Sienna Mercato
942 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA, 15222
Sienna Mercato Menu
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Address :
942 Penn Ave
Pittsburgh, PA, 15222 - Phone (412) 281-2810
- Website https://www.siennapgh.com/mercato/#emporio
- Click To Get Directions
Opening Hours
- Mon :11:00 am - 10
Specialities
- Takes Reservations : No
Delivery : No
Take-out : Yes
Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
Good For : Dinner
Parking : Valet, Street
Bike Parking : Yes
Wheelchair Accessible : Yes
Good for Kids : No
Good for Groups : Yes
Attire : Casual
Ambience : Casual
Noise Level : Average
Alcohol : Full Bar
Outdoor Seating : Yes
Wi-Fi : Free
Has TV : Yes
Dogs Allowed : No
Waiter Service : Yes
Caters : No
Categories
Italian Cuisine
The immense popularity of Italian cuisine globally isn't unknown. You can find an Italian Pizzeria around every corner of almost every city in the United States. Not to forget that in every house, people enjoy mac and cheese as comfort food. But it would be wrong to believe that Italian food starts with pizza and ends with good pasta as this Mediterranean country has much more to offer other than these two dishes. In Italian Cuisine, there is a high use of fresh tomatoes, all kinds of herbs, great quality of cheese, all types of meat, seafood and fresh handmade pasta. Many find it hard to believe that Italians have been making noodles long back.
Italian and Greek cuisines are always mistaken to be same, but they are poles apart. The primary difference between the two cuisines is the use of cheese in most of the Italian dishes. Italians love to cultivate their own cheese and process them as per their food requirement. It is believed that some cheese is so expensive that cheese producers secure them in lockers.
If you are bored eating the same old pasta or pizza, you can try some of the authentic Italian dishes like Risotto, Polenta, Ribollita, Lasagna, Fiorentina Steak, Bottarga, Ossobuco, Carbonara, Focaccia, Arancini and Supplì. Another item which Italians love to relish every morning is a good cup of Italian Coffee. Once you taste a freshly brewed cup of Italian Coffee, you might not visit Starbucks ever again. Authentic Italian food is made with heart and soul, so go find a restaurant where you can relish Italian cuisine in your city.
Pizza
Pizza is a famous Italian dish savored around the world. The entire credit for the popularity of Pizza in the United States goes to the chain of pizzerias all over the country. While the base and the texture of Pizza remains same across the globe, it's the toppings that differs from country to country. In the United States, you will find the top pizzerias serving pizzas with the toppings of mainly beef, bacon, chicken, ham, and sausage for the non-vegetarians. Other than these famous meat options, Pizzas with veg toppings such as mushrooms, pepperonis, garlic, tomatoes, spinach, etc. are also famous in most restaurants in the United States.
Irrespective of your locality, you will find a variety of different restaurants in your cities offering pizzas of all different types. Pizza is hot favorite among people of all ages in the United States. A large size pizza is enough to feed a family of 3 or 4 at large. Pizza is also the most preferred food whenever a group of friends is hanging out together. Pizza gained popularity in the United States after the American soldiers stationed in Italy returned from World War II.
Over the years, different pizzerias in the United States have developed their own respective regional variations. Pizza gained popularity as the iconic dish in the United States in the second half of the 20th century. Whether you prefer thin or thick crust pizza, you can find a pizza of your preference at the best pizza restaurants in your city.
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Jessica D.
This is only for the meatball level. I had been really looking forward to trying this place and left with just a "meh" feeling, and one that I don't expect to experience again. I had gone with some out of town vegetarian friends knowing that their menu was full of veggie-goodness. I was there more for the meat. I started with an Italian cream soda in blueberry that had a bit of an odd flavor to it. It might have been the cream, it might have been the syrup, not really sure, but it was just a bit off. Then I had the turkey ball with the pesto and the spicy pork with arrabiatta. Now, I like spicy things - I am generally a 7 on an Asian scale of spicy, but this ball and sauce literally made my nose run. Hot, just for the sake of hot, is never appealing. The pesto left a lot to be desired as well. And the turkey ball was dry and rather flavorless. I always buy turkey meatballs at Whole Foods which are delicious and these did not at all compare. I also order the beans and greens which were good, but super soupy and kind of should have been served with a spoon. The friends that ate the veggie balls said it was really just a white bean ball and rather flavorless. If you are a meatball place, you should make meatballs - the best meatballs ever. These were not nearly as good as my mom's or Whole Foods which was disappointing.
(2)Rachel C.
For a new restaurant I'm very impressed! I'm such a sucker for a place that has a theme that carries throughout. They obviously put a lot of thought behind how they wanted the place to look and feel. It looked like a lot of the wood was reclaimed from barns, you know, that kinda hip look right now? Are they calling it barn chic? Who knows... but I do know the food was gooooood! I'm way into cream sodas and was so excited to see them, plus you can spike it with vodka... DONE! It was delicious too, with the seasonal flavor being pecan. The only thing wrong was that it went too fast... my bad! We started off with the warm olives and mozzarella, which was good and made me want more! The crab balls were good and I think if you're really into crab, this will probably be your jam. The poutine was the only thing that was so so. The fries were legit fresh cut, but the gravy sank all the way to the bottom and wasn't very plentiful and the curds weren't very melty. This was probably the one item that was just okay. But I kept eating, so you know it was fine! I wanted to get just the saucy balls aka 4 meatballs. But I thought you could choose different balls and sauces (this sounds so dirty... but how can I not make this sound dirty??). But you can't do that. No ball switching allowed! SO I went with the sliders instead because you're allowed to pick your balls freely... I got the: Meatball Sliders were $3.50 each Classic beef with Sunday Gravy Spicy Pork with arribiatta Chicken with creamy parmesan The best by far was the chicken with parm. I really thought I would have been down with the regular classic beef, but man was that chicken ball good! With the creamy parm it just paired amazingly. The Spicy Pork was my second fave, with a spicy arribiatta sauce to go with it. The Classic was still good, but the others just blew it out of the water! The service was super friendly, and I was surprised to see it so dead, but it was a Saturday afternoon with not much going on downtown (other than a weird anime conference at the convention center). I will note that I loved their serveware! Stainless steel deep bowls with handles. It made serving and eating easier. I know that's a weird thing to notice, but I loved them and kinda want them for my kitchen now. Don't worry, I won't steal them...
(5)Elisabeth C.
GROSS. We came here because of the good yelp reviews and because they have gluten free options on their menu, which I require. There actually aren't many gf options- there is gf pasta and sauce and only one kind of meatballs. The salads-which you would think would be gluten free, are not listed as such so they must not be. I thought the tomato sauce was sour and acidic and gross. The pasta was edible but the meatballs were mushy. I was really unhappy with this place as they make a big deal about being gluten free friendly but they do not deliver the goods. This was our last night in Pittsburgh and a friend of mine raved about this place, but my experience was terrible and left a bad taste in my mouth. If you are looking for gluten free options, look elsewhere.
(1)Tony D.
I wasn't really aware of this place until we walked by and saw their little thing on the street advertising happy hour, meatballs, and all that. I'm no meatball connoisseur, but that alone was attractive enough and so we went inside. For a first timer, it was a bit confusing that there were three levels, but we were quickly seated in Emporio for the small eats menu. We got four "Saucy Balls," which consisted of beef with spinach and almond pesto, along with a crab balls appetizer. The latter came with 5 and was fairly good, nicely fried on the outside and lots of delicious crab meat on the inside. The meatballs were amazing though. They were not overly firm, and they also contained a lot of flavor. The green pesto also paired pretty well with them and the accompanying penne side. Probably some of the best meatballs I've had anywhere.
(5)Vincent D.
I've literally gotten every ball from these guys. From the vegetarian to the pork and the chicken as well, I have never been disappointed. The sauces really make me happy. There are three separate leves here, the bottom floor is for the balls, middle for pizza and other things such as salads and the top is a rooftop bar. At night in the fall, the rooftop bar is worth the crowd to see the beautiful skyline and drink one of the MANY beers on tap. Great cocktails as well.
(4)Jenny B.
Mezzo is a great spot if you know what you want and you come here for pizza and wine--if you want a draft beer, you have to get it from either the first or third floor of Sienna on a separate tab--so go in knowing that. My husband was a little annoyed with this, and we ended up drinking water with our pizza and heading upstairs for after-dinner beers...a little awkward, but still fun. The food itself is really great! I have had better wood-fired pizza, but not in Pittsburgh. You can tell the ingredients are fresh and the chef was creative with his combinations. I would recommend this place for date night, but we still prefer Emporio, the meatball joint downstairs!
(3)James L.
SETTING: Dimly lit, with a brick wall backdrop donning the Sienne Mercato logo. Pretty snazzy atmosphere. You can go casual or take it up a notch. FOOD: "A meatball joint". Emporio is a unique place that specializes in meatballs. Step 1: choose a type of meatball (I liked beef; the pork was a little chewy and tough) Step 2: choose sauce Step 3: choose how you want it served (on a slider, panini, etc) These meatballs are the size of a baby's fist! NOT the size of a typical meatball found in your spaghetti. Let's do some simple math: 2 meatball sliders + 1 side/appetizer is a perfect amount. Believe me, I thought I would still be hungry with this order, but it was definitely more than enough. 2 densely packed meatballs + 1 side/appetizer of heavy carbs = a bloated stomach. SERVICE: There are no reservations, so you need to wait it out. Best advice is to come early or late and not during peak dining times unless you can wait 30+ minutes. Service overall was average, nothing that was above and beyond. IMPRESSIONS: If you are looking for a heavy meal and/or like meatballs, you want to check this place out. I mean, how many places specialize in big meatballs?! I enjoyed the beef meatball with the arribiatta sauce served on a slider--soft and delicate, like a meatball should be. The spicy pork was a bit too chewy and tough, so I would not recommend it. Mac and cheese as my slide was awesome, and you can't go wrong with any of the sides. It really is a heavy meal though, so come hungry!
(4)Tony R.
Liked this place but not loved. Flavorful meatballs, portions pretty large. I had buffalo chicken, was a bit overkill with chicken burried inder pile of celery strips and meatballs soaked in blue cheese. Ricotta doughnut s where too dark and dough too dense for my taste.
(4)Madeline N.
I've dined at the sienna emporia for a girls' night out. I'm not so sure that it was a good environment for catching up with friends (crowded and noisy) but the concept and menu certainly were unique! I loved that they offered a vegetarian meatball (which was delicious by the way) and the variety of sauce options was awesome because I'm not a big fan of marinara or traditional red sauces. Will be returning!
(4)Craig O.
Awesome. One of my favorite spots downtown. The beer selection is always fantastic. Meatballs are all incredible. The second floor has such good pizza, pasta, and salads. Awesome place for a date or dinner after work. Try it all! Get the no wait app to avoid waiting for a table!
(5)Colleen S.
Our server, Jamie was wonderful. We went on a busy Friday night and the place was pretty busy. Despite that, she was extremely friendly and was very attentive to our needs. Although the prices were very reasonable and the menu had a variety of items, I was less impressed with the food. If you are going to have a restaurant that serves meatballs, they should be amazing and memorable meatballs!!! I thought they were just ok. My table sampled the beef and pork meatballs with a variety of sauces. I like that you can order the meatballs in a variety of ways, in sauce, on a sandwich, etc., but my favorite part was the macaroni and cheese! It was a generous serving and I got it with the parmesan sauce. Very good! I'd give this place another shot because it's reasonably priced and seems to easily accomodate large groups.
(3)Linda W.
Concept vs. execution. Love the idea of a meatball-specific establishment in downtown Pittsburgh, but can meatballs alone make it? Thank goodness two more floors are still set to open, each with their own focus. Not that the meatballs weren't good....they were good, just not great. Not enough to bring me back for anything but a quick lunch. Speaking of execution, they have the style part down pat. My dining companion and I each ordered spicy pork meatballs because they were gluten-free once our server clued us in to that fact. Score! However, the menu says it's the chicken meatballs that are gluten-free - poor execution of the menu. I wasn't disappointed since the spicy pork meatballs sounded much more tempting! (Just fix the menu, please,before someone accidentally orders the chicken meatballs and suffers a reaction. I'd think it would be a pretty simple fix to place stickers on the menu until new menus are printed.) Anyway, back to the balls. Great flavor, nice spice and heavy as a solid rubber ball. Still, I'd order them again....and not just because it's the only one on the menu that's gluten-free. Sauces. I ordered my balls with the Sunday sauce and a side of tomato risotto. My dining partner had hers with the arabbiata sauce and a side of beans and greens. The presentation was quite nice for a dish of humble meatballs. A silver dish with 4 nice size meatballs carressed by a silken red sauce on top of my side dish of risotto. What? Wish I'd realized they automatically put your balls on top of your side. I'd prefer my risotto unadulterated, please. The sauce was decent, just not what I've ever considered Sunday sauce. Where was the meat? The risotto was okay, but for a tomato risotto I expected to be able to discern a nice sharp parm through the rice and tomato. Eh. And my companion's? Her arabbiata was no different from my Sunday sauce except that possibly there was a smidge more heat. Maybe. Her beans & greens? They tasted like canned beans and boiled greens. Where were the deep, rich, garlicky, long-cooked flavors of good beans & greens? Nowhere to be found. Skip the beans & greens. The cocktail list? Eh. Nothing tempting whatsoever. At least the bar was packed with young professionals checking each other out over their never empty glasses. Looks like a happening place for after work! Bottom line? The space is nice. The cocktail list is boring. The food needs some serious improvement. BUT, I have hopes the execution of the menu will rise to meet the presentation and the surroundings. I'm looking forward to checking it out again in a month or so and being able to raise my rating. And please, execute the hell out of that cocktail list before my next visit? Thanks.
(3)Andy J.
Emporio is my go to place when I'm downtown now. It seems to please everyone I'm with. The meatballs are great. I usually get 3 sliders. I like variety. The meatballs and sauces are too good to get a hoagie with only one style of meat or sauce. They have the standard large draft beer selection and a nice wine selection.
(5)Leslie H.
Like all the stuff I've had from Matt Porco's restaurants, I was really pleased with what I had tonight during my first visit to Mezzo. Highlights: nice ambiance with high ceilings with that classy/ rustic Italian thing going on (and a big wall o' wine), nice wine-by-the glass selection in either 3- or 6-oz pours, and an appealing menu. Aside from the wood-fired pizzas, there is a build-your-own cheese and meat charcuterie platter, several delicious-looking pastas, nice salads, and a few more traditional meat-based entrees. My dinner date and I started with salads and split a pizza. I had the escarole salad and he had the kale, and they were both delicious. Mine had very tasty marinated tomatoes and a rich, creamy (but not too heavy) dressing. We had the wood-fired vegetable pizza, which was more Neapolitan-style. The sofrito/ tomato sauce was rich and tasty. Light on the cheese, like a lot of thinner pizzas. We tried a few different reds and they seemed like great, mostly Italian selections (the barbera was my fave). We were also totally drooling over all the pasta dishes that were passing us by, so I might try one of those next time (which they also offer in half-portions; a nice touch). Overall, I think these owners have a good thing going with Italian food, and Mezzo is by far my favorite level of Sienna Mercato.
(4)Joseph F.
I didn't mean to spend all of my money at Sienna Mercato. I only meant to get three meatballs with some spicy sauce, or maybe creamy, or maybe pesto, over a bed of spaghetti, or maybe penne, or maybe in a bun. And I only meant to get a glass of wine, or maybe a bottle, or maybe two. I only meant to try a sloe-gin fizz, or maybe a Moscow mule, or maybe see their take on a dark and stormy. I definitely only meant to get one appetizer, maybe the french fries; no, two appetizers...I only meant to get two appetizers, because the french fries had to be paired with the cheesy bread, or maybe even the mushroom arancini. And, I guess, while we're at it, I might as well try the warm ricotta doughnuts for dessert. Luckily, I had a few people with me who also only meant to get one or five dishes. The worst part? I've been here before. Maybe next time, I'll show some restraint (but I doubt it). P.S. Order everything.
(4)Lee B.
Food was good. Experience was miserable. We had friends in town from Canada. They brought their drivers license. The bar told them they needed passports. They spend money on an uber back and forth. We proceed to have dinner. Not bad. Service was good. But since we were unable to experience rooftop bar prior to dinner we wanted to check it out after. We asked since we just had dinner could we go up to the rooftop. We were told we could but we needed to wait in the 25 minute line. Just an unfortunate situation and management really doesn't care. Completely useless. Just a standard manager without any form of professional management background. Unfortunate. May go back. We can spend money in a variety of ways that care to cater to those that go out of their way to spend money at their establishment.
(2)Tom C.
Landing in Pittsburgh for the first time in my life, I took a friend's recommendation and headed over here with my (dining, and all other things) partner in crime. Great suggestion, we had a delightful, relaxed lunch in the Emporio downstairs area. This is Italian pub dining at it's best, mostly salads, superb french fries and meatballs, presented in a variety of ways. The Caesar salad had great croutons, fantastic dressing, and we cleaned it up totally (It's too bad that really crisp, fresh romaine lettuce is unobtainium in this part of the country in the fall and winter.) We had the Poutine (French-fried potatoes baked with cheese) with a meatball, which was very filling as a main course. The panini (two pork meatballs) with tzatziki sauce was also great, a perfect serving size. The sauce is really a great counterpoint for the spicy pork, and the crispy bread was the perfect texture for the assembly. Their tzatziki is authentic, with thinly-sliced cucumbers, and was easy to dip and apply to the panini with a knife, bite-by-bite. We both felt quite full with the salad and two dishes. Our waiter was fun, easy-going, informative, relaxed, and made good recommendations. A Chilean sauvignon blanc paired great with everything. And the decor is really well designed. Re-purposed boards form a rustic ceiling that damps the sound just enough so that the place feels lively, yet you can have a conversation without shouting. Lighting is excellent. The industrial touches complement the old brick, and the signage is painted in a way that looks just worn enough to feel relaxing The price is on the high side of $$, with a bottle of wine, salad and two dishes, we spent $60. Still, I'd come back any time I can, and wonder how good dinner is up under the glassed-in third floor, either open air in the summer, or under the skies in winter.
(4)William M.
Well, I will hand them this...they've got balls. BIG balls...well, ok, not all THAT big. If you listened to the foodie social pages, they'd say they had the biggest balls of all. But the balls I paid $16 to put in my mouth were NOT all that big. Last year at this time, I wanted to treat my co-worker to dinner for her birthday, and we ended up at Mahoney's, where the server left part of poor Rachel laying on the floor until we left. This year, I left the choice up to my co-worker, and she wanted the balls. So off we went to Sienna Mercato after work. Atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere... Ok, so enough of the silliness. We both ordered the saucy balls, not to be confused with the Schwetty Balls, which consisted of four balls of choice over a bed of your choice. My co-worker had been here previously, and had tried the beefy balls, and found them to be tough, and she had tried the pork balls and liked them. So we both ordered the spicy pork balls, served on a bed of mac n cheese, hers with creamy Parmesan, and mine with 'Government' cheese. I don't recall what 'sauce' she ordered to top her balls, but I chose the mushroom gravy. Gleefully, they are Coke people, so we both ordered Diet Cokes. The sodas arrived, and we both sipped at about the same time, and both of us developed the same look on our faces. This was regular coke, not diet. The server was very pleasant, and made the switch. Ahhhhhh, that was better. Oh look...six TV's with sports coverage...now there's something different. The female service staff all looked very clean cut. The male service staff...well...kinda looked liked they'd just crawled out of bed, and dressed from the hamper. Just sayin'... After about fifteen minutes of small talk and soda sipping...our bowls of balls were placed before us. Now, just to give you a hint about how big the balls are...in almost all of the photos that have been posted, you will see what looks like a wooden skewer impaled into a meatball on the plate. Items in mirror may appear larger than they do in real life. This is not a skewer, but is actually a wooden sandwich pick with a bead on it. Now that you have an actual scale to think of, that ball doesn't look so big now, does it? And...they're not. Are they tasty? Yes. Are they phenomenally spectabulous, take your breath away, freakin' magnificent like the balls your Italian Nana cooked up with her famous gravy? Um...they're about the same...except Nana had bigger balls, and really WANTED you to mangia all of them. We had four. On top of a spoonful of mac n cheese seasoned with (as far as my tongue would guess) Old Bay seasoning. The mushroom gravy was brown...and at one point when the server came by I asked her if the mushroom gravy was supposed to have mushrooms in it. She said yes, and that it did. But she 'believed' they were pureed. Hmmmmm. Good cover for no chunks. Now, according to the latest price index, ground pork currently stands around $2.50 per pound. That's NOT allowing for a bulk discount usually afforded to a restaurant purchaser. These four balls certainly were not a full pound, and I'm pretty darned sure that in usual meatball style, they were cut with some bread crumbs, bound with an egg, and with a pinch of seasoning added. Your average box of mac n cheese, which will serve four according to the box, starts around fifty cents. Gravy - milk, flour, some pork fat, already made with the baking of the balls, a few pinches of seasoning. Per person, maybe a buck max. So, two portions of this, eight balls, two scoops of mac n cheese, with two Diet Sodas, no sides or bread or anything, and the total bill came to $36.38 before tip. So...once again, in da burgh...I bought a big ol' heaping plate of atmosphere, drastically upcharged by a greed mongering dahntahn landlord, whom, like most other Pittsburgh land owners, believes that their property values are on the same par as a real city like NYC, Chicago, or San Fran, and that forcing a business to overcharge so that they came make bills and RENT, is a-ok. They tasted good. They tasted like meatballs made of pork. No better or worse than anywhere else. Mac n cheese is mac n cheese. Were eight meatballs, two serving spoons of mac n cheese and two soft drinks worth over $40 in the end? Nana? Is your gravy ready yet? I'm hungry...and broke.
(3)Aditi G.
I was visiting Pittsburgh for a friend's baby shower and ended up going here for dinner in the evening after the shower. From the photos and reviews of their other restaurants, I expected that the pizza would be delicious, and it looked like it would've been from the photos. The crust was a bit too soft for me and the sauce tasted like it was right out of the can and slopped onto the pizza without any seasoning at all. I don't know what it was about the pizza but it just tasted pretty half ass to me. I can find better thin crust style pizza in the Midwest. Go somewhere else for pizza and don't waste your time or money here!
(2)Jesse T.
I can't think of anything bad to say about Sienna Mercato. I've only eaten on the 1st floor, so I can't speak for the 2nd or 3rd levels, but the Emporio Meatball shop is on point. Food is fantastic, service is fantastic, atmosphere is classy but not too uppity. I have had a drink on the rooftop bar, and it's the best rooftop that I have been too thus far in Pittsburgh. I've been to the Meatball Shop in NYC, and Sienna Mercato has them beat easily.
(5)Sean B.
My first experience was a complete disaster. But, and I highly state that BUT, that it was Friday Happy hour. The goal was to spend an hour or so on the rooftop beer garden then get "in line" for Mezzo using the app. The five of us spent the first 25 minutes attempting to get a bartenders attention. Unfortunately, they were all too busy muddling stuff and concocting drinks that involved 19 ingredients to even be capable of looking up. We were eventually able to grab a server walking by, despite the fact that there wasn't a chance of getting a seat. The server was fantastic. However, everything went on my bill, so I had a hefty tab for two rounds that was too difficult to split. Our table did become available in a fair amount of time on the first floor, but there was a lack of communication among our group and someone had also requested a table on the roof. We cancelled the table on the first floor, and grabbed the rooftop table. However, we were not exactly clear of the limited menu. I'm talking beef tartare, olives, rosemary and sea salt nuts, bruchetta, focaccia, and the cheese plate. We ordered all of these, which is EVERYTHING they have to offer minus two other apps. I left starving, and confused. Too many rules, too much confusion. Never again on a Friday night.
(2)Alberta H.
