James Street Gastropub & Speakeasy

I was super pumped to finally try this place. A friend of mine (Chelsey Nicole, sometimes with the Northside Vamps, check ‘em out, y’all) plays here often, so obviously I know they have some good musical tastes. I’m not sure who the group was that was playing while we were there, but they were awesome. Unfortunately, though, it was so loud that after a while our group moved back upstairs so that we could actually talk to each other, like people tend to do when they wanna hang out.
Good beer selection. I got the Anderson Valley blood orange gose, which was great and very well priced. We ate before we got there, but I ordered a salad when I realized I had eaten 0 veggies that day. My caesar salad, which was two huge hunks of romaine with no form of meat, was $ 10. I spent the first 18 years of my life in Pittsburgh, and it is true that the Northside is way, waaaaay trendier than it was $ 10 years ago, but is it $ 10 caesar salad trendy? Or $ 8 for 3 – 4 pierogis smothered in cheese friendly? I don’t think anywhere will ever be cool enough for me to accept paying that if I’m not eating at the restaurant of a world-​famous chef.
Overall I recommend. This is a great place if you like music and a few drinks, but eat a filling dinner beforehand.

My husband and I decided to eat a casual dinner early (6:00 p.m.) on New Year’s Eve. I ordered the Caesar salad and macaroni and cheese with bacon. My husband ordered the Cajun grilled shrimp and grits. I would not have written this bad review if «anything» we ordered was prepared well.
My salad was not made with «baby» romaine, I think it was” dinosaur” romaine, it was huge and un-​manageable. The croutons were also huge and hard, inedible. There was very little Asiago cheese grated on the salad. The dressing seemed to be ranch?
The only thing good about the macaroni, was the bacon, It was a starch-​fest. All I could taste was the starchy, dense noodle. There was no creamy cheese, bubbly and golden brown. The cheese sauce was akin to «Kraft» watered down, with no salt!!!
My husband’s shrimp dish was composed of «old» shrimp that had that «off» fishy flavor. There was no Cajun seasoning. The grits were starchy and clumpy and had no hint of cheese. When my husband complained about the «old» shrimp, and lack of seasoning, the server told us that the chef said that the line cook did not season them properly.
This is our first visit to this restaurant. From what I can surmise, the kitchen staff is either inexperienced or does not care??? I expected good food, for the price, and our meal was far from it.

Takes forever to get waited on. Had a great waiter named Chris one time but then it was always an older woman who was not so pleasant in fact I was shocked at how cranky she seemed. A bit pricey as well but the live music is good. I live in the neighborhood and I care not to return.

I truly believe that Pittsburgh has the worst dining options that I’ be ever experienced in a decent sized city. Without getting too detailed, suffice to say that this «Gastropub» did not at all exceed my low
expectations.

Overall, the two times we’ve been here have been very good experiences. The wings are absolutely top notch — try the chipotle bbq or teriyaki — delicious and different! The drinks are unique and delicious — pricey but worth it. The entrees & sandwiches that we’ve had have left something to be desired — my chicken sandwich (the bacon chicken, forget what it was called) was a small portion — didn’t fill out the pretzel bun — and was dry. My wife had the risotto and was not pleased either. And our server we had last night (Sat 12÷26÷15) was terrible — forgot several things at each course of the meal, would disappear for lengths of time, and was generally slow and seemed not to know what she was doing. Our server the first time we were here (about 6 months ago) was excellent, though.
The atmosphere is amazing — absolutely gorgeous wood work and dark wood bar.
Conclusion — a great place for drinks & an appetizer before going somewhere else for your main course. Or a good option at the end of the evening for a night cap.

