Reviews & Ratings for 1889 Cafe

09/05/09

The WORST burger

by jodilp at Citysearch

The meat was a slimy pale grey tasteless mass. I've never in my life returned a burger before. The waitress said it was the finest very lean meat and was just juicy, then she said it was dry because they smoosh the grease out when cooking it, then said their meat comes in patties from a distributor so she didn't know what was in it.

Sorry, but I'm an American who has been eating and cooking burgers my whole life. If you can imagine bad slimy meatloaf with no seasonings, that's what this burger was like.

In addition, The Heinz ketchup bottle with the wrinkled and worn label, which still bears the Heinz pickle (telling me this bottle is at least months old because Heinz doesn't have a pickle on their label anymore) and the pale watery non-Heinz ketchup inside tells me this place is cheap and thinks it's customers are stupid.

"Mary Poppins" on the big screen added to the ambiance.

• Pros: quiet
• Cons: gross burger

06/28/07

Worst experience ever

by jtn123 at Citysearch

Let me premise this by saying I eat out a lot and know what good service is and isn't. My server was awesome, he went above and beyond considering he was the only one working with 6 tables. What I was appalled by was the owner Demo and his rude comments to the employees. He commented that one of them looked like Mussolini after he was hung. That was a huge turnoff, if I were that employee I would have quit and possibly seeked legal counsil.

Up until that point everything was great; service and food were great!

• Pros: Food is good
• Cons: Owner ranting on the floor in front of guests

01/04/07

Outstanding food, diverse menu, very good service and very reasonable prices.

by lehellenique at Citysearch

Exceptional is the one word that describes the experience we had last weekend. We shared both the Penne Mediterranean which was made with fresh basil, roasted garlic, pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and portabella mushrooms sauteed with spinach and Feta cheese in a white wine and lemon sauce and then tossed with Penne pasta. The pasta was boiled to just the right al dente texture. We also had the Trout Amaretto. The Trout was tender and flavorful and was sauteed in brown butter, toasted almonds and white grapes and enhanced with Almond Amaretto liquor. Wow! The entire experience was a feast for our palates.

Our waitress was accurate, polite, attentive and had a good sense of timing for serving the appetizers, main courses, dessert and coffee.

The prices are very reasonable and are 20 to 30 percent lower than what we have paid in so-called ?up scale? restaurants Downtown or Mt. Washington.

Highly Recommended.

• Pros: Very good and well-prepared food, attentive service, very reasonable prices.
• Cons: Parking - it's tight but available - parking lots are within walking distance.

12/31/06

Best Salad in Pittsburgh

by jbukes at Citysearch

My wife had the Chicken Walnut Salad and pronounced it the best salad in Pittsburgh.

I had the Chicken with Greek Spanakopita and it was excellent.

Another person with us had the special of the night and said it was super.

I don't understand the earlier reviews but perhaps things have improved in teh past two years.

• Pros: Excellent food and value
• Cons: Parking is a problem on Carson Street on Saturday night after 8 pm.

10/05/05

just terrible

by butterflittle at Citysearch

The salad (plate of lettuce) was wilted, the pasta had so much garlic on it that I flat out couldn't choke it down, the "dinner rolls" are the same ones served at hospital cafeterias, and when I told the waiter that I couldn't eat the meal, he shrugged and said "the cook's been making it like that for years". If that's the case, how have they stayed in business? And it wasn't an overly cheap meal - my plate cost $14.00. I suggest taking your $14.00 down the street to Piper's Pub and enjoy your meal!!!

• Cons: Horrible Food, Bad service, Tacky Decor

07/29/04

Not My Thing...

by jigga711 at Citysearch

Hungover one Saturday morning I drove down to the South Side with some friends to get some grub. We saw the 1889 Cafe and discovered a coupon for buy one entre, sandwhich or salad - get one free!!

(Valid any evening) Now, I consider evening anytime AFTER noon. They consider it after 4. So the coupon didn't help us. I got an over-priced ceasar salad that was nothing but wilted lettuce saturated in dressing with rock-hard crutons. My friends got the most pathetic looking sandwiches I've ever seen. You'd think with all these great food places that have good prices and tons of food, that 1889 would at least try to compete. They don't.

• Pros: Olde Tyme Look, Outside Dining
• Cons: , Uncomfortable Seats, Hard Crutons

07/28/04

THE FOOD SUCKED!!!!

by amcst81 at Citysearch

The food was awful. The salad was wilted and had way to much dressing.

WE all ordered something different and everything was small, and way over priced. I almost wanted to leave when we got our food that is how bad the food was. DON'T oder a BLT don't order a turkey sandwhich and don't order any of the way over priced Salads ever!!!

Go anywhere

• Pros: nothing
• Cons: , do not eat here!!!