Oh my word I love their balls! Ok I got that out of my system but woah. Started off with the matzo ball soup, and it was so good I could have put my face in the bowl. I mean I could eat this soup every day and never get tired of it. I have the vegetarian ball slider with taziki sauce and Chris had the spicy pork meatballs with creamy Parmesan sauce on the panini. Have you ever been to a restaurant where everything that comes out of the kitchen tastes similar? Well not here! These two sandwiches couldn't have been more different and it was awesome! The taziki was light and fresh with lots of yummy lemon and the texture of the veggie ball was wonderfully silky smooth. Chris's sandwich was hearty, spicy, and perfect for a chilly day. Just loaded with so much flavor. Our service was awesome and I really like the vibe here. Very warm and welcoming. They have a great selection of beers as well. I can't wait to come back!
(4)Glenn K.
Food is great no doubt but don't rely on their seating times. We did have seven in our party and original estimate was 30-45 minutes. After an hour we inquired about searing as was told we were next only to watch four other walk-ins getting seated. Total wait 1hr 35min. Recommend large parties skip Metcato and head across the street to Sonoma Grill.
(2)Donald S.
Great menu, Great food, great service. What more can you ask for?
(4)Matt H.
Meatball mania! If you aren't a fan of meatballs this isn't the place for you! Food is served fast and the prices aren't that bad considering they are located in the heart of the Cultural District.
(5)Linda C.
Went here for a friend's birthday party. We had dinner on the second level in the Mezzo, where they feature more fine dining options and charcuterie. What is really nice is that you are able to have half portions of the pasta, which is still plenty for one person. I had the seafood risotto and it was great! Another thing is that with a party of 9, they were very accommodating. The only real downside was that this place doesn't take reservations. The longer wait for the food was understandable due to it being dinner time on a Friday and also the fact that there were 9 in our party. In addition, they also allowed us all to split the checks, which is rare for many establishments for large parties. Our waitress was really nice as well! I can't wait to visit the rooftop beer garden in the summer!
(5)Renee W.
This is one of the best summer pLaces in Pittsburgh! The pros: The food on the first floor is simply delicious, it's much much more than a "meatball place" (but oh, those meatballs!). Drinks are good too, nothing special, but definitely standard. The rooftop deck is fantastic (but don't expect to get a seat Thursday through Saturday). The cons: the food upstairs isn't quite as great as the downstairs and you can't get the meatballs (sigh). The drinks are craft, but I'm a sweet drink person and there isn't much for me. I recommend: eat downstairs (get the broccoli, the pesto sauce and the mashed potatoes), then spend the rest of your night on the third floor.
(4)Scott G.
Been in Pittsburgh for a year and while I've walked by Mercato 2-3 times a week, it's always been packed and they don't take reservations. This week, we were able to go in and get a table for six with no wait. Appetizers - Pepperoni Fritters, Mushrooms, Fried Chicken Balls, French Fries. All great! The Chicken Balls were probably my favorite, though we ordered more fries too. Dinner - I got the Saucy Balls, which is four meatballs (I picked Spicy Pork, though they also have beef, turkey and vegetable) with Creamy Parmasen sauce (there is a variety of sauces available). Very good, and a great deal for $11. For an additional $4, they will serve them over the side of your choice (e.g. risotto, mac & cheese, fries, broccoli, etc.). That's the only non-bread choice....if you want to get only 1 ball, it comes as a slider; 2 as a panini, 3 as a hoagie...but you can order any of those without bread, but they won't add melted cheese. Good draught beer selection as well. Dessert was a pecan ball...basically a scoop of vanilla ice cream covered in pecans and served with hot fudge. As amazing as it sounds. Three per order. I think there are three levels here, and each is different. My colleague went to the 2nd level and said it was an Italian restaurant. What I'm describing was on the main floor. As I mentioned, it's usually busy, especially after work. Seemed to be that the later you go, the less crowded it it.
(5)Chad S.
A trendy and popular restaurant in downtown. The hosts struggled at the beginning - skipping us and giving tables to a party after us - but more than made up for it by treating us to a round of drinks. Thank you, Manager! Food was excellent, especially the pork risotto. However, the margherita pizza needed much less tomato sauce and much more mozzarella. I recommend, especially if hanging around downtown and want quality drinks with quality and rich food.
(5)Mackenzie B.
WOW. Everything was fantastic: the concept, the atmosphere, the staff, the food, even down to the treats that come with the bill (delicious chocolate almond truffle cookies). We had dinner at the Mezzo (2nd floor) and ordered the calamari-- crisp, not the slightest bit chewy, with an herb-infused/caper aioli, olives-- the perfect amount of spice, the bread basket-- our waitress was really knowledgable and explained the variety of breads and spreads in detail, mesculun salad-- fresh, the pesto vinaigrette was to die for, and the quattro formaggi pizza-- the pickled tomato made for a unique sweet and acidic twist. We also ordered the spaghetti alla Vangole, but I was unable to give it a try, as I was absolutely stuffed already. The menu is set up so that your table and order an assortment of dishes, the waitstaff will distribute plates/ appropriate serving ware, and everyone can sample the delectables. I can't wait to bring my parents to Il Tetto (and hopefully follow the beers with a pizza downstairs...)
(5)Ann R.
Great decor and the people are incredibly friendly and attentive. Food is great. Background music too loud for conversation. (My opinion) Charcuterie is pricey but very tasty. Lots of talent and creativity in that kitchen!
(5)Anthony K.
Incredibly unique offering, three floors with one dedicated to different variations of meatballs. The retractable roof bar on the third floor is a must visit for a cocktail.
(4)Cherith C.
All around goodness! Awesome and attentive staff that gives great insight into both the menu and the brew on hand. Really enjoyed all the different choices and loved the atmosphere. 1st floor is meatball heaven. Second floor is pizza pie heaven. Third floor is brew and snack heaven. Go...now.
(5)Molly H.
Really like this place a lot. Even though it's a meatball place, absolute favorite is the warm olive appetizer with mozzarella. Wow! I can't believe I didn't think of doing that before and I've made it at home twice. I should explore the menu more, but I always get the poutine topped with a meatball. I've chosen different ones (spicy pork being my favorite) but can't get away from this and the olives. Fair price and great atmosphere. Lunchtime in the summer is great because if the open air seating definitely hard to come by in Pittsburgh.
(5)Alex H.
I have been wanting to try Mezzo for the longest time and finally decided to do so Saturday night. My best friend and I didn't even mind having to wait 45 minutes for a table because our waitress was extremely nice and the ambiance of the restaurant was so fun and exciting. Even though it was loud, it was fine. First, our water came out warm; but we didn't complain. We were so excited to get poutine since we haven't had any from Canada in almost a year. Once it came out were were extremely disappointed. The fries were covered in mozzarella cheese, not cheese curds, and the chicken gravy was chalky as if it was powered. My pesto spaghetti portion was extremely small for the price. I don't think I'll be returning, unfortunately.
(2)MaryAlice R.
I really really enjoyed my experience here. First off, the decor is great, I love the exposed brick and wood. I also love the cups they have for your water and I know that is an odd thing to say, but they are awesome. We ordered the buffalo balls for an appetizer and the presentation was spot on and the flavor was equally great. I ordered the Spicy Pork Meatballs, Spinach Almond Pesto Grinder with cheddar cheese and it was DELICIOUS! My date ordered the Regular Meatballs with spicy marinara Grinder. He graciously shared a bite with me and it was equally as delicious. The service was a little slow and that is the only reason I gave it 4 stars and not 5. I am sure after time, or at least I hope, that their service will get better with time since this place is brand new.
(4)Kelsey M.
Lots of options for both meat eaters and vegetarians. The vegetarian meat balls were very delicious with pesto. The selection of beer and simple cocktails were just what I was looking for. If you want to go for late night drinks, their rooftop bar is UNREAL!!
(4)Steve J.
Sienna Mercato is now on my permanent rotation list for my frequent trips to Pittsburgh. It's three levels of great service and delicious food. I started with a craft beer and beef tartar in the beer garden. It's a cool area with a clear roof and open terrace. This would be a great place to join a group of friends, drink a little beer and watch a game on the numerous TVs. One end is open to Penn Ave. I then moved to the middle level where I had a good red wine and a very good bacon and clam pizza. I like this level. I really liked the pizza. And, sadly, I'm too full to check out the first level. I'll save that for my next trip. All in all, it's now in my top 5 in Pittsburgh.
(5)Eric G.
This establishment is a great option for craft beers and meatballs. The ambience is interesting and service is always great. They offer several types of meatballs served over a variety of options. I've had most of them and have never had a bad experience.
(4)Turd F.
The upstairs bartender was a complete douche. The food and server downstairs were markedly better. Absolutely worth trying, but I heartily recommend avoiding the "I'm too cool to serve you" types upstairs. They forget their place.
(3)Kimberly R.
Finally got back to try the first floor, meatball floor, at Sienna Mercado. I am a fan!!! I was a little hesitant to go because I dont eat meat. They DO have a veggie option. Yeah! They have a great selection of beers on tap which I loved. They also have a large bar in the back of the restaurant, so if you dont have a reservation you have a place to hang out while waiting. The meatballs come in 4 different ways. They come as a slider, a panini, a grinder and just plain with sauce. I tried the veggie balls with a pesto sauce. They were super flavorful and the texture was great. I was very impressed. My husband tried the beef with a spicy tomato sauce and loved his as well. We got the mac and cheese as a side to split. It was tasty as well. I highly recommend!
(4)Christy C.
I gave this place 2 chances before deciding to write a review... Overall it is a great concept: who doesn't love a good meatball!? That, in my opinion, is where the excitement ends. Upon walking into the restaurant, it took 4 people behind the hostess stand almost 30 seconds to acknowledge that we were standing there -- One of whom I can only assume is a manager due to his more professional attire (I'll get back to that later). We were seated and given water (for some reason they won't fill your glass up the entire way which is probably not a big deal for some people, but it's just odd. Oh, and be prepared to ask for ice). Once we were seated, we told our waitress we were waiting for 2 more people but that we would look at the menus in the time being. She stopped back for our drink orders shortly after. At this point, we heard from the other 2 in our party that they would not be eating, just drinking, and to go ahead and order without them. We did, and we let our waitress know that the other two would be coming shortly. Our first item, the tater tot poutine, came out quickly and was SO good. I would go back just for that! Shortly after, our 2 other friends arrived. The waitress made NUMEROUS trips past our table without acknowledging them, asking how our food was, etc. She finally stopped back for their drink orders. The rest of the dinner was fairly uneventful but we did notice that all the other tables seated after us received their food before we did -- and we were only waiting on 4 meatballs. Back to the attire I mentioned earlier. When you walk into this place, its decorated extremely well -- at least for my taste -- and I would consider it a cute date night spot downtown. However, the servers' "uniforms" are less than cute and really take away from the whole atmosphere. Cutoff jean shorts, jean skirts, T-shirts, cowboy boots, hats... pretty much whatever they wanted to wear, as long as they had a restaurant t-shirt on. The gentleman at the hostess stand was dressed well as was another young gal who seemed to be in charge of seating guests, so perhaps she was a manager as well. If this place wants to keep up with the Jonses (aka Sonoma Grille, Ten Penny, etc.) they really need to take a step back and look at the overall picture. The food is phenomenal but I just can't get over the servers and what seemed to be a general lack of care for their personal appearance.
(2)Brock H.
Came here to have weekday afternoon beers. Great roof deck with a big bar and upbeat ambiance. Service was attentive and every beer we tried was quite good.
(4)Carrie W.
Still a cool spot but so understaffed....in my near future I see long waits and confused bartenders...
(4)Vinny A.
Stopped in with several business colleagues for lunch. The place was packed, but thankfully we had made reservations and were quickly attended to. The place is really just a meatball joint that offers a variety of meats to choose from and then some really good appetizers/finger foods, fries, and salads. The portion sizes are more than adequate, too...and the prices are pretty reasonable for downtown eating. Not to forget, the place does have a great "feel" to it with the open-wall style seating so you can watch the passers-by. I'd definitely be interested to try the rooftop bar on a great weather night. 3.5 stars, but giving it a little bump to 4 since it's above 3 stars, for sure. Looking forward to my next time back...cheers!
(4)Amanda M.
Is it wrong to be in love with a restaurant? If SM were a person, I'm sure he would be my soul mate. I stopped here a while back on a Saturday mid afternoon for a late lunch. When I walked in, I immediately knew this was my type of place. Modern, casual and chic. The decor reminds me of what would be at a classy backyard bbq. From the combination of stainless steel and glassware to the exposed brick SM will make anyone feel welcome and at ease. And I do mean anyone. Bring the kids, bring grandma, everyone will love it. Now onto the food. We tried several of the saucy balls. You can order individual balls with different sauces to try out as many combos ad you'd like. And at 3 bucks a ball, you can't go wrong. My favorite was the pork with the arribiata sauce, a yummy and slightly spicy red sauce. I also really enjoyed the garlic parm fries. Think chicken wing but on fresh cut fries. The menu has so much to offer (even vegetarian balls!) and at such reasonable prices, you'll want to bring the family every week. Which brings me to my one and only issue with SM, the location. Despite my love of SM, I doubt I will be back as often as I would l like. Having to find parking downtown, pay and walk a couple blocks to just to get to the restaurant is a large negative for south hillers like me. I wonder if others will feel the same? Hopefully a neighborhood location will be in the works sometime soon.
(5)B D.
Was staying in the Westin just down the street, and staff there recommended this place. It was a busy night downstairs so took advantage of a free seat at the bar upstairs. Overall, a fantastic experience. The cocktail list had a few truly unique options, and the Marcynez was amazing. Braised beef penne was unique and excellent, as was the wine. It's a busy, happening place but you never feel ignored even for a second. Michael, the bartender who commands the 2nd floor bar area, was perfect in his roles. I found myself sitting there again the next night, devouring a seafood risotto, wishing I could find an excuse to visit again soon.
(5)Stephanie S.
This place epitomizes the rumored transformation that is in the process of taking place in Pittsburgh. Great food, drinks, and service, but the atmosphere is second to none. Definitely a must visit for locals and visitors alike! You will not feel like you're in "Pittsburgh".
(5)Tom G.
We had dinner here Friday night and the place was packed. The appetizer of bbq meatballs was very good - loved the crust on the outside and great flavor. Their beer selection was good and service was even better. I'd love to return and try a few other dinner choices.
(4)A W.
I sat at the 1st floor bar, ordered a drink from the cocktail menu and was ignored till after my drink was empty. The 1st bartender was too busy entertaining the preppy couple and the pack of young business guys nursing their drinks. Because of this, I planned to pay for my drink and find another place for dinner. Thankfully, a second bartender noticed my empty drink and came to my aid. Then the first bartender perked up and realized I was willing to spend some money. Anyway... The beef meatballs were hohum but the marinara sauce was classic and great. My mixed drink was simple and tasty The bar stools are horribly uncomfortable And at least 1 bartender needs to learn that some women travel for business, eat alone and tip well if you keep my drink full
(3)Liz E.
After anticipating the opening of Sienna Mercato's more refined, middle floor for months, Mezzo's food, atmosphere, and service greatly surpassed expectations. To start, we ordered a bottle of wine and the greens and beans. The appetizer was average, but next time I think I'll go for the grilled octopus or split a charcuterie board. The overall vibe of the place encourages sharing, so for our main dishes we split a risotto dish and the tartufo pizza. I'm always a fan of risotto and it didn't disappoint. The pizza was topped with mushrooms, truffles, a medley of cheeses and an egg; probably the most unique pizza on the menu, but still nothing too exotic. My only complaint for the pizza, is that I would have preferred the egg to be over easy as opposed to scrambled. While I was definitely satisfied, but not extremely overwhelmed with my food, it's really the atmosphere and set-up of the entire Sienna Mercato is really what makes it stand out in downtown Pittsburgh. Mezzo's interior boasts beautiful exposed brick, charming wall art, and high ceilings with floor to ceiling windows to match. The combined three levels of Sienna Mercato fill a void in downtown Pittsburgh and turn Sienna Mercato into a destination, not just a restaurant. Prior to our dinner, we were able to grab drinks on the third floor while we waited and having a rooftop beer garden adds major value to the place, even when the roof is covered. Classy enough for date nights, but casual enough for dinner with friends.
(4)Frank S.
Well that was different...a meatball joint. Now this is not necessarily an Italian thing but, I actually judge an Italian restaurant by their meatballs....that's how important they are to me. So it's almost not fair that I walked into a strictly meatball joint... because it's not an Italian restaurant making meatballs, it's a meatball joint making what they make. A little confusing, right? No harm done. The open front of the restaurant and tables practically outside called to me before I even figured out what this place was. Well now, on my Meatball Meter, if this place was strictly an Italian restaurant, I would not have been impressed. The meatballs were better than good but not "oh my god". In all fairness, I only had the beef but you have a choice of 3 others including vegetarian, turkey and spicy pork. Perhaps pork next time. I ordered the grinder and my wife and daughter ordered the sliders. I had beef with "Sunday Gravy" sauce (a marinara). The sauce is a second criterion I use and again it was better than good but not "wow". Understand that I am biased and make my own sauce. I like it salty and with a lot of basil. At the recommendation of our server, Taylor, I had chosen smoked gouda as the topper instead of provolone or american. This really tied the sandwich together and the bread was better than excellent on my scale, hearty, crisp outside and soft inside. The gouda saved the sandwich. My wife had the mushroom gravy on beef meatballs and she rather enjoyed it. Salad was excellent, a balsamic vinegarette (chosen from 5 or so choices) which had a kick to it. Definitely delivered. It was over arugula with tomatoes, fresh mozz and sliced almonds. This was a wow salad. Some pene on the side perfectly al dente but with the Sunday gravy which was suitable. Just wish it was a little saltier. Overall, the atmosphere, presentation, everything was a great experience and, though each quality would have been 3 or 4, the sum total scores a 4 overall for me. We would come back just for the ambiance. Prices not too shabby either. Just under $50 for 3 people including tax and tip.
(4)S J.
I've been here twice on Friday nights, once on the 1st floor to try the meatballs, and again on the second floor for pizza, pasta, and cured meats. Both times, we had to get on a waiting list for "45 minutes," when we could see that there were multiple tables open for 2. After 10 minutes or so, they call you up. They encourage you to use some app for getting in line, but I'm not sure why they give such an overestimated wait time. So, don't be discouraged if they give you a ridiculously long wait time! The atmosphere - it's pretty loud, but you can have a conversation if you talk loudly. The food: 1st floor - The meatballs are OK and reasonably priced. I got the spicy pork meatball slider and the beef meatball slider. Both meatballs were a bit dry. I liked the flavors in the spicy pork meatball - the beef meatball was a bit average, nothing special. I'm a bit curious to try their doughnuts, otherwise I won't be coming back here. 2nd floor - They use a lot of salt here. I tried a pizza, pasta, and the cured meats. I wasn't impressed by the cured meats, but the pasta and pizza were great. I wish they weren't so salty, but I would definitely go back to try more of their pasta and pizzas. TIP: the half pasta dishes are actually pretty substantial! I'd definitely get the half pasta for just myself. For two people, a pizza should be satiating enough, but you'd be full sharing a half pasta and a pizza. I'd love to go back with a group of 3-4 girls and to try a bunch of the half pastas together.
(3)Kitrina D.
Great meatballs and very creative method of creating dishes! I tried the traditional meatballs over the daily vegetable choice with the spicy marinara and it was great! I highly recommend!
(4)Sam L.
Overall our group was very disappointed when trying Mezzo. A majority of us had tried Emporio and Il Tetto prior to trying Mezzo. It reminded me of a butcher in the rye that has BAD pizza and a limited drink menu. We waited 2 hours to be seated so we grabbed drinks at il Tetto. Service The service was very subpar, which I was surprised to see all of the great reviews regarding service on Yelp. The waitress had an attitude and everyone at our table noticed. The food runners provided better service than the actual waitress. I believe she asked our table maybe once or twice for refill of drinks. Our group had to ask multiple times for refills of water. Atmosphere A very small space- Do not go with large groups. The décor reminded me of Butcher and The Rye. The music is very loud so the waiters/waitresses have to scream over top of it when trying to explain the menu. This place feels very out place in between the other two floors as it I felt like they were trying to make it more formal than the other floors. The drink menu is very limited so do not expect to get the same drinks that you were getting at Ill Tetto. Food Our group ordered a variety of different pizzas and a few appetizers. The appetizers were not bad but thought they were a little pricey for what they were offering. Honestly, this was probably some of the worst pizza I've ever had. The sauce is not very good. A few of the pizzas were extremely salty and everyone in our group noticed this. There were 8 of us in the group and not one of us were impressed. You cannot take anything off any of their pizzas and can add a few listed items to them. I've never tried the location in market square so I cannot compare, but I obviously compared it to il pizzaiolo which is on an entirely different level than Mezzo. The cookies at the end might have been the best part of our meal.
(1)Maddy M.
Great new restaurant on Penn Ave that's reasonably priced. At first I thought this would be an upscale restaurant based on the name but I think they did that on purpose. It's a comfortable restaurant that's only been open for about two months. The meatballs were delicious and the menus were very original. I had the pork meatballs in a panini with Gouda and spinach almond pesto. The sauce was amazing. For a side I had the rocket salad with balsamic vinaigrette. Great atmosphere with the bar and stainless steel dining. Definitely going back again to try the other sauces. Our waiter told us they're going to have 3 floors with a rooftop area too. Great addition to the restaurant scene of downtown Pittsburgh.
(5)Aaron C.
Please skip a the lengthy reviews that give 4 to 5 star ratings on this place. Nearly everyone of them have a complaint about the place. Atmosphere is very cool however the food is not nor is the service. My wife and I went to this restaurant on a suggestion from the concierge at our hotel. We asked for a table near a sporting event we wanted to watch and the hostess told us "to find a place and let them know". We found a great spot, I put my jacket in the booth and my wife sat down while I returned to tell the hostess where we were seated. As I return my wife is leaving the table and informed me the other hostess did not say a word to her just shook her head no as to say you cannot sit here. For some reason we decided to stay and I really wished would not have. After reviewing a basics offering of items we decided on the saucy balls and asked for two options of meatballs which we were swiftly told you cannot mix your balls?!?! Instead we opted for the bolognese sauce with spaghetti which came out in stainless steel bowls that resembled something you would use to feed your dog. The beef balls were great the bolognese and the pork balls not so much. We also ordered salads which we never saw, I took two bites of my entree and pushed it aside (I normally eat everything). The server did not offer another option nor did he offer to take it off my bill. Two beers 6 oz of pasta with two meet balls for $40 does not seem appropriate. I travel all over the country for work and have experienced my fare share of poor and great food. However in all my experiences I have not been compelled to wright a review until I found this place. PLEASE SAVE YOUR MONEY AND GO ELSEWHERE!!!
(1)Nathaniel S.
Small portions but food was great and relatively affordable.
(4)Maxwell N.
It's been a long time coming for a meatball shop with the standards of a traditional Italian meatball with a modern twist. They give you the option of having that savory ball of meat with a homemade tomato sauce but why stop there? There are multiple combinations of sauces to choose from. My favorite being the spicy pork with a creamy Parmesan sauce over top. It is a simple concept that puts the balls in your court (never gets old). Also I recommend adding a vegetable to any of the meatballs you get. I got the tomato risotto, that was out of this world! Definitely a place to hit up if you are ever in the burgh' plus come this summer, there will be a roof top beer garden/bar to enjoy along with your meatballs! What more could you ask for?
(4)Misty P.
Good food. The lunch is a little expensive and this is not a good place for a crowd. I went with about 12 coworkers for happy hour on a Wednesday night. They were less than accommodating. They wouldn't allow tables and chairs to be moved etc. There were few customers in the restaurant. They kept saying that they needed to accommodate others...who these others are I have no idea! Not sure if I'll be back.
(2)B N.
Food is great. Rooftop Bar Garden has an awesome view. Perfect place to take a party from out of town.
(5)shery b.
Great roof bar! We didn't eat there and the wait for drinks was a bit crazy, but the roof bar is a great place to hang out.
(4)Chris D.
There are three levels. The top is a beer garden that has a retractible roof. One of the best spots to be in Pittsburgh when the weather is nice. The first floor is a meatball restaurant. Not nearly as good as the Meatball Shop in NY but still good. The second floor is the gem, a great Italian place with great pizza and charcuterie. I tried the seafood risotto, it was delicious. I wish amazing places like this existed when I lived in downtown Pittsburgh!