So this would have been a 1 star review, but I added an extra star because the Thursday night jazz session is good and our waiter was awesome. Just want drinks and jazz? Definitely a good choice. But you should definitely eat before you come.
I ordered the «Twisted Chicken» sandwich. My chicken was burned on the edges, dry and there was no sauce on the sandwich. So basically dry chicken on dry bread, topped with melted cheddar, bacon and raw spinach. I ate a couple of fries, the bacon and cheese, then threw in the towel. Looking at the overcooked burger one companion had and the clumpy grits another had, I knew it wasn’t worth it.
The waiter asked if I had a problem and I told him not to worry about it. When he brought the check he asked again and I told him my issues. He apologized profusely and comped the meal. He jokingly said, «it’s not like you ate most of it and then complained. 90% of the food was still on the plate! There was obviously an issue on our part.» Good on him.
Bottom line: calling this place a gastropub implies a certain quality of cuisine that they’re simply not capable of creating.

This place has great food and I love the atmosphere. We have been there a couple times for Friday night swing dancing and absolutely loved it. The drinks are great too!

Very cool place to hang out. We didn’t eat here… only stopped for a drink. Great beer list, including drafts and bottles.
There was a meathead at the bar that was obnoxious, loud, with an annoying laugh, so we rolled.

Best Buttermilk Fried Chicken ever! I’d return just for that! The live music was great as were the cocktails.

JS is a nice place and very easy to drive to – just off 279 and near the sports complexes. Adequate parking. Great character in the bar and dining room. Upstairs ballroom area redone for bands — sound reinforcement and lights. Dancing happens there. SWING DANCING happens there. Last time was with Sweaty Betty Blues Band — upstairs and basement were both packed. Downstairs is the Speakeasy, bar and stage and food service. Because the place is broken into sections, one can find a niche that suits one. Spoke with Lisa (an owner) for 10 minutes — cordial and helpful. WWW pages are now up to date. I am glad that the blues genre has been reintroduced here.

Stopped in here for dinner, drinks, and the Jazz show in the basement. Overall, we were very happy with the food, service, and show. The band playing that night was energetic and very talented, with excellent jazz solos. Our server was excellent.
We started with their appetizer special, «Devil’s on Horseback», which was a fried oyster with a bacon jam served on a small toasted piece of bread. There were three of these on the plate and they made for a great appetizer. For dinner we split a bbq crunch burger with pulled pork on top and their gumbo. Both were very good. The gumbo had a hint of spice but was by no means overpowering. I really appreciated that the pulled pork on the burger was large smoky chunks.
They have a nice selection of craft beer and the cocktail I ordered was well made. Most of the tables, it seemed, were filled with couples on dates as this makes an excellent date spot!

This place was amazing!!! My husband and I joined some friends for their 10 year anniversary and it was an absolutely great experience. The waitress was very nice patient and gave us lots of input on what was good and was not. My husband had the meatloaf, I had the buttermilk friend chicken as did my friend and her husband had the gumbo. With the live entertainment and ambiance with dim lighting, it was romantic, intimate and very relaxing listening to the jazz artists of the evening. The food was absolute stupendous!!! The mac n cheese, the white cheddar grits, the collard greens all were seasoned well and o so tasty! This is now my husband and mines favorite place and we plan to patron this place at least once a month for our date nights. Thank u Gastropub for the great romantic evening!!!

I’ve been here quite a few times under various ownerships over the course of maybe 10 or so years, and I’m refraining from reviewing the ambiance (because that really doesn’t change) or the music because I’m not too hip to the jazz scene (although they seem to have a limited number of bands here).
My first impression walking in today was disappointment for the fact that they removed their bottled beer selection that I thought was pretty solid. My second impression was, where the shit are the pipe bombs and the other interesting menu items. And lastly, why did they bump up the price by ¹⁄₃ when they dumbed down both the menu and the beer selection.
Maybe they’re making a push to appeal to more Pirate fan walk-​ins, but I think this change impacts whatever made this place unique. I asked the waitress, «when did this place change?» She said, «a lot of people ask that.» She went on to say probably when they hired a new chef.
Well, chef, what the hell? And, why was all my food oversalted? Why take all steak items off the menu? Why charge $ 15 for a dry burger when I can do better right down the street… or whatever place you’re trying to emmulate?
Also, why not have a little AC on when it’s a 90 degree day? Have you scared that many customers away that you can’t pay the bills?
On a positive note, the waitress I had was way more attentive than what I experienced in the past, so that’s good.
So, yeah — just turn this place into a sports bar or whatever. Maybe if you sell enough i.c. light you can turn the AC back on.
Ps. Those jazz album menus were also great, before you scrapped those too.

