I tried getting her attention, she said she’d be right back and went to do a couple shots with her friends before coming back to get our orders. If you’re gonna do that, don’t do it where customers can see… and at least get the customer (s) taken care of first.

A great big Thank You to the management of Peter’s Pub for hosting the Pittsburgh Hash House Harriers Annual Green Dress Run!
A bigger THANK YOU goes to the staff of Peter’s Pub for putting up with 100 or so people drinking, singing and making utter fools of themselves all while wearing green dresses! We managed to raise $ 698 (after expenses) for the Animal Rescue League of Western PA and much of the success of this fund raiser can be attributed to the good people of Peters Pub!

I don’t understand all the negative reviews about this bar. It is exactly what I expected. It’s a bar that serves bar food. If you want a 5 star meal go to a 5 star restaurant. If you want beer and bar food go to Peter’s

Calling Pitt my home for 4 years, you’d think I’d have had at least one experience at Peter’s Pub, however, this past Saturday was the first time I have ever stepped foot inside. This was a dive bar, obviously catering to students. Since there was a basketball game in about an hour, there was a variety of ages present at the bar. If there was not a game, I’d venture to say that my boyfriend and I would have been the oldest ones in there (and I’m not even 30 yet yikes!). We barely made it in the door because all of the St. Bonaventure fans must have found out about Peter’s being extremely cheap and they were hunkered at the bar and all of the tables. Now my boyfriend had been there before and while we did get our first beers downstairs (although it took at least 10 minutes to get served), we carried them upstairs and lo and behold, there were maybe 5 other people at the upstairs bar so we just stayed up there and had another drink after the first. I don’t feel the need to ever come back to be honest, I may end up here again, only if going to a game at the Pete, but I prefer a little less rowdy now that I’m in the latter half of my 20s so I’d probably do The Porch for drinks next time before the game instead.

This, like Hemingway’s down the street, is the quintessential college bar in Oakland. You always know what you’re going to get here: cheap beer, young crowd, and good bad bar food. Sometimes this place is exactly what the doctor ordered– a good place to catch up with your grad student friends on campus without breaking the bank. Also a good place to catch a sports game. On the other hand, there is nothing sophisticated about this place. And of course the crowd is (really) young and loud. A unique feature about this place, however, is the free popcorn!

If you want a legit college town experience go to Peter’s Pub. If you’re out of the college scene (as I am) you can still enjoy Peter’s for lunch. If you’re in college, go there at night and have some drinks (and for your 21^st birthday go here for your horns).
The menu is stacked with pretty typical ‘bar food’ options, however, I had a really tasty, and quite healthy, berry salad for lunch. My friends and I shared an order of homemade potato chips with French onion dip. Delish!
On previous visits I’ve enjoyed their sandwich wraps. I know they also have some nice happy hour specials. Service is decent and the atmosphere is relaxed. Makes me glad I work for a University and can transport myself to my college days by going to Peter’s…this time as an adult who orders iced tea and salad, but still, I can reminice…

I’m writing this review from the perspective of a grad student in Oakland. I haven’t really gone here in the evenings as much as I’ve hit it up for lunch (and perhaps some lunch beers), so I’m primarily commenting on the food and not so much how fun it is as a bar. The food is very reasonably priced — pretty inexpensive I’d say. It’s pretty standard bar food, and pretty good. Not amazingly good, but good enough to keep me coming back. I enjoyed the buffalo chicken salad (with fries of course!) I had this past Friday. It was only $ 7 (compared to the one I had for dinner last night at $ 14 at another restaurant). They also typically have cider on tap, which is always a plus for me.

This place just keeps getting worse. This is the second time I’ve had to downgrade my rating of Peter’s, and it’ll be my last update, as I won’t be returning. The attention with which they prepare food has been steadily declining for years, to the point where every time you walk in it’s a roll of the dice. You might get someone in the kitchen who cares about making your order properly, and you might not.
They’ve also started only intermittently enforcing the «no smoking» rule. For me, this means that on any given day the place will contain experience-​ruining smoke (or worse, you’ll sit down, thinking you’re safe, and then people will start smoking as soon as you get your food). But if you’re a smoker, you’re out of luck too, because on seemingly random days, you’ll be told to put it out. So it’s not a reliably desirable experience for either part of the population.
Also, seriously, and I’ve said this before, how hard is it to not burn my hamburger?
You know how the old saying goes: «Fool me once, shame on you. Burn my hamburger a lot and allow people to start smoking when I’m two bites in, I’m never coming back to your stupid bar again.»

I’ve been back other times and it’s been better. I’ve only been back for lunch with coworkers but the service has been fine. I even got the buffalo chicken wrap recently and liked it a lot. I still think their drinks are pricier than other places nearby but the lunch specials are worth checking out since they are pretty cheap.

I haven’t been here in awhile and made a stop in last night. Apparently this has turned into a smoking bar. I find this odd since they also serve food (the kitchen hadn’t closed yet) and I thought that was against the law. This place reeks of cigarette and cigar smoke, so I will not be returning. The service wasn’t that great either.

Well this is a dive bar in Oakland but I have always had a great meal, quick service and you cannot beat the prices. I typically go for lunch and they have soup, salad, wraps, burgers and many other sandwiches to choose from. On my last visit I ordered the Italian Wedding soup (soup of the day) and it was hands down one of the best wedding soups I have had! Past visits I usually go with a wrap and they have many sides to choose from including fries, side salad and mashed potatoes (my favorite). The prices usually range from 6 – 8 dollars. I have also been for happy hour and they have great happy hour specials. Each day after 5pm they have special menu items for $ 5.

Sadly, I’ve outgrown this place. At least when it comes to a place to hang out at. With that it’s just a reminder that I’m getting older.
I came here after work one night to meet a few people. It was close for us all, and probably the best pick. There aren’t that many bars in Oakland to choose from. What I walked into was a country night college fiasco, and to make it weirder, they were doing some samba or salsa dancing upstairs. Rowdy and inconsiderate college kids everywhere. Makes me wonder if I was that bad back when I was in college.
Service was slow at times. They do have servers roaming the floor looking to see if you need anything, but the whole time our group was at our table, we never had a visit. At the bar I swear the only person I say there 100% of the time was the bar back. You’d have to wave him down to go find a bartender.
I left there with a different view of this place than I did years ago. I may return to this place in time to try their food fare during daylight hours, but never again to enjoy an after work drink.