(4)Will B.
The wife and I went here for lunch before the Home and Garden show and I have to say that I was impressed. I like the idea of a restaurant that has a different theme on each level. I don't believe that all the levels are open yet but we did get a chance to eat at Emporio. Emporio's thing is meatballs and reminds me a bit of Franktuary in that they have a focus to their food and that food is meant to be ordered in multiples. Franktuary has their hotdogs and Emporio has it's Meatballs. You can of course order other things other than meatballs but you can also add meatballs to pretty much anything which is great fun as well. The meatballs were very good and can be made with different ingredients and be accompanied by serval different sauce. So you pick your ball and your sauce and then your dish you want that sauce and meatballs to be placed in. I had the sliders and it was delicious. I feel the sides were plenty big to share so don't go overboard ordering too many of them. Had the mac and cheese and it was delicious as well Give it a go, it's a great place grab a bite if you are in the neighborhood.
(4)Maija T.
I was only here for a short time for drinks in the bar and then on the rooftop, but I really enjoyed their draft selection and the rooftop atmosphere. It's a great spot to take advantage of the spring/summer weather. I'll have to come back to try the food. I've heard that the "mezze" (I think that's what they call the middle floor) is also good. I'll have to get back and try the food.
(4)Amanda R.
I went to Emporio yesterday for lunch, and it was TREMENDOUS. First, the ambiance of the place in and of itself is spectacular. Dimly lit with artsy lighting (think bare, clear light bulbs, very industrial), dark wood walls, and cozy booths make Emporio very inviting. There are plenty of (high, modern, metal) stools around the large bar, as well. I didn't have a drink at lunch (I have to work, unfortunately), but there was an extensive list of beers on the chalkboard on the wall. (also a feature I like). The menu is divided up into appetizers, salads, soups, meatballs and sides. You can get a "ball" on anything. It's $2 to add a "ball" to your soup, salad, or side. You can get $10 "saucy balls" - 4 meatballs in a sauce of your choice (and the sauce list is extensive!) and get a $4-5 side, and the meatballs and sauce will arrive graced over your side. There are 4 different choices of meatball and 1 special every day. The usual meatballs are beef, chicken, pork and veggie. One thing I really liked about the menu is that it denoted which items were vegetarian and which are gluten-free. For me, a person who avoids gluten, this proved very helpful. I had the beef meatballs because I couldn't resist (despite the fact that they are not gluten free), with arrabiata sauce (GF) and white beans & escarole as the side to accompany the balls. (also GF). My one lunch partner had the same while the other started with an appetizer of arancini balls before digging into some meatballs. The beef meatballs were rather amazing. They were moist and perfectly cooked, and were very well-seasoned. They were just tremendous. The arrabiata sauce was just a little spicy, like the waitress advertised. The beans and greens were done well, and the combination between the arrabiata-sauced meatballs and the side was a nice pairing. I couldn't get enough of the dish, ate it all, and was pleasantly full after (it helped that I had a 10 minute walk back to my office after). My friends were similarly pleased with their meals. I can't wait to see what is in store for Emporio and the other floors of Sienna Mercato when they open! I might just become a regular. Truly fantastic.
(4)Alyson G.
Waiting for a drink at the beer garden on the rooftop bar and it has been 22 minutes and counting for the drink to arrive. I love sienna mercato and all of the food there. But this was so ridiculous. Hopefully this place will get better.
(1)Lindsay K.
The atmosphere is cool. Great beer selection. Meatballs were terrible. I was here a few times when it first opened and I thought they were okay, but now I think they've gone down hill. I had the spicy pork meatballs and they were very, very hard. My fiance was laughing watching us trying to cut through them. I had them on top of the parmesan mac n cheese and I liked that well enough. We also had cheesy bread as an appetizer and we thought the sauce tasted burnt. The olives were great. I'd totally go back to drink but I won't eat there again. There are way too many great restaurants in Pittsburgh to suffer through a mediocre meal.
(2)Dina M.
Lindsey at the 3rd floor bar isn't very nice. I asked for 4 different shots which I know can be a pain but the entire time she complained to her co-workers about having to make 4 shots. It was my mother's birthday and I wanted to get the family what they wanted. Seemed to be an inconvenience for her, but considering the bar wasn't that busy, I thought it would be okay. Sorry for ruining your night Lindsey!
(3)Joyce T.
In Pittsburgh for business, and someone recommended Sienna Mercato. They compared their meatballs better than The Meatball Shop in NYC. I stand by my raving reviews of The Meatball Shop so I had to try it out and compare. I had two sliders- Classic Beef with marinara sauce and Vegetarian (mushroom, white bean, cauliflower) with spinach almond pesto. Overall, the meatball sliders were ok. They were all about quantity than quality. Meatball was pretty big, but the taste was underwhelming. I'd go there again to try out their other items like the cured meats and pasta. They also have a beer garden on the rooftop. But I don't think I'd go get their meatballs again.
(3)Mike D.
Visited the newly opened Sienna Mercato for lunch. I ate at Emporio, and had the Pork Meatballs with the Pork bolagnese sauce and it was delicious. The pork was flavorful and had a little bit of a kick to it. I wouldn't have minded some bread to mop up the sauce with, but unfortunately there wasn't any. For a sit down lunch, it was very quick service and shouldn't be a problem getting in and out in a reasonable amount of time. I would like to return for dinner as it looks like they have an extensive beer selection, and would like to try more things on the menu.
(4)Dave L.
Cool atmosphere, but thats about it. The wedding soup was cold and bland and the meatballs I had were dried out and without much flavor. I'll give it another try when the upstairs opens, but for now I'll pass.
(2)Ron C.
The pickle appetizer is incredible! It is worth the trip just for them! Very thinly sliced sweet pickles, flash fried, with a bacon dipping sauce. Delicious. Enjoyed the meatballs and sauce combinations. A fun (but noisy) place to eat. Definitely will return for more pickles!
(4)Derek C.
Very good! A unique Italian and menu that allows you to construct your own meatball dish. The second floor does pizza and the third has an partially open-air rooftop bar. Cool place!
(4)Marc A. P.
I'm not overly impressed based on the hype and recommendations from colleagues, but it was decent enough for three stars. I will admit the meatballs were very good, however was the sides that really downgraded this restaurant to me. The Caesar salad was terrible. The dressing was way too fishy, and way too much was put onto the salad. The Parmesan and herb fries were rather bland undercooked and just not very good. I am not from the area and likely won't patronize on future trips to Pittsburgh.
(3)Priya M.
Fun place. Love that they have 3 levels completely differs from each other. Level 3 is amazing when it is summer. Their appetizers are v good too. Drinks are strictly okay. They could make better cocktails.
(4)Stuart M.
Loved the Classic Beef Meatballs! Added pasta and marinara and had a perfect spaghetti and meatballs dinner. Only problem is I wanted more meatballs. Looking forward to trying more dishes and from what I had I'm expecting all to be excellent.
(5)Prinzzess F.
Walked in at 3:11pm saw the upstairs was roped off. I asked if I could go up and just look real quick (I am scouting a place for a future party) they rudely said it's closed. And no I can't go up till 4pm. I never got a chance to say why I wanted to see it.
(1)Jet T.
Friendly staff, prompt service, solid food, and well poured cocktails...easy like Sunday morning!
(4)Jim V.
The food was really good. I had the fried peppers appetizer which was excellent. Also had the whiskey sour, which was one of the best whiskeys drinks I had. However the waitress sucked. Not attentive and confused
(4)Daniel H.
Was there and the food was average. Then there was an off duty Pittsburgh Police officer in there eating....naturally he had his service weapon concealed however the manager came up and asked him if he had a weapon. The officer identified himself as a PIttsburgh Police officer and told the manager that he had his service weapon. The manager asked him to leave......the nerve. I will never enter your establishment again as long as you have concealed carry policy and to apply it to law enforcement is absurd.
(1)Julie M.
Delicious beef meatball grinder with marinara and a side of spaghetti with bolognese sauce. Our table also shared the crab ball appetizer which was also good. Service was fast and friendly and the atmosphere was nice. I would return again.
(5)Shay H.
The food was solid. Our table had saucy balls,sliders and a few sides. We also had the tater tots with gravy. I would probably skip the sliders because the buns made the meatballs more dry than if you just get the saucy balls. Everything came out pretty quickly as well. My one complaint was that our server was terrible! She only came to our table 3 times during that almost 2 hours we were there. We had to get up and go to the bar to get a refill on our water and we had to go find someone to bring us our check because she never came back. We actually watched her walk by at least three times and give us dirty looks instead of coming over to the table. We did speak to the manager and, during that time, the server walked by and gave us another dirty look instead of coming over to the table to see what the problem was. The manager said she would talk to her, but then as we were leaving, the server came over and made a snide remark to us about having talked to the manager.
(3)Adam L.
For a place that completely dedicates itself to meatballs I feel they should be of better quality. I tried the meatball grinder, and although the size and price were great the meatballs them self lacked any distinctive flavor. They weren't juicy enough and lacked moistness, honestly just average. It would be tough for me to justify a visit back when I have had better of their only item at italian restaurants nearby. The crab balls were a nice special.
(3)Aveek D.
I ate at the meatball place. I love a good meatball place because its pretty cheap and you can be imaginative for the combinations you make. And this place meats (typo intentional) the bill. Good friendly service, water in little mason jars, and the ability to try different types of meatballs. Also good apps and side items available. Would definitely eat here again, especially since the price/value is so good.
(5)Adell K.
Meatballs and beer! This was a grand experience. The food and nice full beer selection were only surpassed by the excellent service. We visited this place on a busy Saturday night and it was packed. Loud by fun atmosphere. Classic Beef with arribiatta, Spicy Pork with creamy parmesan, Chicken with spinach-almond pesto all delish however the Beef was a little bland. I got them in slider form but I would have preferred them In the Saucy Balls. The problem is you cannot mix your balls. With this many choices you should have an option that lets you sample more balls at a time. That would be my only criticism. on the other hand the mushroom arancini were so good I would go back just for them. we also had the tomato risotto and escarole & beans were adequately prepared but nothing to brag about. Plenty of fine drafts on tap and when I say excellent service, I mean it. I can't wait to go back and try the upper levels. Note to owner: BALL SAMPLER!
(4)Megan H.
Love, love this place. Have been three times and had an excellent experience each time. They've been running a jalapeno pork meatball in beer cheese sauce special that's outstanding. On my last visit, my mom ordered the spicy pork in the parm sauce -- quite delish. Also found the pickle chips and the tater tots to be above the norm. (Do skip the escarole and beans, though. They were on the more mediocre side, especially considering the other options. Also we weren't huge fans of the turkey meatball.) Service is quick and pleasant. Booze prices are reasonable and the selection quite good. Try their negroni if you like them -- you won't be disappointed. Overall, a really great and reasonably priced addition to downtown. (If you've been to the meatball shop in NYC, this place is a nice borrowing of the idea...) Oh, and to one of the prior comments... you can get meatballs with sauce individually. My mom did just yesterday. It might be priced differently than the "saucy balls entrée", but it is definitely possible. Just ask.
(5)Sammi A.
I don't even eat meatballs and I loved this place. I ordered some appetizers and they were awesome. We sat at the bar on the roof and it was gorgeous! I could have stayed there all evening. I would recommend this to anyone and I will be back for sure.
(5)Boyd T.
Not sure about the different concepts on all three levels...Meatball sub was good and they had a great beer selection.
(4)S T.
If you like meatballs, them this is the place to go. I like meatballs...but not THAT much that I would go to a specific meatball restaurant. (I went to this restaurant with work colleagues for lunch.) I would consider this restaurant a bit pricey for high end meatballs.
(3)Laura H.
I visited on a Tuesday night and it was relatively uncrowded. I love the industrial design of the restaurant-the "garage door" opens when the weather is nice too. We were greeted immediately upon walking in and The hostess seating us gave a very good overview of the menu, filled our water glasses, and left the carafe on the table (which I always like). Service started off shaky-we were waiting for a good 10 minutes when our server came over and apologized for the wait, thanked us for being patient, and added she was having a computer issue and couldn't find anyone to help her. Having worked in food service before, I'm very understanding and wasn't bothered by this as I've had the same issue. She took our drink order and those were promptly brought to our table (I had the Boulder Mojo a nitro IPA and my boyfriend had an Old Brown Ale). They have a decent draft selection-lots of IPAs which I love. Most are between $5.50-$7 so typical Pittsburgh prices. We started off with the buffalo fried chicken balls with blue cheese and celery. The celery was shredded and blended with the blue cheese which topped the fried chicken balls. They were delicious-had a definite kick to them-and there were 6 balls so it was perfect for sharing. For our entrees we both decided to do 2 sliders (since you can't do multiple types of meatballs in any of the serving options-that was my one negative). We both did a meatball of the day slider. The meatball of the day was a ground beef/corned beef mix topped with saurkraut and stone ground mustard. WOW! It was perfectly pink in the middle-how I like it-and the flavors blended together perfectly! My boyfriend chose a spicy pork slider with Arribiatta sauce which he said was very good. I chose a chicken meatball with the tzatziki sauce and again-WOW! The tzatziki sauce was probably the best I've ever had and I really liked the flavors in the chicken meatball. After that hiccup in the beginning, service was great-we were checked on at exactly the right points during our visit, our glasses were always full, after we finished the plates were immediately cleared. She was very talkative and friendly and made a great suggestion on the Boulder mojo I had. We had a great experience from start to finish (minus that hiccup with waiting for our server at first) so do not hesitate to make your way down to Emporio for some delicious meatballs-we will absolutely be back for a return visit.
(4)Blake R.
Less than inspiring. Terrible treatment from the bouncer who was particularly rude and hostile with my family. Also flat beer.
(1)William P.
Meatball of the day! Sliders. Tater tots. Great atmosphere. Great layout. Roof top bar with retractable roof. Ok you will love it. Rain or shine this place is fine. Excellent diverse beer selection.
(5)Charlie B.
I was so glad I chose to have lunch here because the menu offered a variety of foods with a emphases on the meatball creations and it was so delicious. I had the turkey meatballs with Parmesan and it was absolutely amazing. It was a perfect combination of sauces and not being overlooked upon. I also had the pleasure of having their donut balls for desert and they were to die for! Another fantastic eat on Penn Ave in Pittsburgh. The prices on the menu during lunch were so affordable and I can't wait to return! The wait staff was friendly and always at your side when you needed something or had a menu question. So helpful!
(4)Jonathan H.
Wandered in here alone because it was across from the hotel, open on Sunday, and I was looking for World Cup and a beer. I don't like eating alone when traveling, but Lindsey behind the bar was super friendly and made me feel at home. I was disappointed to find out the menu consists of mostly just soup, salad, and meatballs, but that was a rash judgment! Maybe 30 taps had local and far away beers, with perhaps half of them IPAs, which is OK by me. I settled on a local brew, the Fatheads Head Hunter IPA, 7.5%, $7.50, which was pretty darn good. I had the meatball grinder with Grandmas traditional beef balls, Sunday sauce (marinara) and provolone, and it may have been the best meatball sub I've ever had. Bread was hot, crusty and substantial, and stood up to the marinara. Balls were huge, racket ball size, and I found I was better off cutting them in half and rearranging on the bun. Great place, and I will definitely be back next time I'm in Pittsburgh.
(5)Christen M.
I've only ever been here for happy hour on a week day, so I can only comment on my experience at the bar. Even on a week day, there was a 30+ minute wait for a table, however, we were perfectly fine scoring two seats at the bar. We ordered drinks and were able to order some "saucy balls" as an appetizer. The vibe at the bar has a very luxurious feel, and the drink menu is extensive. Lots of after-work, happy hour people. I also only was able to stay at the bar on the bottom level, I did not venture to the upstairs. For the happy hour crowd, I would say the bar was a little understaffed. I am not sure if there was an event going on that time, or if they are usually this busy on a week night, but they could have used at least one more person behind the bar. I thought the food was delicious and quick to come out. I also ordered the cheese and olive plate, which was perfect with my cab sauv. Highly recommend for after-work dinner or drinks!
(4)Michele W.
The rooftop bar is great for drinks but I wouldn't say it's worth the wait if busy. Their menu is limited and if you ate vegetarian, there is not nearly anything to sample from. Drinks ok. Meh.
(3)Erica K.
Im such a sucker for a rooftop bar that serves a good moscow mule. My friends and I went here right around happy hour on a Friday and rightfully so it was crowded. I would def suggest either getting here early to get a seat or call early for a reservation if you plan on eating. All in all they have great drink options and the bartenders work quick enough to not keep you thirsty for too long. Great spot, but I'll be sure to check this out during week and maybe actually get a seat at the bar
(4)Julie M.
I went to Emporio a couple weeks ago and it was exceptional. Extremely simple food done well. I had the poutine with tater tots, bacon, cheese, and mushroom gravy as well as a wedge salad, olives, and Parmesan fries. Everything was delicious but the fries were supposed to have vinegar on them and I didn't taste it at all. Nice ambience, but extremely loud and the service was incredibly slow. I'm looking forward to checking out the rooftop bar next time!
(4)Kat B.
We have been here several times and haven't been disappointed in the food once. The meatballs are always fresh, tender, and juicy. Their pork bolognese has a hint of sweet spice to it, so heads up of you prefer a more acidic red sauce. Their mushroom gravy has a hint of nostalgia for grandma's beef stroganoff and the buffalo balls are can't miss. It does not get more stars due to the shoddy service by their serving staff. The best service we have gotten was seated at the bar. Each time we have table service, orders are wrong, drinks are never refilled or are forgotten about. During one trip, the server took my boyfriend's food and drink order first (big no-no, ladies first!) and then walked away from the table! She never even got mine. She returned later with my boyfriend's beer, and we had to informer that she never took my order. Needless to say, my boyfriend's food showed up 15 minutes before mine. If they fix their serving staff, it could easily be one of the best casual dining experiences in Pittsburgh.
(3)Bennett R.
Its hit or miss. We got off on the wrong foot with the wait. My cousin called ahead for a group of ten and on the phone was told an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and a half. The text she got said 120 min, but after the time she was told on the phone she read that as an hour and 20 min. So after waiting 2 hours we went downstairs to see what was happening and after some hemming and hawing, there was a table after another 10 to 15 minutes. (Notes to restaurant - after we complained you told us its hard to accommodate 10 people in your restaurant. From here on, please tell people that when they call. We have a dozen other places we could visit inside 2 blocks. Also, the words "its only been 2 hours" should never be said to a guest who has already waited 2 hours.) Just based on that part of the experience, I won't plan to return. If I were walking by and saw it empty, I would pop in for sure. But that's the only way I'll go back. Me and my man both had soup. His wedding soup was very good, just shy of great. It sparked a conversation about Granma's wedding soup, it was that good. My pasta fagioli was not. It was reminiscent of nights I'm pressed for time and make soup from canned stuff. A can of beans, a can of tomatoes, some ditalini, a can of broth, and sauteed onions and celery. The sauteed veggies were still crunchy, they weren't cooked through. After adding a ton of cholula hot sauce it was just ok. Soup was dropped at the table and the food runner vanished before we noticed there were no spoons. I had veggie balls, he had beef meat balls. My veggie balls were FREAKING AMAZING. I got them with pesto over beans and greens. The greens were good, the beans were the same as in my soup. But the balls, fantastic. His meatballs over spaghetti had a Parmesan cream sauce he loved. So the food - mostly a hit. The wait, not worth it. Catch them at a slow time, or spend your money someplace else. Our server was nice and did the best you could hope with a big party of starving (mostly) Italians who REALLY wanted to eat.
(2)Dhaval S.
The vegetarian meatballs is a unique twist to he menu and rates good with quinoa. The food is good but the service is ok
(4)Jonathan O.
Awesome beer selection, half off happy hour, and a friendly staff. The meatball sliders were a tasty twist in comparison to the standard bar menu. After a terrible experience at ten penny this was a relief. Definitely recommended.
(5)Lauren B.
This place is amazing. I love the idea of the focus on meatballs. The menu allows for a variety of ways to have your meatballs, such as on sliders, just by themselves, or on top of poutine. They say you can't "mix your balls" but they do allow you to buy them a la carte for a little more money then you can mix all you want! I went twice and got a few different meatballs with different sauces I mixed and matched. They each came out in individual little bowls. I got beef, pork, chicken, and vegetarian with a variety of sauces. And each day they also have a special meatball of the day. They were all amazing, even the vegetarian one that I had with a delicious pesto sauce. I also really enjoyed the mac-n-cheese and poutine (available with pancetta and a fried egg on top!). The atmosphere is trendy with a good vibe and now that the weather is nice they have the front wall opened up to the outside which is really nice. They had a great draft beer list and half off drafts during happy hour 4-6. Service was excellent. I'll definitely be back.
(5)Kelly Ann R.
Upstairs beer garden. Service was slow, couldn't even fill water glass. Large convention in town, need better management on staffing.
(2)Kat S.
I had the special meatball slider, philly cheese meatball slider, so super good, easpecially after 4 beers.. lol. I got one to go and i was not as impressed. not sure if it was the beer or the to-go factor.
(3)Doug G.
Meh. Supposedly "trendy" place. Long wait on a Friday evening, but that is to be expected. The food certainly wasn't great. Not bad, but certainly not all that good. Our waitress clearly didn't want to be there. And I'm sure there are plenty of friendly and hardworking waiters and waitresses there, so I certainly don't mean to group them all together in one blanket statement. But I'm pretty sure our waitress hated us. If it's on the menu, get the corned beef ball. Avoid the risotto, the chicken ball and the government cheese mac n cheese.
(1)Greg B.
Veggie meatballs were excellent...and we had better poutine there than in Montreal! The atmosphere is casual and the service nice. Get non-alcoholic beer!!
(4)Becky M.
Buffalo Chicken Balls. Get them. AMAZING.
(5)Star F.
Been here 4 times now for lunch. Nice atmosphere, good service, decent food. Not sure why I keep coming back though. Everything is overpriced. Small portions. Those two comments really sum this place up.
(2)Tamara M.
Yummy! The best part, their super helpful menu star system called out every item that contained tree nuts. Thank you! Gavin could eat his meal with the reassurance that it was safe. He loved the homemade donuts, that came to the table warm and still crispy on the outside.
(5)Jessica F.
Excellent food, service. The balls are delicious & I enjoy the daily balls too... always something new. Prices are really reasonable. Cocktails aren't as fancy as other places, but they've got a decent selection. Looking forward to them carrying arsenal ciders! :-)
(5)Joann H.
I came here and ate on the first level, Emporio. The meatballs were truly delicious. There are so many ways to enjoy them, too! I came around 8pm and the bar was full and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. This is definitely a great date night spot!
(4)Mack R.
Meatballs were OK. Service for dinner OK. Bartender on the roof beer garden awful. Rude. Rude. Rude. Won't go back.
(1)Dana D.
Not impressed. Maybe because I'm Italian and from New York And I'm spoiled. But the Sunday sauce was far from delicious. The Mac and cheese was overly seasoned with Parmesan. This place needs to hire a real Italian.
(2)Christine T.
I've had a few bad experiences here in terms of service and reservations, but tonight was great. Made my reservation with the NoWait app and had no issues. Food was great, drinks were great, waiter was the best (Can't remember name - possibly Joseph??). Totally redeemed itself. Will likely be back, via the NoWait app.
(4)S Y.
Great meatballs and mac and cheese (with creamy parmesan sauce), not so great app. I do not recommend relying on the app at all for accurate waiting times-we were told a 45 minute wait and it ended up being 1.5 hours (though the app also told us by the end of that 1.5 hours that we still had 35 minutes left...which is when we went downstairs to ask about our table). Also had to flag down our waitress because our water was empty... And after we finished the second bottle, it just sat there empty for the rest of our meal..
(3)Seth R.