My shrimp and grits was good. However my fiancée chicken sandwich wasn’t the best at all. Online the chicken sandwich say $ 10 but on the menu $ 14. Oh well. Maybe better luck next time.

The food was good I had the twisted chicken sandwich. I’ve had sandwiches that were juicer and bigger for the same amount of money but I would eat it again. I substituted a side salad instead of the regular side which I was charged an up charge of $ 4. But I don’t think the price is worth the amount of food received

My wife and I had not been here in a while and part of that was because our previous visits were mixed. So we decided to go back for a change of scenery since we typically go to the same 3 – 4 places. Well I can say that we will not be returning. We ordered the wings super extra crispy which did not come that way nor where they tossed evenly in the sauce. Some had gobs of sauce while others were practically plain. The sauce itself had too much tomato taste. Maybe some people like it but we did not. My wife’s Caesar salad was huge which is not bad in of itself except with full leaves piled on top of each other it was unwieldy.
I had a burger medium well with cheese lettuce onion and an over easy egg with no bun. The lettuce was placed on the bottom so it became wilted and warm very quickly. There was no onion and the egg was sunny side up but just overly cooked on the bottom that it was partly black. The burger itself was dry and had very little taste. To top it all off my wife’s gumbo was so bad she sent it back. She didn’t know what the taste was but is was more like mush than gumbo.
It is a shame because the north shore needs locally owned places with character and this place could be great but with average service and sub par food you are better off at Monterey Pub or Max’s if in the area.

This place confuses me. Firstly, because I can never seem to remember if I like it here. Yesterday, after having to get some tests at AGH, my husband and I were famished so we walked on over. And on the way, our conversation went like this:
Me: «Do we like it here?»
Husband: «I don’t know.»
Me: «Well, the last time we were here… Did we like our food?»
Husband: «I think so? Maybe? I don’t know.»
Me: «I don’t know either.»
So there’s that. This place doesn’t leave a lasting impression on me. BUT I’m reviewing a day after a meal there so, no worries readers, it’s fresh in my mind.
The second reason this place confuses me is that I’m not sure what it’s trying to BE. A hip jazz club? A laid-​back dive? Prices say hip jazz club. But menu says «hey yinz, this is just yer typical bar n’at»
Don’t get me wrong: The food is good, but it’s fried bar food.
Yesterday, I had the pulled pork sandwich and asked to have it on a pretzel bun. It was really yummy. My husband’s fish fry was good and the serving size was huge! Our meals both came with coleslaw, but the coleslaw was so bland that neither of us felt like putting in the effort to deliver it to our mouths. I had one drink and we both had side salads. All in all, pretty good meal BUT our bill was over $ 50 (?!)…
Ehh– I’m still confused, guys.

This was the second time we have come here. The first time we were here, no one came to our table for a food or drink order for close to 20 minutes before we left.
This time our server did get our drink orders pretty quickly, though out of the three menus that we had, not one had all of the same pages for drinks which caused some confusion. After that it did take a while until the drinks came, but thats up to the bar not the waitstaff.
Next we ordered, and then waited. And waited. And waited some more. When the food did come those that ordered wings seemed ok with their selections, though the side of collard greens was mainly untouched. I ordered just a side of mac and cheese, which was a sizeable portion and could easily be a meal, but it didn’t taste like anything. I added a bunch of salt and pepper, which helped, but overall this was very disappointing.
I probably won’t be back. The amount of time it took for some wings and a mac and cheese really was too much and the food wasn’t worth the wait.