How does one take a mundane thing such as a meatballs and turn it into a masterpiece of culinary chef d'oeuvre. Taking a dish, that most of us have extensive exposure to and flip our preconceived perceptions of the lowly maligned meatball. They elevate this stalwart of many a dish from supporting cast to the bell of the ball! I know what you must be thinking how could a meatball shop be "trendy" or "classy". Well all you have to do is step through the doors of this new shop and you will not only see but know the answer. This new gem on the street of cuisine is an amazing addition to the fare available. This former piano gallery has transformed into a fun filled establishment buzzing with life and full of verve. When you first walk in the dark wood and metal create a warm, cozy, yet upscale feel. You are greeted at the door with smiles and welcomed to the fun. There are no reservations needed so there can be a wait but Mercato is part of the modern trend of restaurants that utilize your smart phone to help with the wait. So download for free the app NoWait and you can check in before arriving so you are already in line plus if they don't show on the list there is ... no wait! Once you are seated the servers all have been absolutely incredible. We have had the distinct privilege of being served by Nick twice now who elevated our experience from great to truly don't miss out! The servers have fun with the names of the dishes on the list and yes you can easily get a bit irreverent and borderline inappropriate with the play on ordering "saucy balls" and "grinders". Additionally the drinks are based on a bit of a throwback so nothing overly fancy or crazy names just good drinks to accompany GREAT food! Not often can I say this about a restaurant but nothing on the menu is substandard it's all good! From the poutine which when ordered with mushroom gravy and an egg on top is as close as you'll get to an order of this awesomeness in Toronto. The beef, pork, chicken, and specialty balls are all amazing and not one of the myriad of sauces are wonderfully crafted and superbly delicious. The menu is uncomplicated and easily perused but because of how incredible everything is it rapidly descends into the depths of your own disappointment as you only have enough space in your own belly to fit so much. With the promise of two more floors being nearly completed for the summer, the quality, care, and flavors that their food delivers on I am waiting with baited breath and salivating incisors at the fine food these additions will unveil to the world of Pittsburgh. In other more simple terms...... What are you waiting for (besides a table) get down to Penn Ave and have your mind and taste buds blown away by those saucy balls at Sienna Mercato Emporio. You'll leave with a new found respect for the simple yet majestically masterful meatball and all this little leviathan will bring to your palate. Oh yeah all of this for a reasonable cost ta-boot!!! Thank you Nick from Nicholas Coffee for a wonderfully amazing addition to the street of cuisine may all your future endeavors be as incredible as this!!
(5)John C.
First time here and although the ambiance was very good the service and food was mediocre. We waited at least 15 minutes before a bartender would take our order. It seems that the people who were seated had priority. Each bartender was working the whole bar instead of an area of the very long bar. The food was ok but the vegetarian meatballs were not fully cooked and the mushroom gravy was pasty and thick. Not what was expected. Pork meatballs were good. Service was better downstairs.
(2)Finster F.
For as much hype that I had heard about Emporio, I was a little disappointed in my first visit. Pros: - the food is excellent! sauces tasty, meatballs flavorful and moist, sides surprising and delicious. - atmosphere is trendy and inviting. - our server was friendly, helpful, and on her game. reading some of the other reviews citing poor service - today was much better than Cons: - i was disappointed by the size of the lunch entree. i ordered the panini, with 2 meatballs. it's literally half a sandwich, cut on a diagonal. the meatballs are bigger than a golf ball, but not by much. i think i was expecting Buca di Beppo size meatballs, because it's a meatball restaurant. or at least a whole sandwich. the dish of sauce that accompanies the meatballs was delicious, and there was enough to dip the sandwich in. - maybe I'm too old, but i felt that it was too dark in the booth that we were seated in. - some of the waitstaff wore tshirts with the restaurant name on hem, but many others just seemed to wear whatever they wanted. I wasn't sure who was working there vs. not. - though i liked the atmosphere, it's very similar to tenpenny, right around the corner. i'm giving this three stars, mostly due to the portion size of the panini being much smaller than I expected.
(3)Fred Z.
I have eaten at Sienna in Market Square many times and heard that the same chef was expanding to a new concept of 3 restaurants offering differing Italian themed menus. Well the 1st of three Emporio has recently opened and I was totally impressed with the meatball menu and the draft beer selection. It was hard to pick from the menu so I ordered a few things. The meatballs were OUTSTANDING! The second concept of this trifecta is Pork based and it is my understanding that they will be butchering and preparing many wonderful Pork dishes. This is supposed to happen sometime around March 1st. The crowning event will open sometime late spring, and will be an Italian Beer Garden. I think someone said it would have a variety of food selections and of course a great draft beer line up! In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger..."I'll be back"
(5)Jenn K.
Great service! Our waitress was cheerful and accommodating. The balls were also unexpectedly de'lish! (Turkey was moist and veggie was vegan). Stay away from "government cheese" (duh on my part) as it's like velveeta. Nice spot.
(4)Rebecca G.
As a vegetarian, I was really surprised at all of the options I had at a meatball joint! The veggie balls are tasty (lol), and there are multiple toppings that are veg friendly. I like the mushroom gravy the best... Then maybe the spicy sauce (it starts with an A, something like Arribiata???). The beer selection is also pretty kick ass. Service has never been bad, or even that slow. We were there on NYE and service was still pretty snappy. The upstairs bar area is also super cool. Overall great place!
(5)Lou B.
Love Sienna Mercato. With 3 different restaurants you get 3 great experiences. Typically I spend my time at the 1st floor meatball restaurant or the patio bar. Either way you get good food and a great beer selection. The ambiance is great and the food I'd above average on the first 2 levels. The appetizer menu on the rooftop is adequate though nothing special. That said the experience more than makes up for the food selection.
(3)Lauren P.
Calling all Pittsburgh foodies this is the new downtown hot spot!! I love meatballs and could not wait to try this place out. They do not take reservations but are on No Wait and we really did not have to wait at all-it was a Sunday night but the place was bumping! They had a nice selection of draft beers-I went with my favorite White Lightening by Full Pint. We started with the buffalo chicken meatballs (tasted just like boneless buffalo wings) which was mixed in a sauce with blue cheese and shredded celery-the perfect combo and not too spicy. Now on to the exciting part picking your meatballs and sauce. I went with the classic beef meatballs on a Panini with gouda cheese (you can pick from 3 cheeses). They had a variety of sauces and I stuck with the classic tomato sauce. It was the perfect combo of sweet and savory and a terrific combo. For my side I went with the pasta fagiolo which was delicious. They have a nice selection of soups including wedding soup and matzo ball soup and you can add meatballs to any of them for a small charge. My date ordered the saucy balls-you get 4 meatballs although you cannot mix and match. He went with the spicy pork with the tzatziki sauce to cool it down a little. The tzatzikii sauce was fantastic! For $4 extra dollars you can have the balls put on a side and he choose the tomato risotto (different flavor each day). The service was great, loved the atmosphere and can't wait to go back and try out more combos!!
(5)Samantha G.
SO MUCH MEAT. SO MANY MEATBALLS. This place has forced me to rethink my meatball consumption capacity. Three meatballs in a meatball grinder? "No problem!" I thought. In fact, give me some mac and cheese on the side and I will polish that off like a pro. Reality check: 16 hours later, I was still totally full and convinced I would never eat again. I went with the spicy pork meatballs + pork bolognese. In retrospect, maybe I overdid it on the pork, but wow, it was good. The mac and cheese was creamy, the meatballs were moist, and the beers kept coming. If I could do it over again, I would probably do what my friend did and order a handful of sliders with sauce on the side so I could experiment with flavor combinations. I'm excited to see how the other three floors stack up, but so far, so good.
(4)John M.
Rooftop Beer Garden with my wife and great friend of mine. Already had eaten dinner, so we were interested in checking out the beer garden on the 3rd floor. The Beer Garden is pretty cool with the retractable roof which was open on a beautiful summer night. The place was packed on a Saturday night, but we were able to grab a table. Great view of downtown Pittsburgh skyline. Nice choice of draft beers on tap. I enjoyed a Bell's Summer Shandy, my buddy liked his IPA's, and my wife got her go-to beer, Yuengling. We enjoyed the vibe, view, and brew! We'll be back soon to try the restaurant, meatballs, and pizza, which we've heard are all delicious.
(4)Nisha B.
Great experience trying to beer garden and then eating the meatballs! Enjoyed the friendly low key service, good beer selection and then the very large meatball portions. I ordered just the meatballs with risotto. I'd come back for the risotto. But the portions are huge! I couldn't even finish half my dish! Will be back!
(4)Randy M.
My friends and I were there a few weeks ago because we were intrigued by the meatballs concept. The inside of Emporio(the first floor) was modern and fairly rustic at the same time. Not surprisingly, there were many people dining and drinking on Friday night which was awesome to see. When we got there, we had to wait 30 minutes just because there was so many people. We finally got our seats, and looked at the menu. There were some interesting things on the menu that we were not familiar with. This is where it got really ugly. The waitress with the tattoos came over and asked what we wanted. When we asked questions about the menu, she just kind of gave a one word answer, and did not seem that she liked us or wanted to be there. I understand that being a server sucks sometimes, but you have to be nice to your customers be somewhat passionate about the restaurant. It's meatballs; everyone should be passionate about in some capacity. As far as the food goes, two of my friends did not like their chicken meatball dish because they said it lacked flavor. I ended up getting a pork meatball slider with pesto sauce, and tomato risotto. They were both fantastic and not too filling. The risotto was creamy without being mushy. The pork slider was meaty of course, and the pesto sauce, added nutty basil flavor to the meatball. Overall I thought the food was fantastic, but the server needs to be more passionate and nicer overall. I will come back regardless to try the other kinds of meatballs.
(4)Paul L.
Went to Sienna Mercato for lunch with some friends. I ordered two meatball sliders and a side of fresh-cut fries. One slider had a beef meatball with the mushroom gravy. The other was the pork meatball with the arribiatta sauce. The meatballs were excellent - both tender and flavorful. The two sliders plus fries cost $12. Not a bad price for good quality and quantity of food. My lunch companions also enjoyed their meals. We agreed to come back soon.
(5)Chris M.
Everything is great about this place except the music. The music is terrible. Am I a 40 year old experiencing a mid-life crisis. Please change it up.
(4)Andy A.
Probably the best meatballs I have ever eaten. We loved the beer selection as well as the pesto! Will be coming back many times again!
(5)Becky G.
Treat you like it is studio 54. If you are not someone, don't expect to get on the roof on sat.
(1)Jon B.
Neat place. The menu looks simple, but there are a lot of combinations to try. But you'd better like meat balls. Everything we had was excellent and our server was attentive and friendly. If you want to try a variety, get multiple sliders with different combinations of sauces and meats.
(5)Erin H.
This place looks like a high class barn. A little odd on the decor. First off the menu is confusing. The waitress had to explain everything a couple times. There are no descriptions of the all different sauces on the menu. We had to have the waitress describe those to us as well. We had a combination of saucy balls at our table. Everyone liked everything. The meatballs are a good size. If you start with an app or a salad you'd probably be okay with two balls. If you're just eating balls you'll need four. I had one slider with the Sunday gravy (basic red sauce) and the poutine on the side. I was able to eat half my fries. The cheesy bread is to die for and all the salads were very fresh with high quality ingredients. In addition to the confusing menu bringing the waitress over every three minutes, they also give you the tiniest glasses. I think everyone was in constant need of a refill. I'm pretty sure if you were there on a busy night you would not get the attention you needed from the waitress. One last tiny peeve is that the two tables they pushed together for us were both wobbly as well as three of our six chairs. Oh and the cocktails are over priced for the size. My 4oz sloe gin fizz was $8. All of that said, the service great, the food was fresh and fairly priced. I'm excited to see the next two levels once their open.
(4)Jessica M.
Simple yet effective. Very original food concept. Food tasted great, atmosphere and staff are very friendly. I definitely recommend it and will come again.
(5)M H.
This is a meatball joint. They sell beer and drinks. It is not fine dining. I think they do a great job and they aren't trying to be anything they aren't. I dig this place and I eat here frequently. I do not give out very many 5 star ratings. 4 stars is a really good score for me.
(4)mike s.
I dreamed of meatballs last night after dinner here. We didn't get to see the second floor, but had some drinks on the awesome roof top bar, then dinner down below. This is a MUST in Pittsburgh. The roof top bar has a great selection on tap with some ciders as well (good gluten free option). The view is amazing. It's a glass top, so closed when cold, open when warmer. After drinks we headed down to Emporio for dinner. The menu is not something I've seen before. Some intriguing app, but we didn't indulge. The gist of the menu is MEATBALLS. Four types, meat, veggie, pork, or turkey (which is the only gluten free option, but well worth it). Then picking a sauce, and style. (Saucy balls are a must). Sides are available. I had my turkey meatballs with arrabbiata sauce over gluten free penne. I also asked for a side of the tzatziki sauce, because it's one of my favs (worth it). My wife had the veggie balls with a mushroom gravy over tater tots, yes tater tots. Don't make that face, they were great she said. The atmosphere is very inviting, staff/service at both spots were on point. Cannot wait to return. Highly recommend this place.
(5)Alicia T.
My new favorite restaurant in Pittsburgh. The food was amazing with a lot of different options. The staff was very helpful, quick, and nice. I got the pork meatballs with Parmesan sauce over the tomato risotto. It was amazing. The drink menu is very good with good happy hour specials. The general feel of the restaurant is nice and it is pretty cheap price wise. I can't wait to go back. So Good!!
(5)Chris L.
What a great experience. Went to check out the new Emporio before going to the car how this weekend. Walking into the place, whoever did the branding and the design of the interior absolutely deserve a high-five. Just a great feel with the rustic wood, exposed metal. We had a party of 9 and the Host, Ryan, did a great job of accommodating us and making sure that we knew he was on top of things. The other hostess was helpful as well, pointing out some of her favorites and making recommendations. (She was right, the Ricotta Donuts were the perfect finish to the meal) Liked the simple menu on a clipboard idea. Very nice clean execution. The menu it self is very simple, 4 kinds of balls and a handful of sauces. The only problem is it creates so many combinations of flavors, what to try first. We went with Cheesy Bread (that day'special), Fried Buffalo Chicken Balls and Crab Stuffed Mushrooms. The Cheesy Bread was light and crispy, not too much cheese to overwhelm the herbs and pepper flakes. The Buffalo Chicken Balls were something totally different, just the right amount of fruity heat and a mix of textures (Crispy outside, juicy and tender in) The crab stuffed mushrooms were different from the usual as well. A touch of citrus flavor left us wondering if there was such a thing as "fresh crab" as opposed to the canned stuff we are all used to. For the main course, we just grabbed a couple of each ball and 5 sauces to dip them in, figuring that was the only way to satisfy our need to try everything that we had been smelling. We were not disappointed by anything we ate. The biggest hit had to be the Bolognese Sauce. Chunky and thick, though the taste was lighter than you would imagine and the touch of cinnamon at the finish really complemented the balls. The added plus of dining this way, was that instead of being consumed by the food in front of us, we were constantly passing plates of meatballs and recommending sauces with a "you've gotta try this" thrown in here and there, making for a very communal dining experience. Overall, a great dining experience (the servers were helpful, friendly and pleasant.) the food was delicious and the atmosphere was great.
(5)Jessica N.
I tried the vegetarian balls and I haven't been able to stop thinking about them since. Loved it.
(5)Scott J.
Long long wait, table of six on a Saturday night took 2 hours 15 min. But if your not in a rush, and with good friends, lots to enjoy.
(4)Kristin D.
This is a review for Emporio, the meatball joint on the first floor. I have yet to try Mezzo, the Italian restaurant on the 2nd floor or their beer garden on the roof, but I do plan to. I've been to Emporio twice, and have thoroughly enjoyed the food, atmosphere, and menu. Among other items (your apps, salads, sides) you pick your meatball, your sauce/gravy, and how you want it served. The beer selection is good too! I'm not a big meatball person, but if you've ever enjoyed a meatball, Emporio is certainly worth visiting!
(4)Joe M.
Apparently people love this place and there are some redeeming qualities. We were there on a Saturday evening around 7pm and the customer service experience was not stellar. We experienced long wait times for drinks and the waiter rarely came back to check on our table. It seemed like they had plenty of food runners but hardly any wait staff. They were grossly understaffed and the managers were not jumping in to help. When I received my food it was ok. I had the pickle chips, which were excellent. I also had the wedge salad with the balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The salad was very nice but the dressing was mostly oil and had no flavor. The others sitting next to me enjoyed the other dressing selections though. My main course was the grinder sandwhich with the marinara sauce which they call Sunday gravy and beef meatballs. The bread was stale and the marinara was sparsely applied. Unfortunately I can get a better meatball sandwich at the local bar with half the hassle. To be fair though, once we finally got the waiters attention and ordered the food, the food came quickly and in the correct order. I really enjoyed the overall atmosphere and decor in general but they do have some construction going on at the moment so there is a plastic tarp over the stairwell going to the second floor and this is right in the middle of the restaurant. Not sure at this point if I will go back.
(2)John S.
Pretty good, not too pricey. While at first it seemed a bit overwhelming to go through all of the combinations of meatballs and sauces, it was easy enough to pick the meatball sandwich (with traditional beef and spicy marinara), which was by far the best thing we had. Fun atmosphere and concept. Definitely recommend it.
(4)Jessie S.
Amaze (meat)balls. Best veggie meatballs I've ever had. Excellent poutine. Friendly staff, great vibe. Looking forward to their other locations.
(5)Shelley R.
Great ambience. Casual and comfortable. Awesome beef and pork meatballs. Really loved the mac and cheese! We will be back for sure!
(4)Annette D.
We stopped in here on a Sunday on the recommendation of a friend. I would love to give it a five except for a few small issues. The food is delicious and quite different. Everything is built around meatballs. They have 4 varieties and a daily special. You can order them as sliders, grinders etc. but I like the "Four saucy balls" for $10.00. You pick a sauce and can pair them with a salad, soup or one of many sides for about $5.00 more. My husband had the beef meatballs with brown mushroom gravy over tater tots and paired them with a salad which was quite large and very good. I had the special sausage meatballs with red sauce with onions and peppers and a side of mac n cheese. All were delicious. On the flip side....we waited way too long for a waitress to come over and even take our drink order. However once she arrived, service was great. She explained everything clearly and was very helpful. I would have enjoyed some bread but you don't get any. My "saucy balls" didn't have much sauce at all and when I asked for a little more, she charged me $2.00 for it. No big deal. Certainly worth a trip before a show or anytime! Try the parmesan mac n cheese....oh my!
(4)Liz G.
I love this place. Adorable ambiance. Great menu with a cool niche. I love the veggie meatballs. My husband loves the pork, beef and the chicken ones (when those are available on special). It's a great place to have drinks. The only negative about this place is that they don't take reservations so that can be a bit of a pain. Other than that I love it.
(4)Jacob S.
I had dinner here last night and it being Sunday and me being from an Italian family, I opted for classic beef meatballs in marinara over spaghetti. The meatballs were pretty good as far as non-homemade meatballs go. The marinara was okay--pretty average. For an appetizer, we got the pepperoni something--I forget what they were called--but they were basically Italian hush puppies.
(3)Justin D.
I had such high hopes based on other reviews, but ultimately I was left a bit disappointed. Perhaps it was a result of having my expectations set too high based on the feedback of others, but I was not impressed. Atmosphere - 8/10 - very cool decor with open air front, reclaimed wood and rustic decor throughout. I really like the vibe in here. The only downside was that, when seated near to the sidewalk with the front windows all of the way up, the sidewalk is the de facto smoking area and I was constantly getting mouthfuls of hot and humid cigarette smoke. Nothing SM can really do about that, but it still gets -1 point. Service - 5/10 - agree with one of the other reviewers that the seemingly "anything goes" vibe in terms of waitstaff clothing was a bit odd. I didn't see anything too outrageous, but it definitely classed the place down a little bit. I'm not expecting Ceviche here, but being able to quickly identify your server vs. a patron is kind of a necessity. I also just didn't get the warm and friendly vibe from a single person (hostess, host, server, or otherwise). Granted, they were busy, but you should never be too busy to provide great service. Lastly, your menu has no description of what is in the meatballs or what the sauces are. Either provide a side menu with basic descriptions or incorporate that into the server's table greeting. Whatever you do, don't A) be annoyed when we ask questions or B) give one word answers because you're busy. Food - 4/10 - really blown away by the 4 and 5 star reviews on this one. My wife got the sliders and tried 3 different varieties. I got the panini with the meatball of the day. When you base your concept around a single thing, you better be pretty good at it. This was just average. I want to be blown away with how good the meatballs or the sauce are, but I just wasn't. The food wasn't very hot either, and the cheese on the entrees wasn't even melted. It seemed they had rushed it through the broiler or oven because they were busy. Disappointing :( Price - 8/10 - for the location, very reasonable. I wish I could give this a 2.5 star because it just wasn't quite a 3 for me. If either the food or service improve only slightly I would have given it 3 stars.
(2)Emma D.
This is my new favorite place to grab a drink and dinner downtown. Emporio is a welcome addition to the Cultural District. Let's start with my favorite part--the draft list. Emporio boasts an excellent draft list, with an ever-changing list of local and distant breweries. On my last trip, I grabbed a Southern Tier 2X IPA. Good thing I wasn't driving. The draft and drink list is very reasonable, especially for being a trendy new spot downtown. The food menu is perfect for sharing and munching. The spot is known for its meatballs, and you can choose from many different sauces, meats, and presentations. I'm liable to make some kind of Frankenstein meal when left to mix and match on my own, but the servers are so helpful with recommendations. Each visit, I've deferred to them and had such a great meal. Beyond the meatballs are other great dishes for sharing. I am a big fan of the buffalo chicken balls. It sounds fairly nasty to me, but these deep fried, deconstructed buffalo chicken balls are fantastic. They come with a blue cheese sauce, and spiral-ized celery. It's a wonderful take on a bar classic, and much of the menu trends in that direction. While it's a trendy spot, I've never had an issue walking in and getting a table at Emporio. I understand the restaurant doesn't take reservations, but if you're worried, sign up with NoWait to get on the list before you arrive. There are a ton of great places to eat before or after a show in the Cultural District, and I'd add this one to the top of the roster. I think you'd even catch me going Downtown specifically for this place!
(5)Tim M.
We ate at the downstairs place that specializes in meatballs but has some other items on the menu as well. The meatballs, fries, Mac & cheese were all very good and tasty. Nice place and location but service and ambiance (very noisy) are what keeps this place from getting 5 stars.
(4)Mike C.
Had the 4 meatball plate with spinach-almond-pesto, over the tomato risotto, which was killer! Note to self: come back here when you're in Pittsburgh!
(4)Kumiko M.
Came here for a rooftop beer and was really impressed! You walk into the lower level restaurant and take an elevator upstairs. The bar has a super cool vibe. It was a chilly so it was covered, but it was glass so you could still appreciate the beautiful skyline! I will say it was a little too loud for such a chill place. Other than that it was an awesome place for some tasty beer!
(4)Greg S.
The rooftop beer garden was a cool hangout while we waited for our table at Emporio, glass roof, nice view and atmosphere. Emporio was excellent, the meatballs were great, especially the spicy pork with the Arribiatta sauce was the highlight! The appetizer of poutine was excellent as well. Other winners were the beef meatballs with the traditional sauce.
(4)Chris G.
I was alone and ate at the bar. Good service and casual atmosphere. Ordered the famous meatballs and a salad. All very reasonably priced and delicious.
(5)Anna M.
Brought my family here from out of town...service was horrendous. Our night started on the 2nd floor with a server who didn't know what Stoli was...literally, no idea that it was a vodka. After 5 of us drank all of our water...we had to prompt her to bring us l more...especially since drinks were forgotten about and took forever to arrive at the table. After waiting 30 minutes for our dinners to arrive, the "manager," if you'd call her that, came to our table to tell us they were out of an ingredient used in one of the daily specials we ordered...she said they were substituting said ingredient for mushrooms. When the 2 people in my party that ordered the dish both said they didn't want mushrooms in their dish, the manager had to go ask the chef if that was ok. Since when do we live in a world where the chef tells you if you will or will not be eating a certain ingredient...like they didn't have an option? Not to mention the fact that our dinners should have been on the table at that point...not even started yet I'm assuming. Food was actually pretty good when it finally made it to the table...except for the fact that the server told us if we wanted a different dressing for our salad that we ordered SOS that we would be charged. So we have to pay extra because your gross pesto dressing just isn't cutting it? Cool. $2 for a tablespoon worth of dressing. Anywho...when the bill came, we asked her to split it evenly 3 ways with our credit cards. This is a simple operation for any operating system...I know because I work in the restaurant industry. She somehow charged 2 of us for $50 and 1 of us $100. It was pretty obvious that this restaurant needs some tweeking. When I spoke to the manager on the way out the door she could have cared less. I guess that's what these types of restaurants are turning into now...they just don't care about the quality of the service or the satisfaction of the customers...because people are going to go there regardless. Bad experiences are shrugged off and ignored because their sales are good and the money is coming through the door. Pretty sad if you ask me. The manager didn't even try to make things right...and she never did a single table check to see how things were going with our meal and service. Needless to say we were not impressed...and we will not return. Not that it matters to them...
(2)Margarita S.
1st floor tastes the best, second floor is just okay and I do't drink so no opinion about the beer garden other than it looks really cool
(2)Tiffany T.
I ate dinner here a few evenings ago mainly because of the outdoor seating. We ended up choosing the middle floor which was pizza and sandwiches menu. The calzone was pretty good and the was a good wine listing. I was disappointed that there were no draft selections but the service was outstanding.
(4)A. C.
(11/10/2014) Wanted to visit Sienna Mercato on a self-guided restaurant crawl of downtown Pittsburgh. The tiered concept (a different restaurant on each floor) seemed so contrived. We were there on a Monday were told that only the first floor was open. Seems like a missed opportunity, would've spent plenty of money there. I like a meatball just fine, but rest of the menu also not that exciting, some soup, some salad, and a pile of deep fried or buttered things. Wouldn't call it Italian, stylistically all over the place. Sports bar like atmosphere and loud music, and uncomfortable steel chairs also unappealing.
(1)Julie D.
"Hey, Jules, let's go somewhere different for lunch! Why don't you pick?" "Did you say different? I've got just the place!" Can you imagine the brains behind this new concept restaurant? Let's serve meatballs. Different sides. Different sauces. Let's make the joint trendy. And this works. The interior has lots of reclaimed wood, interesting light fixtures with vintage light bulbs, lots of modern metal chairs, comfortable booths and garage doors up front so when Spring finally does arrive, they can open this place up. It's also a pretty good spot to watch a game. Also, not sure why this is listed as Sienna Mercato. Only Emporio is open so far. So, I think it's going to be confusing when the other floors open with different names. I would think each floor deserves it's own Yelp page. Anyway, first off, our server was amazing. We must have looked blank and stupid staring at the menu trying to make sense of it. Of course, after she explained it, the menu makes sense. Service was very friendly and attentive. BJ was very happy because of all the beer choices on draft. And we appreciate that. BJ was first up. He got the wedge salad and two of the sliders. His picks were Classic Beef (grandma's secret) with arribiatta sauce. And a Vegetarian (mushroom, white bean, cauliflower) with spinach-almond pesto sauce. The arribiatta was thick and full of flavor. Amazing. And the pesto sauce was even better. The balls are huge. Two and 1/2 ounces. Doesn't sound like much, but that's a lot. The salad had tomato, chopped egg, pancetta, a nicely craved carrot, and crouton. The blue cheese dressing was SO good! I was being overly cautious with my order. I simply got the Vegetable Minestrone soup and a ball. The soup was very hearty, and consisted of tomato-fennel broth, carrot, onion, green beans, and kidney beans. So good! I got my meatball plain, I picked the Spicy Pork with chili pepper and herbs. Perfect. But I could not leave well enough alone, I had to copy the big guy and get a slider, too. Funny how fast they can bring those balls out. My second go round was yet another Spicy Pork, this one with the pork bolognese. The slider buns are soft and delicious, the sauce was yum yum. Needless to say, I was totally stuffed full, over my limit. And had to miss out on dessert. That's okay, because we are sure to come back soon!
(5)Alex C.
Went to lunch on the first floor because I heard so much about their meatballs. They were below their hype level, but still delicious! They had a variety of ways you could have them made and how they would serve it to you. Their sauce was definitely up to par. The meatballs were well seasoned and complemented well with the sauce. I also ordered their side of mac n cheese. I gotta say its up there on the top 3 for me of places to get Mac N Cheese from.
(4)Vu H.
Meatballs are legit. I really enjoyed the grinder and sliders but the sides were just okay.
(4)Bry S.
We went to Emporio Meatball Joint on the first floor for lunch and left very full and very happy. We had meatballs in panini and slider formats. We enjoyed being able to pick our own sauces but the meatballs were delicious on their own. The draft beer selection was really impressive also. If we're ever in Pitt again, we will come back.
(5)Laura P.
This place is three restaurants in one. Starting with the most amazing, Il Tetto is the rooftop beer garden. There is a glass roof that retracts (don't worry, there are millions of space heaters), and the view is amazing. I haven't tried the bar snacks on this floor, but the bartenders are super-friendly and the ambiance is 100% worth it even if they were serving nothing but IC Light. Mezzo is the restaurant on the middle floor. It gets super-crowded, so I recommend using NoWait or going on off-hours. They have a full menu heavy on pizza and pasta. While not super-sophisticated, it's also not red-sauce/Olive Garden Italian, which is a great. Emporio is the meatball joint on the ground floor. Everything I've tried so far is solid, if not earth-shattering. The bar is a great spot for happy hour, to watch a game, or just to spend 4-5 hours on a Saturday afternoon until you fall off of your bar stool (uh, my friend told me that last part).
(5)Nick J.
This was my first visit to Sienna Mercato. A girl friend said I should give it a shot. I'm glad she did though there are some negatives as well. First they give you this flavored water at the table, nice mellow mood to this place too. The bar looks awesome though me and my lunch mate sat at a table. They have 32 beers on tap. I went with the 4 Saucy Balls. Two beef and two spicy pork. I had the house gravy on one of each and the cheesy Parmesan on the other two. The quality, taste, and service were great. Though I will say I wish the portions were larger considering the cost. The 4 balls were $12...it would have been another $4 for a pasta and lets remember this is lunch! I wasn't up for a $20 lunch even though I still spent $15 with the tip. I think you have to look at all factors when giving a review. This was a expensive lunch but I will visit again but it will have to be a occasion.
(4)Wayne C.
Truly an old world Italian restaurant with a great selection of comfort food dishes and a great atmosphere to boot. What struck me most about the place was the authentic feeling. It's like venturing into a restaurant, a bistro, from a by-gone era. I loved the charm - and the house made sausage was darn good as well.
(4)Barb W.
Food is good. Bar service is bad. Bartender took my glass when I wasn't looking and didn't offer to get another drink (I only had one.). Had to flag her down. Too busy flirting with other bartender. 7 people at bar.
(3)JD B.
I arrived starving and ordered half the menu and a few different mixed drinks. The menu is simple and focused, and they do it very well. Server, Vince, gave great recommendations, was very friendly and attentive.
(5)Michaela R.
I love the decor in this restuarant ! I had the Rocket salad it was really good! And I had a classic beef meatball on a bun with sunday gravy which is just a marinara sauce it was good! I definetly want to go back and try some other dishes and appitizers that look really good, The front of the resturant opens up to the outside which is really nice!
(4)Kaleigh L.
Came here with the fiance for a nice dinner out. We decided on Emporio as we both had been dying to try the famous meatballs and sauces. This time I was smart about my my wait and used the No Wait app on my phone to get us checked in. Once we arrived at Emporio we still had about a 35 minute wait, so we headed up to the beer garden and had some drinks, it was fairly quick half hour! Be sure you are timing this place right on any given weekend and put yourself in line long before you leave the house, it really was much better than my last experience with Mezzo. For dinner we went all out! We started with the pepperoni and cheese bites with house marinara for dipping. These were delish! Fried crispy on the outside and the inside was creamy with little bits of pepperoni chunks! SO GOOD. Then we each had a wedge salad with bleu cheese dressing. I was surprised how big the salad was! I couldn't even finish mine it was so huge. The dressing was just OK, but did have nice chunks of bleu in it. For dinner, fiance had the "Saucy Balls" - 4 basic beef meatballs with house marinara and spaghetti and I had the Meatball sub combination: 3 beef meatballs with gouda cheese and marinara. The meatballs themselves had really good flavor and my sub was just OK...the marinara was almost TOO acidic in some weird way, and the bread was nothing special at all. I am never a person who gets heartburn, but that sauce really did me in. It has a very acidic tomato taste. I guess I prefer my marinara with a little more body and just a bit of sweetness to offset all of that acid. Overall it was pretty good, but the sub was slightly underwhelming. However, the government cheese mac and cheese as a side.....OH MY GOD. This made up for every shortcoming of the meatball sub. Ditalini pasta and the most CREAMY and velvety cheese sauce....it was out of control amazing. I will absolutely be getting that again. Overall it was a pretty good meal and our waitress so nice and attentive and brought our food out quickly. She was one of the best waitresses I have had in quite some time and really made our dinner experience great. I will definitely be back for more of these sauce and meatball combos...I want to branch out beyond the marinara next time! Definitely worth the trip!
(4)William S.
Stopped here before the game, and ate on the ground floor where they have a great beer selection on tap and a really cool menu consisting of just meat balls. You can get them as sliders, in a bowel, on a panini, grinder ( hero) add one of a dozen sauces and cheese. The meat ball of the month I think was bacon cheddar, yea sounds weird, but the way it was described it made my mouth water. I got the spicy pork meat balls on a panini and they were delicious!
(4)Jeremy K.
Visited numerous times for drinks and apps had great food and service. Waited for the new Mezzo to opened but was a enormous waste of time. Tried to have a birthday dinner for my girlfriend there total fail. Did not even "try" to accommodate for their mistake. Left and had an amazing time at ilpizzaiolo.com/mobile . After venting and contacting a manager about the situation, he wrote me an extensive email about how this happens all the time there and offered nothing to satisfy a lost customer or should I say 10 customers. Avoid.
(1)Halide T.
Sienna Mercato is a restaurant in a three-story building with a different dining concept on each level. During my trip to a conference in downtown Pittsburgh, only the first level, Emporio, was completed and open for business. Emporio's concept is gourmet meatballs and I'm usually the last person to order meatballs because they are usually lacking taste and come with the standard marinara sauce. When this place popped up on my restaurant search, I was actually excited to see something other than the standard meatball on the menu. I tried this place and liked it so much the first time that I went for a second trip. I was pleasantly surprised to see a vegetarian "meatball" on the menu as well which had a good taste and flavor. You can add a meatball to a salad or a soup or you can order one of their meatball sandwich options with your choice of sauce. If that's not enough, they also have a great variety of side dishes that you can add to your meal. The only issue was the slow service on both visits but this place made enough of an impression that I will definitely go back!
(4)Valerie F.
Didn't eat here just grabbed a drink and had a huge selection of draft beer which we really enjoy. People around us said the meatballs were great.
(3)Elizabeth B.
Before dragging my husband to the Home & Garden show at the Convention Center today, I thought having a tasty lunch beforehand might put him in a better mood. After hearing about the new Sienna Mercato Emporio, I knew that we had to check it out. I don't often dish out 5 star reviews for restaurants, particularly after the first try. However, the food here was AMAZING!!! Between my husband and me, I was able to try two meatballs (Classic Beef and Spicy Pork), three sauces (Creamy Parmesan, Mushroom Gravy, and Tzatziki), and two sides (Penne and Mac & Cheese). Everything was absolutely incredible! I could pour the Creamy Parmesan sauce on almost any food, and the Tzatziki sauce was a perfect combination with the Spicy Pork meatball. In addition to incredible food, the service was very good, and the decor was modern and trendy. I cannot wait for the 2nd and 3rd floors of Sienna Mercato to open, Mezzo (pizza and wine) and Il Tetto (rooftop beer garden). I will definitely be back!
(5)Valerie T.
Based on our personal experience, here are a few tips on how NOT to get verbally abused at Sienna Mercato: - DO NOT USE MORE CHAIRS THAN THAT ALLOTED TO YOUR PARTY o You may unapologetically be berated just loud and dramatic enough for everyone to stare at you in horror (GM, Chris Clark, was kind enough to put on this performance for our party) - DO NOT STEP MORE THAN 2 IN. AWAY FROM WALL WHILST IN LINE FOR ELEVATOR o You may be physically pushed (female, or not) if you step out of line o Member of staff may not hesitate to demean and degrade you with terribly inappropriate language (Jarvis... here's to you.) If you're still interested, try the tater tots. They're actually pretty good. But don't even bother getting a drink upstairs... if you haven't noticed yet. The service sucks.
(1)DJ Z.
I called in last night to order some food to go. This was my first time eating food from here. I give the food a 7/8 out of 10. I had "Saucy Balls" (4 meatballs in sauce) and a wedge salad. It's apparently impossible to get 2 pork meatballs and 2 beef meatballs. This is unfortunate because it doesn't let me try a wider variety of your food and also because it's unbelievably easy to accommodate. I should be able to get 4 different kinds of meatballs if I want. Seriously? I didn't eat in the restaurant but it seemed to be having the usual identity crisis that most Pittsburgh restaurants and bars have. Half upscale, half sports bar. Nice decor, ESPN on a TV. Make a choice and stick with it. My comparisons were easy to make because there's a meatball only restaurant in my town (24th & Meatballs) that does a much better job and has been doing it for longer (i.e. I'm sure this place is probably a rip off). I have no problem with that but a 2nd generation restaurant has every opportunity to do it better. I'll give it one more shot. I'll have to just so I can try a different flavor of meatball.
(3)Pete J.
After no service at Sonoma, I wandered across the street to Sienna Mercato. I was immediately greeted and seated. My sever came quickly as did my food. I had never dined here and found the concept interesting. I had the spicy pork meatballs in a panini with arribita sauce. Excellent. I also tried the mac and cheese with government cheese. Very good as well. I would eat here again. I would like to try the upper floors as well.
(5)Leigh G.
Amazing beer garden, when weather permits they can open the rooftop and let the sun it. It is so beautiful, drink prices are a tad expensive, but happy hour in their atrium on the 3rd floor is well worth it the extra dollar or two for a cocktail out of sheer beauty. My only complaint is the restaurant is 3 floors, physically not a problem since they have elevators, it's that they have kitchens on separate floors, and their POS (credit card system) is either not connected between the floors, or their insurance rates is too expensive to have their staff running up and down flights of stairs with trays of food/drinks every shift. So while i enjoyed my drinks in the beer garden on the third floor, I had to close out my tab upstairs, then call the restaurant I was already at, put in a To-Go order. Take the elevator downstairs, pay at the hostess stand separately for my To-Go order, then wait for my food in the waiting area. (I ordered truffle fries so I was only waiting for two minutes.) My only critique is that I completely understand having different menus depending on which floor you are seated in. I just would have liked to be able to order my fries (only offered on the first floor) while I was closing out my tab in their beer garden on the third floor, and grab it on my way out. It would have saved me from having to pay twice in one establishment, and also save my party a few minutes while we were trying to leave.
(3)J w.
TL;DR Food 6/10 Service 2/10 Sienna Mercato has been on my list of places to try for quite some time, and finally I had the chance. My family and I visited after a hot day in the city (Picklesburgh). My boys (ages 4 and 6) adore meatballs, so Emporio was definitely the place for us. We were seated quickly, and someone who identified themselves as "the person who was not serving us, but would be refilling our water" filled our glasses and left a bit of additional water at the table. Thank goodness that little bit of extra water was left for us, because our water was never refilled. Our server dropped off menus about 10 minutes later - we had wanted to order an appetizer but did not have the opportunity at this time. Maybe another 15 minutes passed before our server came back to take our order. We were told by the woman "who would be refilling our water" that the server would explain the meatball of the day to us. He didn't - we had to ask about it. At this time we ordered an appetizer along with our meals. I specifically stated that we wanted it was an appetizer. We didn't wait long at all for our food, and wouldn't you know the appetizer came out at the same time the entrees were delivered by the food runner. This is a particular pet peeve of mine. I had the classic beef meatball panini with spinach almond pesto - this was quite good. Both my kids had meatball sliders (also good), and my husband had a panini with government cheese. We all found the government cheese to be INCREDIBLY salty. Our server did not return to our table again to check on us until we were completely finished, and at that point we simply requested the check. I was hoping to see the "person who was not serving us, but would be refilling our water" because we were all fresh out of water, but she never returned. I'd go back for pretty decent food if the service was stellar, but that was not the case in my experience.
(2)Steph A.
Went to the bar on the bottom level after pickle feast. The food was great and the meatballs are delicious. The drinks were also good, but they took forever to get, even with the bar half empty. The female bartender seemed very annoyed to be waiting on us. She gave us menus, and started cutting lemons on the other side of the bar. We tried to get her attention when she was walking around the bar, but she just ignored us and kept her eyes down. She never came back to get our drink or food orders, until I asked the male bartender if we could order. This continued the rest of the time we were there. Finally the male bartender took over our service which was a relief. Overall I think the place is cool, but our service was terrible.
(2)Paul K.
In the past week, my girlfriend and I have eaten at Sienna Mercato in two different capacities - first, in the restaurant in their fine-dining "Mezzo" restaurant, then again at the "Emporio" food stand at the pop-up market on Friday, July 10. Of Sienna Mercato, I can only say this: their food is some of the most poorly thought-out, most poorly executed, and most pretentious food I have ever eaten. I didn't leave this restaurant merely disappointed, I left angry, confused, and utterly frustrated at one of the worst dining experiences I have ever had. Let's start with Mezzo. Mezzo started off okay: the server was friendly and knowledgeable, and the wine selection was top-notch. The menu seemed a bit small, but that's okay if the dishes are executed poorly. The location itself was lovely; open air, overlooking the street, and very comfortable. My girlfriend and I started with two appetizers: the artisan bread selection and the lamb meatballs. The breads were excellent, and the spreads that went with them were too. The lamb meatballs were decent; they tasted okay, but they were lukewarm at best and the rest of the accompaniments didn't work (including raisins for some unknown reason). However, we pressed onward, hoping that some not-hot-enough meatballs would be the only culinary mistake of the night. Unfortunately, the meal continued to go sideways before crashing and burning completely. I ordered the Filet Mignon as their daily farm-to-plate meat special, while my girlfriend ordered their Farmhouse Chicken. My Filet was just fine, but the rest of the dish made no sense. The steak was served with a piece of radicchio that had been pickled and grilled, which left it tasting bitter and awful. The greens were undressed and existed more than anything else. The radicchio was placed over a bed of some kind of puree, which didn't seem to taste of anything I recognized. Unfortunately, my girlfriend's meal was worse than simply bad; hers was outright dangerous to human health. I really wish I was exaggerating, but her chicken arrived undercooked. We called the waiter over, and rather than being the knowledgeable individual from the beginning of the meal, he hemmed and hawed that he couldn't make substitutions and that he couldn't make any changes. We got the manager over, and my girlfriend switched over to the filet mignon with the sides that the chicken originally had (polenta and green beans). The manager gave us a free order of their artisan bread appetizer while the kitchen refired her food. When it came out, the filet was fine, but the polenta was simply awful. Rather than being smooth and creamy with a delicious corn flavor, it was gritty and bland. The green beans were fine, but undercooked chicken coupled with crappy sides was enough to convince us not to come back to Mezzo. Then the bill came, and this is what truly made me angry. Even with the comped bread appetizer (a whole $3, by the way), our bill was over $80 per person. That's right, they wanted to charge us $80 a plate for food that could have killed my girlfriend. I paid the bill and walked out, wanting nothing more to do with this restaurant. Perhaps what angered me as much as the bill, though, was how unfocused the restaurant was. The name implies Italian, the menu says farm-to-table, while the food itself wants to be molecular gastronomy. If the owner is reading this, take my advice: shut the restaurant down, sit down with your head chef, and figure out your restaurant. Once you've done that, then reopen once you know who you are. My girlfriend and I then ran into a food stand run by Emporio (the meatball place) at the pop-up market on the 10th. I was very skeptical about their food, but I was convinced to give them a shot. Frankly, I wish I hadn't. They were serving a meatball sandwich with "Government Cheese" sauce, as well as a Mac 'n' Cheese made with the same Government Cheese. I wish they would have come out and said just what "Government Cheese" is: cheap, American cheese. That cheese overpowered every other flavor in both dishes to the point that all you could taste was cheese, cheese, cheese. Add in that the macaroni was overcooked, and Emporio's food stand was as forgettable and terrible as Mezzo. In conclusion, the two Sienna Mercato establishments I tried provided disgusting and confusing food. It was all overpriced, but presented as some of the best food in the city of Pittsburgh. I will of course never eat here again, and I stand by my earlier advice to the owner: shut this place down and figure things out before the health inspector catches you serving raw chicken to a customer and shuts you down for good.
(1)Amanda H.
Wow. This place is great. I love the look of the interior and the overall "feel" here. I went here before going to a Pirates game later in the evening and I am very happy that I chose to eat here. We got the fried pickle chips, which come with bacon ranch and they were really good. The ranch was excellent and had a nice smoky bacon flavor to it. I ordered the original beef meatball panini and chose the spinach almond pesto sauce. It was absolutely delicious!! They give you the sauce in a small metal bowl that is big enough to dip the sandwich easily and they give you plenty of sauce. It was great. I shared half of my sandwich with my roommate and she got the spicy pork and it was just as delicious with the sauce, if not more so! I am DEFINITELY coming back here soon.
(5)Stacy B.
I have a hard time coming up with something that I don't like about this place. Sienna Mercato is a three concept restaurant with Emporio on the ground floor and has been opened the longest, Mezzo is fine dining and is not yet open, and Il Tetto is the rooftop beer garden. Emporio is a great meatball joint. The whole idea is great. Simple menu, low price point, and good drinks. You choose the type of meatball, the type of sauce, and how you want it served. Saucy Balls tends to be my go-to : Four balls covered in sauce. For $4 extra dollars, you can get the balls served over the side of your choice. The tomato risotto is delish. I recently had 2 balls on a panini and YUM! The texture of the crispy bread, cheese, and smashed meatballs was the perfect combo. The parm herb fries came in a MASSIVE portion, covered in parm cheese, and perfectly crispy. Be sure to start the meal off with a strong drink and some pickle chips. It is all so good! The exposed brick and rustic wood works well with the dark lighting and the huge front window that opens up for nice weather days. Be sure to use the NoWait app to get your table, because you could be waiting for quite awhile. If you do get stuck waiting, check out Il Tetto, the rooftop beer garden. Go to the back of emporio to use the elevator to take you up to the third floor. The retractable glass ceiling gives the perfect balance for the unpredictable Pittsburgh weather. At night, the lights strung overhead make for a great atmosphere. It would be a great place for a date, but it also gets pretty crowded. Get there fast and stuff balls in your face.
(5)Jaren L.
Can a vegetarian enjoy a joint that specializes in meatballs? The answer is yes. The restaurant provides a vegetarian largely bean based meatball and plenty of vegetarian friendly sauces to go with it that are marked as vegetarian so you can be clear. You can get it in a traditional sandwich type way or have it with their extensive sides such as mac and cheese, penne, risotto, or a quinoa. I had mine with the pesto almond sauce and Gouda cheese. Very delicious. The parmesan fries are really delicious as well served with an awesome aioli dip. Sierra Mercato is three levels technically. The top floor is a rooftop bar type setting filled with unwinding young professionals for the most part. It is quite nice, but does not have the same menu as downstairs. The wait time is usually pretty long. My recommendation is to have a drink on the rooftop from the bar and use the Nowait App to get a seat downstairs and enjoy their delicious food that is not available upstairs. They do have small plates upstairs though. 2nd floor bar/restaurant is not open yet. Oh and PS, the prices are pretty reasonable considering the cultural district location and "nice" ambiance.
(5)Jodi L.
Always great consistent quality - a little pricy but the atmosphere is worth it. Service is consistently good; but I've only sat at the bar. I love the turkey meatballs with creamy parm sauce. 32 beers on tap you can't go wrong. Yummy.
(4)Matt A.