I visited last night with a friend for dinner at around 6pm. I received a pack of City Dining Cards for Christmas, and she picked this place from among the options that I offered, since she’d heard good things about it. I was also interested in trying it out, given the speakeasy ambiance and the interesting-​looking Cajun menu options.
Having previewed the menu ahead of time, I decided to get the Cajun shrimp and grits, since this is a classic Cajun dish, and I haven’t had it previously. It came with 5 shrimp (see photo) seasoned with Cajun seasonings that gave them a nice spicy kick. The majority of this entrée was vegetables and grits. Aside from the spices on the shrimp, the word I’d use to describe this dish is «inoffensive.» While nothing was wrong with it, per se, it just wasn’t very exciting – in this respect, it was similar to something you’d see at Applebee’s or Ruby Tuesday. For a $ 19 entrée at a place billing itself as a gastropub, I expect more pizzazz – and more shrimp!
I didn’t try my friend’s po’ boy because I had a (very good) shrimp po’ boy the day before for lunch. She enjoyed it, this being the first time she’d had a po’ boy. It was $ 13, which I felt was also on the pricy side, esp. for a sandwich. It came with a side of house made chips, which I sampled, that I felt were a bit overdone. In addition to our food, we each had a drink (hard cider for me, beer for her). Both our drinks ran $ 6, which I felt was also on the expensive side, but hers was discounted to $ 4, which I felt was more typical.
The one thing that really shined about our experience was our waiter’s personality. He was humorous and interactive in a good way, which is always a nice, unexpected bonus. We were seated in the booth section on the ground floor next to the bar, and I found the ambiance overall to be pretty bland, reminiscent of a chain casual dining restaurant. I later found out that the speakeasy, where the live music is hosted, is downstairs, so perhaps this has a better ambiance. I’d be willing to return at some point just for drinks to check it out.
Overall, while I have no real complaints about our experience except the inflated prices, nothing really stood out about it, aside from our waiter’s personality. In a city with as many great dining options as PGH, restaurants really need to stand out to do a good business. If the sparsely populated dining room and bar that we encountered at prime time on a Sat. evening is par for the course, this is evidence that the locals recognize this place’s shortcomings in this regard. 3.5 stars.
P. S. Shrimp and grits are available for half the price nearby at Carmi on Western Ave. I haven’t tried them there, but if the fried chicken I had there is any indication, I’ll be willing to bet that they’re good!

My girlfriend and I went to James Street before a Pirates games back in April. We were surprised how run down the neighbourhood seemed to be considering it’s right next to a good sized park and so close to PNC, Heinz Field and the downtown. Hopefully it’s on the upswing as it certainly deserves it.
Inside the bar, it’s quite welcoming with lots of dark woods, arches and stained glass. They’re definitely going for the speakeasy vibe with some jazz themed paintings and pictures of musicians. We settled into one of the small booths raised slightly up from the main bar area as a few more people trickled in after work/​before the game. Lovely cabinets and shelves displayed their libations and glassware behind the bar.
There were some tempting apps and entrees, but in the end I ended up going with the James Street Meatloaf which comes with smashed potatoes, a corn fritter and sweet creamed corn sauce. My girlfriend couldn’t resist her go-​to sandwich, the pulled pork, and got their Unilocal-​famous onion rings on the side.
There was a bit of a wait considering there weren’t many people here, but it gave me some time to sift through their impressively large and neatly categorized beer menu. Since I was in a blasphemous mood, I went with a bottle of Lucifer. A Belgian wheat, it wasn’t as heavy as many are and was quite effervescent as well. Devilishly good.
Luckily the food was mostly worth the wait. My meatloaf was actually a small loaf cut on the diagonal and appeared to have been broiled or finished in a pan as it had a nice crust on all sides that added more flavour to it. It had a great, traditional meatloaf flavour and despite being relatively thin and broiled, it was very juicy. The smashed potatoes were good, and made for excellent delivery vessels for the cream corn sauce which complemented everything nicely. The corn fritters were crisp on the outside and slightly doughy on the inside, but the chewy bits of corn inside threw off the texture for me.
My lovely date really enjoyed her pulled pork sandwich, although I found the meat to be on the mushy side and lacking any discernible texture, although it still had a good, well balanced flavour. The onion rings were super crispy, but they could have used more seasoning in the batter and were getting to be on the cold side of the spectrum when they arrived.
Service from our waiter, Shawn, was spot on and friendly and he eagerly answered our questions or went to find the info if he didn’t know it.
James Street has a great atmosphere and solid food which while not perfect, made for a solid pre-​game meal.