Birthdays have always been a week-long celebration in my life. Yes, that means I am blessed (and appreciate it) and get to eat lots of good food while catching up with loved ones. Sienna Mercato is located Downtown Pittsburgh slightly north of the Cultural District. My aunt and I enjoyed beer (my last for 31 days) and each ordered a la carte meatballs (2 pesto, 2 marinara) and also enjoyed the Poutine (potatoes with cheese). Though all tasty, this experience felt more like a quick business lunch more than a celebratory birthday dinner. We were seated at a wobbly table in the center of the restaurant when many more intimate options were available. I'm not being passive-aggressive, just honest about the "experience." The highlight was a shared order of pecan balls that were sooooo delicious (a bit frozen, so obviously pre made). In the end, I would never go here for a date or dinner, but definitely on the run in a tight timeframe while conducting business Monday-Friday. It would also be a great start prior to a sports game or concert. Attendees beware: the beer garden on the top floor (complete with a revolving glass roof) is only open Wednesday-Saturday. I'm sure that will change as the demand increases. Just FYI. Thanks to Aunt Joan for a lovely night on the town to celebrate Matthew's Eve!
(4)Jacqueline W.
Started from the top and worked our way down, loved the cocktails, good beer selection. We had beef tartar, very tasty. On the second floor we chose the charcuterie and cheese board, the beef pasta and the pork and pistachio pizza, all very good. We loved the option of a three ounce pour of wine, gave us the chance to pick multiple wines throughout dinner. The chocolate dessert was one of my favorites in pittsburgh, major kudos to the pasty chef on flavor and presentation. Our waitress was attentive, the atmosphere was nice also. Didn't make it to the meatball floor, it was buzzing with what seemed to be a more family oriented crowd. All and all, we had a wonderful date night, thanks y'all!
(4)Keith M.
Snuck out for a mid-afternoon snack(!) after a pitiful "lunch" at Fresh Corner. Sienna Mercato is located across the street from Somona Grille in the 900 block of Penn Avenue. The place is hip, modern, industrial looking decor. A definite welcome of this style to downtown. This seems like a place you might find in the strip, but closer and available for lunch! We were greeted quickly by a hostess and at our table quickly. Great service all around. We told the waiter we were in a hurry, and the food was out in minutes! I tried four meatballs: the beef with Pesto, bacon cheeseburger with a cheese sauce, pork with the Bolognese, and a chicken meatball. The Chicken Meatball had a slightly gamey taste, not sure the exact cause for that. If I had bought (4) of these I would have sent them back. Overall the meatballs were great -- but smallish, for a good lunch you need 3-4 for sure. My favorite was definitely the pork!! The rootbeer float was good, but the root beer itself was flat. I had asked for more rootbeer, and they needed to charge me $4.00 for "another" Draft Root Beer. I wouldn't have complained solely about that, but it came out completely flat. Disappointing.
(4)DJ J.
Sienna Mercato is a nice building/market with 2 restaurants (Emperio - a meatball joint and Mezzo) and a Il Tetto (a roof top garden).
(4)Megan D.
No detail was missed when opening Sienna Mercato - this place is awesome. From the menu to the decor, and everything in between, the restaurant is the new place to be in Pittsburgh. I ate veggie meatballs with the spicy tomato sauce and vegetable quinoa. I wasn't expecting the quinoa to be cold, and would have preferred it warm. Good beer selection, even though they were out of what I ordered. Our server was terrible and we sat at our table for a long time before we had to remind the hostess stand we were there... And the server never introduced herself or even said "hi." It was a little bizarre, but I haven't heard other complaints about the service so it must have been an off night. Can't wait for the Sienna pizza joint on the second floor...
(4)Danny J.
Fun place with meatballs, small plates and craft beers on the first level. Can't wait to try the other two floors with varying menu. Enjoy the ambience of the place which a mix between restaurant and a nicer bar. Great that they can have the front window open for fresh air and sunlight. The beers selection were very good with craft local beer selections on draft. Meatballs were very tasty which you can choose a various meats and sauce combo. Service was quick and very friendly. Look forward to visiting again.
(4)Brian G.
Two of my favorite things about this place: the location -- right in the heart of downtown PIT, and the meatballs. So many choices, so many flavors, quite simply, a meatball lovers dream come true.
(5)Kristy A.
Emporio rocks! I stopped by after a so-so evening at nearby Seviche and loved it. I sat at the bar (plenty of space) and ordered a Captain and Coke, a chicken parm meatball slider and the tater tots. One slider and a side really was plenty of food and it was less than $10. The meatball was tender and delicious and the bun was just enough - can't stand a slider that's all bun. The tater tots were crisp and salty. I spied on my neighbor's meal - a meatball sub with pesto and a side of mac and cheese - that's going to be my next order for sure. Overall, a winner. Not a big fan of the backless bar stools and the bar service was a tad slow (the place was packed though), but that's the only criticism that I could come up with.
(5)Casey L.
Mezzo is awesome - local cheeses, charcuterie, pizza, and wine. The pistachio and porchetta pizza is AMAZING, I've never had anything like it. We went for a group dinner during a Steelers home game, so it was pretty quiet, but still with a good atmosphere. Wine selection is stellar, our server Andi was knowledgable and friendly and great!
(5)Samantha S.
Delicious food! Wonderful service! We loved our night out in Pittsburgh because of this restaurant :)
(5)Christy B.
We decided to dine at Emporio a few weeks ago. I think that I really just picked the wrong thing to have here unfortunately...but I will agree with my coworker who recommended this place - get the sliders so you can try a few different things!! I like to eat, and two plus shared fries were plenty for me. My husband's traditional beef meatballs with marinara were good, but I didn't even finish my two sliders. My coworker had recommended the tzatziki sauce with a turkey meatball so that's what I went for! The tzatziki was not like the traditional ones I am used to, and was actually kind of sour and thin with an extreme dill taste and large thin slices of cucumber. Not for me. I also had a beef meatball with pork bolognese which was pretty good. (I will say that I don't particularly like that they give you cheese on the side and don't heat it onto the slider for you if you request it. It just resulted in a cold piece of cheese on my meatball.) My husband did not like this slider and said that it tasted like pumpkin to him (?) I will say this. The fries were FANTASTIC! I added some extra malt vinegar to the malt vinegar aioli as the aioli didn't have quite enough bite for me. The last note I'll make I'm not quite sure how to say - there wasn't enough "sauce to ball" ratio. I would've preferred the meatball smashed with more sauce or even a side of sauce. It just wasn't enough to go with the entire thing.
(3)Peter E.
I had mile high expectations as the photos looked so amazing. I ordered the meatballs on risotto. The meatballs had about 10 times the amount of salt in them then needed. I stopped eating the dish because it was so salty. The risotto tasted like spaghetti-os. They get a A+ for presentation and an F for taste. The one good thing about this place is the atmosphere. They have a huge garage door that opens up to Penn where you can see cyclist riding by on the designated path.
(2)Bryan W.
Loved it. Long wait on a Sat night for table of 6 but worth it. Great service, beer list and everyone loved their food. I had the spicy pork on a panini with pesto and tater tots. Awesome stuff. Would prefer that they take reservations, though.
(5)Chris D.
Restaurant is good, food is good. Don't bother with the rooftop on a nice day. Can't even get close to the bar for a drink. Can't believe they are allowed to have that many people up there without breaking the fire code.
(3)Dave M.
Fun place with lively atmosphere. There are different dining options. We opted for the meatball menu downstairs and it was delicious. Great selection of craft beers too. Only thing that held me back from 5 stars were portions that were on the small side. We did not leave hungry - we were just expecting larger servings. Quality of food certainly did not disappoint and staff was very helpful and friendly.
(4)Angelica R.
The food and ambiance made the biggest impression on me. This place has a clear vision of what it is and embodies that really well. Casual/industrial chic with a limited menu of only meatballs. No kitchen-sink syndrome here. The lighting was really low, though; trying to squash the dreams of those Instagramming diners. The downfall for me was the service - definitely didn't leave me with a great impression. So, the food. I love meatballs. I can make my own bomb diggity beef meatball at home, so I went with a turkey meatball slider topped with spinach almond pesto. (I heard from a friend she got a few sliders to try different things and couldn't make it through her second.) I also got a side of escarole and beans. About halfway through I was thinking "dang, I could go for another one." The meat was tender and juicy for turkey, though it didn't taste like you just bit off a turkey leg. The pesto was a perfect compliment to the light meat. And the slider bun...so fluffy, a little sweet, and perfect. A harder bun would have squished the meatball - the light bun held the integrity of the ball. My boyfriend got the Meatball of the Day - a sausage ball with BBQ sauce and coleslaw as a grinder. Harder bun, heartier meatballs, perfect sauce and meat combo again. Now, the service. We were here on the early side, around 5, so we had an attentive server in the beginning. As more people came in, she practically disappeared. When it came time to ask if we wanted dessert, I said that I could, but I would need to see the menu again. She came back quickly....with our check. Okay. She's busy, it's cool, we'll just have another beer. So I went to the bar to grab us another round. The bartender reprimanded me. "If you're sitting at a table, you have to order from your server." I explained she was no where in sight and we wanted to grab something before happy hour ended. He dismissed me saying the manager would take care of it. I left the bar and waited a good 5 minutes for our server to bring us our beers. When she did, we asked about a price on the check. The draft menu had our beers at $6, but they rang up $6.50. She told us the menus were reprinted that day and took our check away, I assume to adjust it. She didn't. Now, 50 cents isn't a big deal, we just wanted to let them know there was a discrepancy so they could fix it. After another 15 uncomfortable minutes, we had to ask for our check back - it was getting busy and I felt so awkward holding a table when we could have easily moved to the bar to finish our drinks. We did and saw that the chalkboards had the price of our beers at $6 as well. Great food, great place, off night for service.
(4)Lindsay S.
I'm not a meatball fan, but I loved Sienna Mercato's. A little on the pricier side, but still affordable.
(4)Jordan P.
Really liked this place. I got the Cajun meatball special, which came with a lobster cream sauce, on a hoagie. Very affordable prices, good service, and tasty meatballs
(5)Brian K.
I think this place is massively over-hyped. The food, while not bad, was far from exceptional considering there is a sole focus...and I have no plans to return. Also, I went with Darren. That dude is great. Things we tried: 1.) Poutine with gravy on fries. -Fries were as average as you can get, nothing about the gravy or curds stood out. Really lacking in the salt dept. 2.) Arancini (mushroom) w/ truffle aioli. -A shadow of previous incarnations of arancini I have had in my day. These were tiny and not exceptionally flavorful. I liked eating them but they left so much to be desired. Also, I am sick of truffle aioli. It's like the sriracha of mayo-y dipping sauces and I wish people could make an effort to be more creative. 3.) Spicy Pork, Classic, and Corned Beef meatballs in various sandwich forms. -Look guys, if you're going to focus on something..hit it out of the park. Am I biased? Sure. I've been to yelp.com/biz/salumi-arti… and these are the best meatballs I have ever had. None of what I had at Mercato was bad persay, but I would never suggest to anyone that these were anything above a typical meat concoction. They are overcooked in the sense that they are cooked a bit above a temp that retains moisture. Though not dry, the texture did leave a bit over a bit to be desired. If you're going to head downtown and pay for parking (see below) to eat at a trendy place, it has to excel. It has to wow you. It has to make you feel like it was worth the trip. To me, this was not a place I'd go out of my way to try again. (A final kicker, there was Valet parking across the street for this place. When I picked up my car, I was *then* informed that it was $10. That's a tad bit shady, seeing as most places would..you know..advertise the price on the sign...I assumed it was complimentary parking)
(3)Carly K.
There are definitely some things I really like about this place. I've only tried the bottom level, Emporio, but am looking forward to trying the other levels as well. Emporio's thing is meatballs. All kinds of meatballs. All kinds of ways. This is a really cool concept; however, I could see how this could get old and the menu could feel a bit limited. The ambience is cool, with plenty of rustic elements to make it feel contemporary, yet warm and welcoming. I haven't been for dinner yet, but there are always plenty of tables at lunchtime, with or without a reservation. There are a variety of meatball options (pork, turkey, vegetarian, beef), and there is always a special as well. You can get your meatballs saucy-style over pasta or quinoa, or another base of your choice, or you can get them in a soup (I would recommend the wedding), on a slider, in a grinder, etc. There are lots of sauce options so you can really mix things up if you like. My favorite sauces are the tzatziki, Sunday gravy, and the government cheese. One of my favorite things on the menu is the mac and cheese. I get it with the government cheese, but i'm sure the creamy parmesan option is delicious as well. It's really delicious, and the perfect accompaniment to the port meatball with tzatziki sauce. Yum!! The fries are really good as well, and are plenty big enough to share. All in all, this is a great place to go for lunch before a Buccos game or a concert. Easy to get in and out, and plenty casual.
(4)Kevin S.
This place gets two stars: one for really good food (classic poutine, saucy veg balls, and saucy pork balls). They lose three stars for each time my wife got yelled at for not following proper foot traffic patterns in the restaurant (apparently she took the wrong lane back to her seat from the bathroom?). We were told a 25-minute wait for a seat, but assented since a friend had recommended. We made our way to the elevator for the beer garden (after being shooed off the stairs) and only stood there for 5 minutes with a bunch of other people waiting for the slowest elevator before we got a text that our seat was ready. Except it wasn't actually ready. We stood at the host table another 5 minutes. It was there that we noticed the strange division of labor: hostesses were delivering food and tending bar; wait staff were seating people. It seemed like no one was really clear what they were supposed to be doing. When we were seated, we were finally greeted by someone who acted like she wanted us there. Our waitress took drink orders, came back to take our food orders. The appetizer arrived soon after...before the beers even. Then my wife's entree arrived at an incredibly quick interval, almost as though they had predicted her order. Then the waitress arrived with a confused look, which she attributed to my wife having her food and my not having mine. She went to figure it out and came back with a "computer error" explanation. Whatever the explanation, if my wife had continued to eat at her normal pace, she would have finished before my food ever came. By the time my food came, our dinner was already not worth it. Like I said, the food was good; our waitress was super apologetic and didn't charge for poutine (we added that money to her tip). I would try it again, but only if the illogical process to obtain one's food and the pretentious attitudes of a majority of the staff get straightened out.
(2)Crystal J.
Great rooftop bar!!! There was a mixer here after a conference. It's really close to the center which helps. The mixer had a buffet. Was pleasantly surprised with vegetarian meatballs. Yum! They have a decent list of beer and a great atmosphere when the weathers nice.
(5)Holly R.
The reservation thing was weird and confusing, and the wait was pretty long. However, it was a Friday night at prime dinner time, so I can't complain too much. We got the crab balls, cheesy bread, and truffle parm French fries for apps and they were so freaking good. The fries were probably the best I've ever had in my entire life. For the main course I got the beef meatballs with Gouda and pesto sauce, grinder style- which was three balls on a roll. Holy moly. That was amazing. The pesto was so salty and delicious from the Parmesan it, the Gouda was perfectly sliced, and the balls were fall apart tender and soooooo tasty. DEFINITELY try this place
(5)Lauren O.
This place was good and had great beer, you can't lose there. How many ball jokes can you muster during your meal?! Anyways my husband got the regular meatballs in marinara on a hoagie and it was tasty. I decided to be a bit more adventurous and get the spicy balls in spicy sauce on mac a cheese. It was delicious and needless to say I ate way too much but it was so worth it. Nice crowd and ambiance in there, will definitely be back!
(4)Penelope B.
We heard great reviews about this place. We decided to go for dinner with a group of 5. We expected the wait, however, when we were seated, we were sat at the bar. If we did not want those seats it would have been at least another 1/2 hour. So we decided to sit there (this was supposed to be our family Easter dinner). Once seated we ordered, we were not able to add or omit anything from the dishes we had ordered. Our girls wanted garlic added to pizza and they wouldn't do it. Another person in our party couldn't have cheese and they refused to omit it from the risotto. Finally, my dinner selection was a pork chop that was on special. They ended up running out of the pork chop and wanted to replace it with a pork belly (with the skin left on). Needless to say, we ended up going without dinner as we canceled the entire order and left. I would definitely not recommend this place.
(1)Varuni S.
Updating my review after going back again. The food was good but the meatballs seemed a bit "off" and on the chewy side. Maybe the chef was having a bad day.. Will give this place another try later.
(4)Ingrid P.
Let me tell you: I was very excited that there was a place solely dedicated to meatballs. Although I have limited exposure to homemade meatballs, I really enjoyed the meatballs from Emporio (Sienna Mercato). Their concept for their meatballs is equivalent to Subway. What I mean by this is that you get to choice every single step of your entree. You start off by choosing the type of meat, then the sauce, what type of vehicle you want your meatball to be in, and optional sides. I ordered the classic beef with marinara sauce as a meatball slider and got the tomato risotto as a side. The meatball itself was very large and I was full after the slider. My one complaint would be the tomato risotto. Unlike other risottos I have tried, I could tell that the rice had been par-cooked and then added to the sauce which is not how a traditional risotto is made. As a tip of the restaurant, I would not advertise "tomato risotto" if it is not cooked in the risotto technique. Other than that, I would definitely go back and try the many combinations!
(4)Deborah G.
I didn't eat here but I did indulge in the roof-top bar! Good beer and a lovely view of Pittsburgh!!!! Good times!
(5)Rachel B.
This review is for the bar on the third floor. What a fantastic ambiance. There is a sliding roof that opens and also has heaters if it's too cold outside. All of the Tables have Reserved signs on them but it has been pretty easy to sit at the bar both times I've been here. It is really cute and would suggest coming here to at least have one drink
(5)Shari P.
OMG the beef meatball was so incredibly delicious. I recommend the panini sandwich with beef meatballs and arrabiatta sauce.
(5)Tanya S.
It's ok because everyone wants to try it, ppl love a theme. Decent food but nothing to write home about.
(3)Darcy P.
So, I want to give this 5 stars because it was a cool atmosphere with a great beer selection but...it just didn't deserve it. Happened to stop in right when it opened on a Saturday--a bit after 11. They have their normal menu (no brunch or anything, which is fine with me). Sat at the bar. Someone immediately brought us water and let us know that the bartender would be with us shortly...which she wasn't. I don't know that it was her fault as she was prepping stuff and it's not clear that anyone told her we were there, so I'm fine with that, but still worth noting here, I guess. Great draft beer selection and prices were not bad for a nicer restaurant; for example, a KY bourbon barrel IPA was 7.50, which is a lot, I know, BUT a few doors down (Sharp Edge or whatever it is called), that same beer is ridiculously overpriced at 10.50. ANyway, great beer selection and friendly and informative bartender. Got the rocket salad which was basic but good--mostly tons of arugula with some slivered almonds, three tomato wedges (not good tomatoes but it's not tomato season, but not their fault) and maybe 3 little balls of housemade mozz. Got the Italian salad dressing and it was really good. Ordered one turkey meatball with the salad, bc it was 2.50 (salad was $6) and I wanted to try it. DELICIOUS! so, wasn't blown away by the salad but liked that it was a lot of arugula and only $6 and overall well-executed. and the meatball was great. also ordered the 3 meatballs (original) in a grinder with the pork bolognase and provolone cheese. It was a big sandwich--def enough to share (though I guess it all depends how much you eat). good roll. bolognase was good but, for me, had too many diced carrots in there that were still on the too crunchy side. others may like this...though I think even if you want that many carrots, they should have been softer. but the real issue with this, and the reason for the 3 stars, is because the meatballs were not really warm. I mean, they were at best room temp. AT BEST. I know that it was early in the day and that they were taken out of the fridge and whatever else, but the place wasn't crowded, the sub didn't come out quickly and hello, take a few more minutes to make sure the food is warm. a cold meatball is not good. it just is sort of mushy and blah. and this wasn't just my experience...a few minutes later the guy near me (he ordered 4 meatballs--2 pork and 2 original) sent his back with the same complaint, so hopefully the kitchen got its act together after that? So...just not really sure what was going on. you're a meatball spot. that's your thing. you have got to have the meatballs not only delicious but properly heated. I would go back when in town, perhaps, because the turkey meatball was spot on and delicious, but was pretty disappointed with the others.
(3)Chrissy S.
When the meatball joint opened, it was amazing! Reasonably priced food, great service and good portion size. The last time I was there, the prices had gone up, the food portion went down and the service was terrible. The new menu charges you separately for every bit of food you can add to your plate. I e-mailed the restaurant with our service issue and no response. Can't say I'll be going back.
(1)Tiffany Y.
I went to Emporio on a Wednesday night. It was busy with lots of customers, but we still got a seat fairly soon. I am not a person who typically enjoys meatballs, but I do admit that their meatballs tasted pretty good. I thought that the poutine and the tater tots tasted just OK. The waiter was nice and brought out our drink refills and later the bill promptly.
(3)Natalie K.
Mezzo: This "Middle" Floor Eatery Tops My Downtown Restaurant List My voice is starting to strain from singing the praises of Matthew Porco! This 2010 Chef of the Year is ensuring that Mezzo, the newly opened second floor eatery of Sienna Mercato, is sending delectable food to your table without the usual new-opening indigestion. And he's not just leading his culinary team behind those swinging kitchen doors either. He's the bearded fellow who has been manning the wood-fired pizza/prep station since opening day. If you're lucky enough to sit at the bar, you can watch him perform the dance of the pizzas while he rotates gourmet pies among the flames, as this seating area has no obstructed viewing. Although my favorite seat in practically any eatery I patron is that of a barstool, I want to give Mezzo's dining area some much-deserved love, too. The sleek table settings and hardwood floors are softly illuminated with cascading Edison bulbs. And Sienna's staple of open-air dining is maintained with retractable garage-style windows that let you take in the views on Penn Avenue when the weather cooperates. What I'm trying to say here is that Mezzo is stylish...romantic...teetering on sexy even. The only thing more appealing than how Mezzo looks, is what you get to put in your mouth while you ogle the place. Yes, the pizza is downright superb as I alluded to earlier. Chef Porco has taken the idea of gourmet pizzas to an even higher level. We have had the pleasure of trying a few pies. The Picante Salami and Peppers had a hearty, robust tomato sauce that was kicked up a notch with the addition of chili flakes and banana peppers. The one that I will be comparing all other pies to from now until further notice, however, is the Pistachio and Porchetta. I literally just stopped writing because I was trying to relive the consumption of that pie in my mind. In place of tomato sauce, a foundation of pistachio pesto was generously applied and then blanketed with tender slices of porchetta (pork roast) dusted with fennel pollen. This would be a party in your mouth as it is, but then they top the piping hot mozzarella with fresh arugula dressed in a citrus-based vinaigrette. There are no words left to say...just go get one. Okay, enough pizza chitchat...on to to other eats. So when combining everything we've ordered in our visits since Mezzo's very recent opening, I've had the privilege of trying maybe ten different menu items. (Jeeealous!) Literally, everything I've tried has been pleasing to the eyes and palate. Starting with drinks, my Manhattans have been expertly crafted. You may also want to try some vino from their growing wine list. You really can't go wrong either way. While you imbibe, you need to order up some appetizers. I equally loved the Grilled Octopus and the Greens and Beans. The medley of al dente white beans and roasted red peppers made the octopus dish light, yet filling enough to appease my growing hunger pangs. The greens and beans were savory to say the least. Rich, somewhat briny broth played perfectly with the spiciness of the crumbled sausage that enriched every bite. Some other pre-entrée items worth ordering are the Little Gems salad and the charcuterie board. A basic Caesar salad was elevated to gourmet status by using imported anchovies to not only create a flavor-punching vinaigrette but to also adorn the baby romaine hearts. If you've written off anchovies because you recall them being dark, bony, morsels of dankness, give them another go. These lil' guys are the real deal and will change your outlook on life...or maybe just your opinion of tiny fish. The chef selected charcuterie board on the other hand... To read my full review and look at yummy pictures, please go to: fork2mouth.blogspot.com/…
(5)David B.
If you are in the mood for meatballs, Sienna Mercato (Emporio) will come through just fine. A neat open air layout with refreshing decor located in downtown Pittsburgh. The majority of the dishes revolve around the wonder that is a meatball! It is almost like you are building a Lego set as you follow the step by step directions in the menu and then they are properly reinforced by the server: 1. Select your meatball...(4 or 5 different flavorful blends). Be sure to be on the lookout for the Daily Meatball, which is what I selected at the recommendation of our sever. The "Daily" on my particular visit was the hot sausage. 2. Select your Sauce... 8 or so different sauces to choose from. I found the Parmesan to be quite delightful. 3. Serving Options... Sliders, Grinder, Panini or just straight balls and sauce. I opted for the panini style and it did not disappoint. The food menu may not be that diverse but SM makes up for it with a fantastic beer list. A great selection of tap handles with the crafts of Pittsburgh well represented. I went for Fat Head's Bumbleberry Honey Blueberry Ale and it was darn good! This is a simple one and a trend that I have observed at more and more restaurants but SM keeps a bottle filled with fresh water on the table. This is a nice touch and one that is well appreciated by this diner. Service was on point and not too pricey. I am throwing my endorsement behind this one.
(4)John P.
This places is not bad but not great. I know everyone loves this place and I am one of the few people to only give it 3 stars. Maybe I'm just picky, but I think it is overrated. The beer selection is great and the atmosphere is very cool. However, the food itself is not anything too amazing. And that's generally the main focus of a restaurant - the food. They did a good job on everything else except the food itself.... The meatball thing is a cool idea, but most of the meatball dishes that I had weren't that wonderful. The rooftop bar is awesome and really cool vibe day or night. But the meatballs are a little overrated. Overall this place is good, not great.
(3)Amanda J.
I have had Sienna Mercato bookmarked for six months, and I finally came here a few weeks ago with my dad before attending the Symphony. We came in around 4:30, and it was fairly quiet. By six, there was a wait on a Friday night. There are apparently two more levels upstairs, but we ate on the first floor with the meatballs! I ordered the panini, which is two meatballs. It was more of a lunch size in my mind, and I would recommend something with 3+ meatballs for dinner. I choose the beef meatballs, which were yummy. They are an odd texture, but very large and delicious. I ordered the creamy Parmesan sauce. Interestingly, Sienna Mercato places the sauce on the side, so you dip your sandwich. They are certainly not stingy with the fabulous and delicious sauce. You also get cheese on the panini. Overall, my dad and I both enjoyed our sandwiches. Service was a little lackluster. Our waitress was great, until she realized no alcohol was being ordered. She didn't even drop off the check herself, which kind of left a bad impression. It was a little off-putting to have someone push alcohol so hard. Otherwise, the prices are fair for downtown, and I would return.
(4)Keith V.
My wife and I ate here after one of my men's physique competitions and boy did we not go wrong! The restaurant is divided into 3 levels with different food menus on each. The lower level has gourmet meatball specialty items, second level is gourmet pizza and pastas and the third floor is called the roof top which has a bar/brewery atmosphere. We ate on the second level and ordered the Bruschetta del Giorno for our appetizer which was devine, Risotto Milanese with white wine, saffron and fava beans amd the Quattro Fromaggi pizza with mozzarella, house ricotta, fontina, parmesan, pickleld tomato and garlic. Each one of these dishes were just absolutely amazing in presentation and taste. To end the experience we order the Peanut Butter Meringue Torte with peanut butter mousse, salted peanut meringue, oatmeal anglaise and pomegranate jelly. What made the night even more special was our waiter Tom, who met our every need and request to include a military discount by comping the Risotto and dessert. This place is a must while in Pittsburgh!! Thank you for such a great experience!
(5)Kerry M.
We went to mezza at sienna mercato. We had an Italian cheese plate and the sausage and peppers pizza. Everything exceeded our expectations including the delicious rosé on a warm day. We then proceeded upstairs to the beer garden. My disappointment came that they don't have the same drink menu and it was very loud. I had to drink a different wine (not a single rosé available) and we couldn't hear each other speak. Not horrible, but my only complaint! If we would have just eaten dinner and left, it would have been perfect!
(4)Brianna W.
This is a really great concept with ace execution. I would give the food a 5 out of 5, but the service is probably at a 3 for me. However the super reasonable prices and unique dishes made up for it. During my visit we visited Emporio's and I went for the meatball of the month. Not disappointed. It was a spicey sausage meatball with banana pepper inside and served in a vodka sauce. Pretty happy with my experience here.
(5)Eric C.
Sienna Mercato has a great Italian restaurant in the second floor. I recommend sharing a pizza for two. Portions are very generous. The local cheese plate is very good also. One drawback: noisy environment as the restaurant gets crowdy.
(4)Amin A.
Very classy bar! Love the decor. Rooftop bar looks and feels classy and bar tenders are attentive and quick! The bar on top of the restaurant had no coat check, but tables with seating were available giving the classy venue a nice chill vibe. Music was pretty good from what I remember, it's not a dance club but it has sufficient space to get your groove on. Drinks are well made. Looking at yelp now, I wish we tried the food but next time.
(4)Lauren S.
LOVE this place. Visited over the past weekend with a friend. We "got in line" using the No wait app - which I would highly recommend using (especially if visiting on the weekends). For two people there was an 80 minute wait for Emporio (the first floor, with the meatballs). Since we had time we went to the third level (rooftop bar) for drinks while we waited. They have AWESOME cocktails... Very unique, not your traditional rum and coke. The space has great ambiance, and is perfect for a summer/fall night. The wait time was pretty accurate, but well worth it. We shared the Buffalo Chicken Balls as an appetizer - which are a must if you like buff chix. I had 1 spicy pork slider with creamy parm sauce. All were delicious. The fries were also bomb. If in the city this place is a must. I have yet to try the 2nd floor - but plan on doing so in the near future.
(4)Natisha C.
Pretty solid! I'm taking a bus over to Greyhound and rather than getting an overpriced dry turkey sandwich, I thought I should treat myself to some deliciousness! I got the vegetarian meatball panini and it far exceeded my expectation in terms of size of meatball and flavor. Your entire panini is essentially your meatballs. I also consider the white bean, mushroom meatball a thoughtfully crafted vegetarian choice, compared to other restaurants who consider their vegetarian option some sort of overcooked seitan. My only caveat is that the panini is a little small for the $7.50 price tag. I think it would have been more appropriately priced at $6. It's definitely snack size. With such a great vegetarian option, I'm sure their carnivorous options are more than great!
(4)Amanda M.
This place is fun! Three levels to choose from. Level 1 has nicely priced pub food designed around a meatball. At Thanksgiving they had a turkey and stuffing meatball with cranberry sauce! Level 2 is upscale. I had the cheese plate with local cheeses and the mushroon risotto. Large portions and giid food. Level 3 is an outdoor beer garden with interesting drinks. I had a home brew peach drink that tasted like peach pie moonshine. Loved it! Very cool place for happy hour or pre game!
(4)David B.
Many of you may be wondering about the new Mezzo floor of Sienna Mercato. The good news is that the service is excellent and the food is delicious. They bring a lot of experience from their other restaurant. For example, there's a wine I love on the Sienna Sulla menu that also is carried by Mezzo. I had a wonderful Charcuterie and Cheese Board that was great for splitting for 2 or 3 people. The Pizza is cooked in an authentic wood fired oven, and the choices are creative. For dessert we split the Gianduja Tartufo, which was a tasty way to finish our meal. One reason the staff was so well trained is they came from one of the other Sienna restaurants. All in all, highly recommended.
(4)Doug S.
Started with the pepperoni fritters because, what the hell is that? Basically the best appetizer ever. The main course was just as good. Reasonably priced, interesting layout, and service was prompt. Highly recommend
(5)Susan T.
We hit the ground floor of SM on a Tuesday night before a concert for a meatball adventure! Knew we'd be fighting the after work crowd, but YIKES! Even though we were seated immediately in a fabulous booth, the waits for everything were l-o-n-g. Loved the vibe and our meals were good. Started with fried pickle chips - one of our favs. Very good! Three of us had Spicy Pork Balls and although good, no one thought they were spicy - Friend had the traditional Beef Balls and said that they were very good. They also went with the Risotto and gave it two thumbs up! Parm/herb fries were tasty and Hubs enjoyed the mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy with his balls. And everything is served in cute bowls or varying sizes. Would've liked to try dessert, but too slow to chance it. Maybe next time!
(4)Dan Y.
I have only been here for lunch, and go about twice a month. The food is great, I never knew there were so many ways to modify a meatball - sauce, cheese, on appetizers, on salads and everything else!! You have to check out their meatball of the month. They had one back in March that was corned beef with sauerkraut! You don't have to wait long for the food and the service at the bar has always been very good. They have 32 cold beers on tap and are always changing the lineup, never a bad thing!
(5)Faith A.
What a cool spot. After the openings of Emporio and Il Tetto, I didn't know what to expect here - I love the meatball joint, and don't particularly care for Il Tetto. I love love love Mezzo. I can definitely add this place to my list of places that I truly enjoy and will frequent. We had a lovely window/garage door open seat on our first visit. We ordered the Butcher Board with cheese... And boy was it yummy. They make the charcuterie in house (cheeses are not made in house). We then opted to split a pizza (perfect for two people). We had the margherita but there were several others calling my name. It gives me something more to go back for. They have a selection of great sounding pastas (more to try), a dessert list that even I (who is not a big sweets person) was interested in- we opted for the Pear Brûlée. Nothing was disappointing. That also includes the wine list and the service. We came back again and did the Chef's Table with a group, and all I can say is damn it was good. So much food! It's five courses of yummy. Meat and cheeses, eggplant caponata, toasted bread, salad, pizzas, pasta galore, and dessert. The assortment was fabulous. We left with full and happy bellies! This place is on my top five places to go for date night in Pgh already :) I highly recommend it.
(5)Kelley R.
I was intrigued when my co-workers told me about this place: the "meatball" restaurant. I was not disappointed! I was a bit boring and just got spaghetti and beef meatballs but it was delicious. Next time I go, I am going to take the route if some of my co-workers and order sliders with different types of meatballs. I definitely recommend this place
(5)Kayla D.
EMPORIO!!! It sounds like a spell from Harry Potter and the actual place is just as magical. The meatballs are good, really good, really really good. The sides are also amazing. My boyfriend, who doesn't eat cheese, came back for seconds on their creamy parmesan mac and cheese. We always go at least once a month to see what their meatball of the month is. Their corned beef meatball and stuffed pepper meatball are two of my favorite specialty ones and their spicy pork meatball is always my go to when i'm there. Spicy pork meatball with their basil pesto...yes...just try it...yes. I have not had one bad thing to eat here and the service has always been great. We like to go for happy hour before the place gets too packed and that is also a great time. Half off drafts with a very varied draft list that still always has a few staples on there as well. Once I'm all filled up on meatballs the upper deck is just a great place to relax with friends. It's so open and a gorgeous downtown spot. I have not tried the second floor yet but if it's even half as good as the first and third floor I'm guessing it's pretty great.
(5)Jen D.
Cool spot! Not a carnivore, so I skipped the first floor (which serves meatballs) & headed up to the second for pizza. The whole menu looked good & I liked that you had the option of ordering half portions of the pastas/risottos. The pizza options were creative & I settled on the Tartufo. Wasn't exactly what I envisioned based on the description, but it was yummy nonetheless. Was bummed that they didn't offer any draught beer options, even though they have plenty downstairs...don't think it would be that tough for servers to run down to grab a pint, but they may beg to differ. Pizza & beer go well together, so it would've been nice to have more of a selection than the few bottles & cans on offer (although I'll admit the small selection was diverse). Service was so-so. It wasn't very busy, yet our beers took a surprising amount of time to arrive. Our server repeatedly forgot to bring things we'd requested...red pepper flakes, extra napkins, a glass of water, another round of beer. The hostess also kept seating people right on top of us despite the fact that the restaurant was pretty empty. Not sure why we needed to be surrounded by people on all sides while the rest of the place was wide open. Definitely want to check out the rooftop next time!
(4)Burcin T.
Super fast lunch, tasting very delicious. Had poutine with tader tods, meatballs and marinara sauce. Why 4 stars, the waitress gave me strange look when I said no ice in my coke. I think one is entitled for a cold drink that is not drawning in ice. Overall, great food and atmosphere, definitely recommended.
(4)Mike P.
Everyone was raving about the retractable rooftop bar so we had to check this place out. The roof was closed because of rain but still the views rock. Can't comment on the specific menus served on the first and second floors but seems those dishes are well covered in other reviews. We had two things in mind. Beer and appetizers. So up the elevator to floor 3 (the rooftop) we went. I was glad to see open tables on a Friday night. We were seated and served promptly. Ordered bruschetta and beef tartare and a couple of cold draft beers. No complaints can be filed. The appetizers were great. Bruschetta was loaded with tomatoes. Perfect. Will certainly go back the next time I'm in the Burgh, n-at!
(5)Shawn O.
Sienna Mercato's latest creation, Mezzo, is somewhere between Emporio and Il Tetto both literally and figuratively. On the second floor, the final installment of this saga is a blend of small plates and pizza that fills a gap between the informal meatball madness of Emporio on the first floor and the stuck up tapas of Il Tetto on the rooftop. Service was actually exemplary for a restaurant that has been open for two days. We were immediately greeted and I feel as if at no point, we were left out to dry (charcuterie pun). As for food, we ordered an appetizer (mushrooms, cheese and toast), a pizza (mushroom, egg, pork, truffle etc) and pork risotto. With the exception of the appetizer, every dish had a great level of complexity that I'd definitely come back for. The wine list is average on price point, with the cheapest bottle of a decent red calling around $30. The atmosphere is solid, with Sienna's outdoor theme continuing through a large set of garage doors that were open to the elements. Lots of exposed bricks added to the scene as well. Overall this place reminds me a lot of Butcher and the Rye. As with Il Tetto, Emporio's incredible 1/2 off happy hour DOES NOT carry over. Overall, I can see this joint filling a gap in our staple of restaurants, but I also probably won't actively seek it out over a few other options downtown.
(4)Jordan F.
Had the pepperoni fritters they were really good! Bar staff could be a bit more attentive but the food came out very fast. Downside these are the most uncomfortable bar stools I've ever sat on. They're cute though...
(4)Mj M.
Great restaurant with a fun rooftop. Older feel on the first floor and Biergarten-style tables fill up the rooftop. FYI there may be a wait to get to the rooftop during the weekend. Group and family friendly.
(4)Darren W.
An old and very good friend of mine was dying to hit Sienna Mercato prior to a show, and despite my middling prior experience with them, I caved. I've found that if you don't get too risky in terms of your choices, you might have an above average meal here. For instance, I stuck with a Classic Beef Meatball Panino and found that it paid dividends when it came to succulence and decadently plush texture, the halves of bread tasting like the most divine buttered toast in the region. My chosen cheese was smoked gouda, which possessed an alchemist fantasy flavor blend of charred, creamy, and nutty. The Pork Bolognese sauce I requested could have been served in a cheddar-crusted crock topped with diced onion and called chili. I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference, and I would have been very happy with it, the rich, meaty, bowl of stewed vine fruit providing for me a bit of a warm, comforting relief on a bitter winter's evening. The House Cut French Fries were adeptly prepared, meaning they were twice-fried crisp and not limply blanched, even if I felt the kitchen went a little gonzo with the herbs and parmesan. But aye, they were merely a vessel for the fantastically aromatic and addictive malt vinegar aioli. Remember what I said about taking chances? My friend Dan did, going with their "Ball of the Day: along with 3 other selections. Despite my reluctance, he insisted that I sample a chunk of his Cordon Bleu meatball, and Eureka, it actually tasted like a successful, ground-up take on the real thing! Wet, dense, and savory, the sphere or reconstituted poultry even had the milky, tangy sauce that makes the dish. Well done, chef. Sienna Mercato is still a bit trendy for my tastes, and their tradition-defying experimentation doesn't always sparkle, but when they stick to the fundamentals, they exceed expectations. P.S. The service was fine overall. P.P.S. On our weeknight visit, the joint was dead, but hey, we didn't mind at all. At least Bambi and The Ratchets weren't there. Hey, we're both committed, y'know? Geez.
(4)Jessica D.
All i can say is - Saucy Balls. Beef Saucy Balls with Pesto. Oh My goodness. Everything was fantastic! We got 2 different types of Saucy balls with 2 different types of sauce and 2 sides. Obviously - my fav was the Beef and Pesto, however the spicy pork with pork bolognese is quite scrumptious as well! Our sides were greens and beans and tomato risotto - both of which were superb! I can't say enough about how scrumptious the food was. The only bummer - for me was - the 3rd floor bar has a local cider joint on tap - Arsenal Cider. I was quite bummed to find that they didn't have Arsenal on the first floor. While I enjoy Strongbow - supporting local businesses is always the ideal in my world :) With oodles of local craft beers, you'd think that you'd support the ONE local cider location :) Other than the simple cider snafu, I can't wait to go back!
(5)Jen H.
Love this place. A go to when I'm in town because of the great food and generally friendly faces!
(5)Heather G.
The atmosphere is fun and I definitely would hang out here again! The only downside was that I wanted to eat vegetarian and ordered the vegetarian saucy balls, they were very mushy and not as crispy as I was hoping. I was hoping for a crisper outside to make it a better texture but it all sort of squished apart. (Is that even a word!?) I would definitely go back and try the other meatballs, however in my opinion if you're a vegetarian perhaps this is not the best option of places to eat. The rest of my vegetarian meal so delicious, I ordered a side of broccoli and got my saucy balls with the pesto, I did want to actually do shots of this stuff it was SO good! All in all great experience and I really enjoyed the atmosphere. Meat eaters and meatball lovers this is your place!
(3)Whitney E.
I loved the overall ambience and intimacy of this place, inside it has a rustic industrial feel to it. Today the front part was open which was nice to soak in downtown. I opted for Italian wedding soup with a wedge salad but no meatball I figured there would be some in my soup but it was a chicken only base. My wedge salad was very fulfilling with the heat bacon and out of this world randy dressing. Definitely try the ranch. Today I dined on the first floor but the rooftop beer garden is stunning especially at night time the city view is breathtaking.
(4)Lindsay W.
Loved this place! My favorite place we went to when I was visiting Pittsburgh. Had dinner on the first floor and ate meatballs galore WITH poutine. Yum. And then we preceded to the top floor for drinks. Great place for upper 20's ground and early 30's, opposed to the other places we went the night before that were too young. The drinks the great. atmosphere was fun. And loved the open rooftop style.
(4)Ken B.
The best restaurant in Pittsburgh. We drive up from Virginia just to go to this restaurant. Everything is delicious and the tater tots are to die for.
(5)Danielle K.
We stopped in on a recent visit to Pittsburgh. First, the doors were wide open and it was at least 80 degrees and very humid in the restaurant (90 degree day in August) but it was just about the only place open for dinner late at night. We asked the waiter for a table in a "cool" (meaning, with some AC) spot in the restaurant - i would hate to see what the other options were. We ordered a variety of starters to try - the cheesy bread, pickle chips and Caesar salad. the cheesy bread was ok, literally just crusty bread with some cheese and marinara for dipping, i wouldn't order it again. the pickle chips had no taste except that of salt. we probably each had one bite and then pushed it to the side of the table to forget about. the Caesar salad was actually really good, yet simple. the dressing tasted slightly lemony and i really enjoyed it. i then tried a single turkey meatball slider which was, again, just ok. the meatball itself had no flavor, but the marinara packs a punch. we had a lot of leftover food but the waiter never inquired about whether anything was ok or asked how the food was. the only thing that i would order again was the salad, which means I probably won't be returning to Sienna Mercato.
(1)Paige O.
Tried the second floor with my boyfriend and his parents on Sunday. Wow!!! It was amazing!! To start we had the meat and cheese board. I do not care for meat but they said it was so good and cleared almost the whole board. The presentation to the little information the girl presented when she came out was perfect. Our server was also beyond amazing, I wish I remembered his name, :( !! Well he was great and he had a new girl training with him she was doing a nice job as well. They cleared our silverware between each course and were tip top on refilling my iced tea. For dinner we shared some pizza, the Margherita and hot sausage/potato. The Margherita was probably the best I have ever had. I'm not sure which floor is better the meatballs or the pizza..? So try and find out for yourself!!! :)
(5)Anna N.
We walked in here on a whim after the Pittsburgh Home and Garden show and boy I'm glad we did. After being greeted, the hostess explained their concept. Each floor is something different! We weren't in the mood for meatballs or just tapas so to the 2nd floor we went, Mezzo. There was four us and all shared the Artisan and italian cheese plates, as well as their bread basket to start. All of this came out along with someone to explain all the different types of cheese and bread we had in front of us.. Which was a lot! We were impressed the server knew exactly what each one was and how well he did presenting it. We enjoyed trying all the cheeses and testing our memory. Next came dinner, we ordered a Quattro Fromaggi and Marghertia pizzas. They were a great follow up to our delicious start. These aren't your typical pizza joint pizzas, they were full of flavor and the perfect crust. After that, we were full as can be! The service, their presentation and knowledge of the menu was on point. The ambiance is one of a kind in Pittsburgh with its three themes. I cannot wait to go try the next two floors!
(5)Katherine R.
Who doesn't love a well made meatball? My friend and I went here for dinner and drinks and had a fantastic time. We began by ordering the crispy pickle chips with a bacon-ranch dip and a glass of wine. After enjoying our appetizer, we chose our meatball selections. I had the regular beef with a creamy Parmesan sauce as a slider. My friend had the regular beef with the almond-spinach sauce as a meatball panini. We also noticed that SM keeps a fresh water bottle at the table, something which we appreciated. The service was great, and as recent college grads, the price range was perfect. The atmosphere was great for catching up and feeling cool all at the same time. We then made our way to Il Tetto, the rooftop beer garden. It was such an enjoyable experience. The bartenders were really nice and attentive. We sat at the bar and enjoyed the expansive beer list. We loved the open atmosphere of the rooftop beer garden and the view of some beautiful buildings in Pittsburgh. Since then, I've been here one other time with my mom, and am planning another visit to enjoy the meatballs and the rooftop bar!
(4)Chip R.
I haven't been here since sometime last summer and I was excited when a co-worker suggested that a group of us should do lunch at "that meatball place" today. When we got there we started to discuss "plan B" after we requested seating for six. The hostess said that the biggest booth that she had available could only seat five. After a bit of discussion we decided that we'll make it work somehow. The hostess took us to a round booth in the corner and it easily fit all six of us. The seating area where we were seemed to be on the darkish side but the booth was comfortable and we sat there for about five minutes before a waitress came over and asked if we'd like to get started with drinks. I asked if we could see menus and the waitress seemed a little annoyed... not annoyed at us, but more on the order that the hostess who seated us should have already brought us menus. Perhaps this has happened before but she was kind enough to get them for us. I think it's kind of interesting how the menu is laid out when it comes to ordering meatballs. You first pick what type of meatball you want, classic beef, spicy pork, vegetarian or turkey; then you choose a sauce; finally you decide how you want your meatballs served be it on sliders, a panini, a grinder or in a bowl. We all ordered something different; I ordered the spicy pork with Bolognese in a bowl. It didn't take very long for our individual meals to come out. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meal and my spicy pork meatballs were yummy. They were a little smaller than a tennis ball and generously covered in rich Bolognese sauce. Other than the hostess being a bit "off her game" today, I give Emporio a thumbs up. I don't think that it's one of those places that you order the same thing each time you go. There's so many combinations of meatball choices to choose from.
(4)Hilary H.
While I didn't sit down and eat at Sienna Mercato, I did head up the elevator and into the wonderful world they've created that seems to revolve around amazing cocktails. If you have the opportunity, take it from me -- you need to go! The crowd can get unreal -- shoulder-to-shoulder people mingling, picking up, laughing, chatting -- and this extends tot he bar, of course. If you see your opening, take it and don't give it up until you've got what you want. A word to the wise: be polite. These 'tenders won't be messed around with, and they'll ignore you if they want to. While there are oodles of long tables and a few high tops, the real fun is out on the balcony where you can take int he city streets, the night life happening in the bar and the beautiful lights above. Just don't place your drinks on the railing -- there's a guy whose sole purpose is to tell you not to!
(4)Alana E.
The pizza is so good! This restaurant is exactly what I want out of The Cultural District. I love the atmosphere and the design is so inviting.
(5)Paige B.
Food was definitely good and reasonably priced. I got the Pork meatballs with the pork Bolognese sauce, but tried all my friends and was not disappointed. THE POUTINE (tater tots) was borderline life changing. BUUUTTTTTTT do not go there for your birthday. My friends and I obviously spent plenty of money, but the only thing they could do was a slider bun with a candle in it. Just do nothing? At least tell me you do nothing so I can order a dessert for the birthday gal!
(3)Jason F.
I stopped by here this past Friday night with my wife and another couple for dinner. Since we couldn't make reservations, my wife and I arrived right around 6 PM with the hopes that we would be able to a get a table at around 7 which is when the other couple was scheduled to meet us. Thankfully the hostess was able to help us. She took down my phone number and put us in the system for 7 while telling us that we could go upstairs to have a drink. We did just that by walking down the stairs and then taking the elevator up to the rooftop beer garden. At just before 7 I received a text message to my phone saying that my table was ready. Unfortunately the set up here is not that great if you are waiting for a table at Mezzo in the beer garden. First you have to wait for the slow elevator to take you down from the roof and the kicker here is that it won't stop at the second floor even if you press the button. So then you have to go down to the first floor in order to walk back up to the second floor even though there is clearly a place you could exit the elevator on the second floor. Anyways, the inside of Mezzo is decorated pretty nicely. It has some exposed brick walls with painted on graphics, a bar and seating for probably around 40 people or so. We were sat in one of the corners of the restaurant at a booth with a view overlooking Penn Ave. What was cool was that it looked like in warmer weather that the second floor windows could be opened up. For dinner our table decided to start off the evening with the large Charcuturie platter as well as a large bread basket. Both the charcuterie platter and the bread basket were brought out at the same time and each was explained by a different staff member. The bread basket ended up having three pieces of three different kinds of breads and came with sides of a honey butter and a peppernota. I can't remember all three types of breads but I do know that the cheese one (maybe a pecorino) was the best and that I also enjoyed the slightly spicy peppernota on it. As for the charcuterie platter, WOW! There were about 10 different kinds off meats as well as some crostinis, pickled onions and a cherry dipping sauce. I don't think that there was a single thing on it that I didn't enjoy although my favorite meats were probably the Sopresetta and prosciutto. I also really enjoyed the pickled onions and cherry sauce. After we finally finished almost all of our appetizers our entrees came out. My wife and I ordered the seafood risotto and also the tartufo pizza with the intention of sharing them with each other. The seafood risotto was pretty good with many pieces of both octopus and squid in it as well as a few shrimp. However, I still preferred the pizza and its mushrooms and cheeses. There was an ever present smell of truffle on the pizza which was nice and the ricotta and fontina made a nice backdrop for it. With the amount of food that we had consumed from the appetizers we were not able to finish either entree and had about half of each to take home. That didn't stop us from ordering dessert though and we ended up going with a blood orange custard like dessert where the custard was served frozen. While I wasn't getting too much of the blood oranges flavors from it I did think that it tasted like a creamsicle and enjoyed both the taste and the interesting texture of it. The bottom line for me is that I would stop by here again in the future. I really enjoyed the charcuterie platter and all of the other food was good as well!
(4)Kevin G.
Don't roll in here if you have a Canadian driver's license. Won't let you in for a drink even if you're 45years old....
(1)Laura M.
I paid Mezzo, the middle level of Sienna Mercato, a visit this past weekend, when my friends and I were downtown to see the PGH Opera at the Benedum. Given that Mezzo just opened a month or so ago, that it made the Post Gazette's most recent list of notable new restaurants, and that I greatly enjoyed my experience at Emporio downstairs, I was eager to try this trendy new addition to the Cultural District dining scene. We started off with an order of the bruschetta del giorno, which had the following toppings the day of our visit: white bean paste, roasted red peppers, and anchovies. While the anchovies added a welcome savory note to the bruschetta, overall, I found it rather bland in flavor (my friends concurred). Fortunately, the food quality went up from there. We ordered two pizzas to share between the three of us: the margherita for something more traditional, and the pistachio-prosciutto, which came with roasted crimini mushrooms, fennel pollen, and vinagrette-tossed arugula, for something more avant-garde. The latter pie had a very interesting, complex, and fragrant flavor profile, and was quite nutty due to the pistachio butter that acted as a sauce--almost overly so. I found it similar in composition to the fig-goat cheese pizza offered at The Porch in Oakland, which I prefer due to its bolder flavor and sweet-savory balance. The margherita was my surprise favorite--I found it the best version of this pie that I've tried in PGH to date, due to its savory, well-seasoned sauce, fresh mozzarella, and its significant but not overwhelming infusion of basil. The crust of both pies was more pan-style than thin, and was crispy and substantial. The bocce cookies provided with the check were also chocolatey, gooey, and delicious, and were a nice touch. Aside from the food, we really enjoyed the atmosphere, which, as others have mentioned, is a bit more refined than Emporio (I can't speak for Il Tetto, since I haven't visited yet), but carries through the farmhouse theme. Even the tunes, an eclectic mix of upbeat songs from the 70's and 80's, added to it. As for the service, it was impeccable--the best I've encountered to date in a restaurant of this caliber to date. Our waiter, Cory, was very knowledgeable about the food, as well as appropriate wines to pair with it. Someone even came over and refolded my friends' napkins while they were in the bathroom--wow! Overall, I'd recommend Mezzo for a high-quality, casual, and reasonably-priced dinner downtown. ***Note: Please also see my separate review for Emporio, for which this review is listed as an update.***
(4)Alfonsina S.
Decided to try this place for lunch before work this afternoon. Was seated fairly quickly and presented with a menu. If you like meatballs, this IS the place for you!! My server Ashley was attentive and explained the different options thoroughly. I decided on a beef meatball panini with smoked Gouda and mushroom gravy. They also have vegetarian options and turkey for those who don't do red meat. Will be back to try the other options soon!!!
(4)Aaron Z.
Went here with my girlfriend and her Mom when we were downtown for an afternoon. The place had a trendy hipster type of feel to it. The first floor was all meatball orders (that's what we had). Second floor was pizza and the third which you had to take an elevator up to was a beer garden. We all ordered the meatball sandwich and had some poutine with it. The meatballs were pretty decent and they had a good selection of flavors and types to choose from. Poutine was amazing and had some Parmesan cheese on it. For dessert we split the doughnuts which came with a side of fudge. These were incredible! Really warm and sweet finish to the meal. Really neat place to go to. I'd definitely go back if for nothing more than it is a cool place to be. I believe they are opening another meatball shop up in Wexford so I'll have an option closer to home. I'll be back sometime soon.
(3)John H.
Just had an absolutely terrible experience at Sienna Mercato. Just terrible. This one is on you, general manager Krista Koller. 100% on you. A friend had arranged to hold an after party for their wedding here. The guests (about 30 of us) got there around midnight and got some drinks in the upstairs beer garden while waiting for the bride and groom to arrive. When they arrived just before 1am and the general manager, Krista Koller, wouldn't let them in because they didn't have their IDs on them. It's the wedding day, and quite understandable that in the midst of everything they forgot to carry their IDs. Wedding dresses usually don't have pockets. Remember that this is the bride and groom - the couple that had organized to have their party here in the first place. Let alone the facts that this is their wedding day and that these individuals are clearly over 21 (two facts that by themselves any sensible, reasonable manager should consider), the fact that she refused to allow the people who organized the event to enter the event is insane! What kind of person is this? Sienna Mercato, you seem like a decent establishment, but if this is the kind of people you have running the place then forget it. There are tons of great places in Pittsburgh, and I'll go to the places that have reasonable human beings with at least some sense of decency running the show. I mean, seriously...on their wedding day...really? REALLY? You're going to be that much of a jerk to a newly wed couple? What is wrong with you Krista Koller?
(1)Ashley L.
I've gone to Mercato a few times and have never had a bad meal! It's a great place to go with friends, order a ton of food and just share everything. The idea of a restaurant focused on meatballs sounds a little dumb and I'm not sure the staying power that this restaurant will have. But, for now, I'm more than happy getting my fill of mushroom arincini while I can! The service itself has never been bad when I've gone and everything has been consistent.
(3)Jack M.
Came here with a party of 10 people on a Saturday night, ended up being an hour-ish wait after we decided to split onto 2 tables of 5. Our group of five ended up ordering each kind of meatball (minus the vegetarian because who would go for that if they buy a meaty dish?) along with two poutines (house cut fries and tater tots) and a crab balls appetizer. As for the meatballs, I found them to be alright. Was originally intrigued by the concept of it, but to be honest I found it slightly overrated in reality. My classic beef meatballs ended up being a little on the dry side ... I would have appreciated it if it was a little more tender. My favorite kind of meatball ended up being the spicy pork one ... not only tender enough to be minimally satisfying, but I did like the spicy kick since it definitely added to what would otherwise be pretty standard tasting meatballs. As for the sauce choices that you can get with the meatballs themselves ... my favorite would probably be the marinara. I found the arribiatta to be a little too salty and the spiciness (although I found it not to be that spicy at all) only exacerbated the saltiness of the sauce. As for the poutines, the tater tots with the cheese curds and gravy were delicious. Mozzarella cheese was perfectly melted (not too cold or squishy) and the tater tots along with the gravy and cheese made for a wonderful blend of taste in each bite with the cheese helping to moderate the saltiness of the dish. The fries were your standard fare of fries. As for the crab balls appetizer, I found them to be just average. Overall ... it was okay. I'm not really sold on the meatballs as the main course ... it left a little something more to be desired. They do have two other levels though ... the second floor for meat charcuterie and the third being a rooftop beer garden.
(3)Alfeo D.
Not to take away from a local legend such as Premanti Brothers, but when we had one night in Pittsburgh on a film shoot, the option came up to go out to eat and one of the non-local regulars suggested Sienna Mercato. Everything on the menu look good but I proceeded to go with the Dragon Balls... I'm sure an homage to Game of Thrones. What a wonderful and fun place after dinner we proceeded to the rooftop for drinks and the other business establishment and had a blast.
(5)Ashley H.
Sienna Mercato was on my list of restaurants to try in Pittsburgh. For a belated Fathers Day celebration, we went to Emporio, the "meatball joint" on the first floor. I had a side salad and a vegetarian meatball slider with spinach almond pesto (which gives you one meatball and one sauce on a bun) and it was plenty of food. The slider was very small, which can be a good thing if you want to try many combinations of meat and sauce. There are many different combinations, and I'm sure there is something for everyone. Our server, I believe her name was Joanna, was very attentive and took a lot of time to describe how the meatball menu worked. All in all, I had a good time. The Meatball floor would be good for grabbing a quick bite before a show, as we were in and out in a little under an hour.
(4)Serena T.
Had an awful experience at Mezzo (Meatball Joint) so awful in fact that I walked out! I wanted to grab a relatively quick lunch there so when I got there and asked if I wanted a table or take a seat at the bar, I opted for the bar thinking it would be quicker. WRONG! I sat at the bar and waited a few minutes until anyone approached me and they asked if I would be drinking or eating and I said I was just going to eat. Ok...they left, ignore, ignore, ignore...brought me water 5 minutes later. Asked for a menu, did a whole bunch of other stuff for a bit and then grabbed a menu which was 2 feet from me and handed it over. Ignore, ignore, ignore...someone just sat one seat away and was promptly given a drink and menu. Ignore, ignore, ignore...I had made my decision on food about 10 minutes go. Wondering what the hell was going on because there were at least 2 people working the bar area and it wasn't very crowded. Ignore, ignore, ignore, person sitting one seat away has order taken and that was where I couldn't take it anymore. The bartender didn't even look at me after taking the other person's order and he was literally an arm length away. Walked out. Not planning on going back any time soon.
(1)Annie C.
I've been here a couple times, the most recent being this weekend for the meatballs. We were seated very quickly, had room to stash our stroller at the entrance (out of the way) so that we didn't awkwardly have it at our table and had great seats near the big open window. There were lots of other little kids there (right after the kids marathon) so I was happy that we weren't the only ones bringing a little kid to such a trendy place. I wish our server had helped us navigate the menu more as we weren't sure what would fill us up. Next time we'll ask more questions. We also wished we could mix our balls and sauces. We did, however, enjoy saying balls for the entire meal. I had one turkey slider with the pork bolognese and the arancini rice ball appetizers. My husband had the 4 saucy turkey balls with the pesto and plain fries (omg the fries were amazing!) and our friend tried two different sliders. Overall, we enjoyed our meal but I can't say they were the most amazing meatballs I've ever had. We will definitely be back though because the menu was extensive and I still need to try out the 2nd floor. We attended an engagement celebration on the roof in the fall and enjoyed our appetizers and drinks, and of course the view!
(4)Nancy C.
If you love meatballs, you have to try this restaurant. It is one of the best restaurants in PGH & certainly downtown. You choose your meat, sauce & how you want to eat your meatballs, e.g. Panini, in a bowl, a slider, etc. the beef and chorizo specialty were the best. I've loved the pesto and red sauce the best. The tomato risotto is absolutely delicious. It melts in your mouth and a side is only $5. It pairs perfectly with the meatballs with red sauce. We also love the poutine appetizer with tater tots & gravy. Not authentic, but to die for.
(5)Anthony S.
Staying on 6th and Grant, I was looking to explore the city a bit and find some local grub with good beer options. Mercato is just that. I strolled in as an obvious biz traveler - I think my branded polo blew my cover - and posted up at the bar. The atmosphere in here is a bit classy but the bar also gives off an inviting, more casual vibe. As soon as I bellied up, I asked for the Love Nitro Stout - I prefer Left Hand's over this one, but it was pretty good nonetheless. My meal started with the rocket salad - arugula, almonds, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella. The almonds add great texture and the mozz tasted fresh. Next, I got the vegetarian meatballs- yea that's a thing. Mushrooms, white beans, and cauliflower make up the mixture and it is goooood. I made my serving a panini with the almond, spinach pesto - wow! Finally I got ice cream for dessert. If they have black raspberry then I totally just made your decision for you. Andrew at the bar was friendly and indulged me in a local culture lesson - sports, food, neighborhoods, districts, etc. If you're looking for laid back, casual, and sarcastic conversation then he's your dude. Come here with plenty of time to spare - not an "in and out" kind of place. Hope you enjoy it!
(4)Angela H.
Had a really great dinner here last night! We came around 7:45, and the wait for both floors was about 90 mins. We chose the meatball floor, put our name in, and went up to the 3rd floor to grab drinks and wait. The 3rd floor bar is so nice! I loved the rooftop. We got drinks and just chatted, waiting for our table. Just under 90 mins later, our app told us the table was ready, so we headed downstairs and were seated right away. For the table we got an order of fried pickle chips (sooooooo fantastic) and buffalo chicken balls. The chicken was really spicy but really good. For dinner I chose two pork meatballs with the pork bolongese (panini). My friends got sliders, and we also got two sides of risotto to split. There was sooo much food! We barely put a dent in the risotto, and I could only eat half of my panini. It was pretty spicy. It was just okay.. Not my favorite. My friends got one of the Asian meatball sliders (it was the daily special) and said it was fantastic. I wish I got that! The price was actually really affordable. We got split checks, and each of us paid less than $20, including tip (but not including our drinks we paid for upstairs). So, final word: great rooftop bar; very crowded; good prices; decently-good food. I'd come back, but maybe earlier in the day with less of a wait.
(4)Abe O.
I love the idea of this place. It's everything you want in a restaurant. Great location, limited menu, and always busy. We tried the first floor (the meatball floor). Unfortunately, I was going through a vegetarian phase and had to opt for the vegetarian meatballs....terrible decision. Through no fault of the restaurant, I was barely able to eat them...but as far as vegetarian meatballs go, they were probably awesome. My mistake. Within 24 hrs of leaving Sienna Mercato, I quickly traded in my Birkenstocks for some good ol' fashion hunting boots and devoured my wife's leftovers. Needless to say, it was delicious (and yet a day old). Definitely recommend. Pretty pricey, considering your getting ground meat in the form of a ball...but what do you expect in downtown P'Burgh.
(4)G M.
I was staying at the Courtyard across the street and stopped in for lunch. Food came out quick and was very good! Definitely recommended to others visiting in the area.
(4)Bill T.
The girls at the hostess stand were very nice. They helped us look at the menu and made recommendations and convinced my friend and I to eat here. Well, I should say they convinced us to try to eat here, because no eating was done. We were seated at a table squeezed between two other tables. That was fine though, because one table was finishing up and the other was eating. One waitress went to the table to our left four times while we sat there...once to clear plates, then to drop the check, then again to pick up the check and finally to bring the receipt. The table to our right had another waitress serving them and she checked on them, as well as three other tables to the right. She even had to bring one table five "to go" bags! The table to our left was cleared once the people took their receipt and left. Unfortunately, the lady sitting there forgot her coat, but the waitress talked to a bus boy and asked him to see if he could catch her. He couldn't so they put the coat behind the bar. Why am I telling you all of this? Because that's all I can tell you. We sat there while numerous employees were inches from us, interacting with every other customer in the place but not a single server made eye contact with us, offered us water, said "be right with you" or acknowledged that we existed. I went up to tell the hostess who sat us that nobody was serving our table and she shrugged and apologized but seemed helpless to understand that if nobody is going to serve a table, you probably shouldn't seat people there. So we went down the block to Ten Penny where actual people recognized that we were hungry people who wanted food and drink and were willing to pay for it and had a great meal. I get that on a Sunday evening when you're busier than expected, service might suffer. But just tell me that up front and I'll go somewhere else rather than sit in a restaurant for 15 minutes being ignored and dissatisfied and end up writing a one star review for your unacceptable level of service on Yelp.
(1)Jeremia F.
I've been here twice in the last few months and have thoroughly enjoyed each visit. The layout of the place didn't exactly help with my indecisiveness. You probably already know that there are 3 levels of fun here, the first two floors having an Italian theme but much different in fare in each. First floor I would sum it up as a little bit more laid back environment with meatballs as the main stay. another plus is Sienna Mercato's most excellent production of poutine. I would go as far it has been the best poutine I have tried outside of the great Country of Canada. The poutine had fresh cut fries, tasty gravy, and delicious melty curds. The second floor would be a slightly more formal sit down type place with dinner entrees cheese and a charcuterie plates. We tried the tartufo pizza on our last visit and it was a savory pie. Ricotta, fontina, a small amount of mushrooms, truffle and an EGG! Wow I would totally order that again and it is even good the next day for breakfast if you decide to bring it home. The third floor is pretty much a huge bar with a retractable glass roof. How cool is that?! Some pretty cool views of the area from a loft. Excellent draft selections and for a downtown place the prices really aren't that bad. Service was very friendly and efficient with a good understanding of what the menu. I think that if you aren't sure what you would like to do with your dinner plans for the night with either a large or small group I think that this would really be a good option most everyone should be able to find something that suits their tastes.
(4)Kelly C.
visited pittsburgh this past weekend and went to sienna since we heard there was a beer garden? lol arrived at 730 and put our name down on the first floor ... aaand the wait was an hr n a half long T_T so we just proceeded to the 3rd fl rooftop bar and got some beers to start~ wow the rooftop is just beautiful! the place was packed on a sat evening! most of the tables were taken and even the balcony was packed. Thankfully, we were able to get a table for our group of 5~ i was starving and wanted to get some appetizer to start.. but apparently the menus are different on every floor? the beer list was quite extenisve~ but appetizers were not too appealing.. so we decided to wait it out. FINALLY after some time, our table downstairs was ready at last! thank god for that refreshing watermelon beer to keep my mind off of the hunger. lol the menu on the 1st fl was all about them balls of meat! it is exactly like the meatball shop in NYC!! which i absolutely adore! so we knew exactly how this was going to go down.. pick a type of ball, a sauce and a side. i got the "saucey balls" which is a set of 4 and i picked the traditional beef meat balls with pesto on top. i was also ecstatic to see a menu for poutine! my o my~ i got my tater tots fix alright! added some bacon to it and had a side of chicken gravy for dipping. i wasn't big on the chicken gravy.. BUT surprisingly, the tots tasted fantastic with the pesto sauce from my bowl of meatballs!! so huh~ how bout that? tater tots with pesto..? i definitely struggled to finish all the things in front of me.. everything was delicious! including their special sausage meatballs~ and boy! was this hearty meal fulfilling and satisfying! watch out meatball shop in nyc! sienna mercato is right up in your alley! lol i would not b surprised if sienna mercato makes its way to the east coast~ the variations offered at sienna is a huge game changer! PLUS tots?? i'm sold .. sry MBS~ you're gonna have to step up your game to win me back :P
(5)Erin C.
Holy meatballs!! My husband and I went to Sienna Mercato for our first Mommy-Daddy date night. We LOVED it. We checked in at the Meatball Emporium and then headed up to the Rooftop Beer Garden. The beer selection was great- I had Great Lake's Chillwave, the perfect summery, rooftoppy drink. The roof is simple - a glass roof, some twinkle lights, and a view of the Cultural District. A great hang out and awesome waiting spot for your table downstairs. Down in the emporium we enjoyed the same great beer list and some amazing meatballs - we did the buffalo appetizer - spicy and addicting...but let's be honest, all the meatballs were addicting. I elected to do three different sliders and while full forced myself to finish each delectable bite. The atmosphere is busy but in a fun way. TIP- they're a part of this app called NoWait- it's like call ahead seating. I recommend using it if you'll be going during busy times.
(4)Darae C.
This review is for Mezzo, the wine and pizza bar contained within the same building as Sienna Mercato. Mezzo doesn't have it's own listing, so I had to post here! We arrived here on a Saturday night around 6:30pm with no reservation, hoping we were early enough so that the wait wouldn't be too long. Luckily we were able to snag a very comfy seat at the bar and we're greeted promptly by an extremely friendly bartender who hooked us up with water and menus while still pumping out drinks to other patrons. With some helpful input from our bartender, we decided on the mussels as a starter and the crispy skate wing dish, as well as the bacon and clam pizza. He timed things pretty wonderfully. My favorite fish was the mussels. I'm not the biggest fan of tomato sauce, but the sauce these huge mussels were floating in was rich and somewhat creamy and was pretty fantastic. They came with huge slices of grilled bread to sop up the sauce. My only complaint was that I didn't have more bread to enjoy the sauce with. My SO enjoyed the pizza the best and I thought it was just okay. There was a bit too much of the clam flavor and not enough of the bacon flavor going on. We both liked the flavor of the skate, but I thought it a bit too acidic with the amount of capers that were in the dish. I'm glad I tried it--it was good--but I wouldn't order it again. NOT WITH ALL THOSE AMAZING MUSSELS TO BE HAD! One of my favorite parts of the whole experience was the ambiance. The second floor looked like some cool converted loft and the lighting was nothing short of rom-com romantic. Overall I had a good experience and look forward to trying them again sometime.
(4)Mara K.
I've been here three times and the food has been consistently good. My most recent trip the service at the table was awful but the bartender, Alaina, was fantastic. Friendly, attentive, and makes a great Bloody Mary. The menu is simple and good for the soul. The concept is simple- pick a meatball type (vegetarian options available too), pick a sauce, then the type of dish. I've had a meatball as a slider and I've also had an Italian sausage ball on a dish of Mac and cheese. None have disappointed. There is also a fantastic poutine fries available that my friends have raved about. I need to make it up the steps for the rooftop beer garden pronto. I will be back for happy hour!
(4)Whitley S.
So awesome for a happy hour scene, but not for happy hour prices... The third floor rooftop is amazing! However, the winter atmosphere was compromising. The heaters installed were uncomfortable to sit near if you were at the bar. The heat on your face is so intense, you have to face the tables so you don't get artificial sunburn. The French75 cocktail is delectable. I didn't have a chance to try any of the bar food, but the selection was ok. It would be nice to offer more food options for the outdoor seating as well. All in all, it was nice. Nice mix of people, and I can't wait to go the the beer garden when it gets warmer.
(4)Dylan M.
With only 3 visits so far, I can safely recommend this to anyone. I have gotten the panini each time with a new dipping sauce and meatball. If I find anything here that is less than satisfactory I would be surprised.
(4)