Red Room Cafe

Planned on going here this past weekend. We all showed up and found a ‘sheriff sale’ notice on the door. I would say it’s a safe bet that we’ll not be experiencing this place again.

This business has closed, and judging by the «sheriff’s sale» postings, it will not be reopening…
Gone is the pleasure of the proprietors and waitstaff x-​raying your wallet and checking how expensive your shoes look as you enter, that is, if they pay you any attention at all. No more sitting drinkless as the only customers during «happy» hour, while the owner shmoozes a liquor vendor (a woman who repeatedly used the word «zing-​fen-​dale,» no joke) in the comfy lounge seats next to you.
Someone needs to get the message: upscale (real or imagined) is not the only way to succeed on the developing East Liberty/​Shadyside edge, no matter how desperately the Red Rooms and Richard Chens of the world may think so. Also, Pittsburgh can support only so many ersatz upscale restaurants, thank god.
Good riddance, Red Room…

Ducked into this place while waiting for a table at Abay around the corner.
$ 25 for a glass of House Red and a Kettle One tonic. Where are we — NYC — LA? ?
Not to mention — the waitstaff practically made me beg for it! Waited for close to 10 min then had to stalk /​chase one of the 2 bartenders to the other side of the bar. The kicker is… the bar had like 10 empty tables and the bar seating was ½ full!!!
Hahahahahahahahaha
1^st — time you get me — shame on you…
2^nd– time… shame on me…
Won’t be a second time… and that’s unfortunate cause it looks like it has potential. ()based off of other reviews here — maybe I overstated its potential!!)
Not to mention — in a shady (not shadyside — and can’t even justify those prices there), if not the shadiest part of town.

I really wanted to like this place. I really did. But the high prices, snooty wait staff and completely wrong-​headed «creativity» of the chef (wrong-​headed combinations of flavors) just turned me off.

Hard to figure this place out. It has a surprisingly hip décor for Pittsburgh, which seems trapped either in some smoky dive bar nightmare or early 80s design. Despite the design and relatively attentive service I do have complaints. There are flat screen tvs everywhere! Can i find a nice bar in this stupid town w/​o 10 tvs playing sports? Also, to ruin the night they had one guy poorly playing covers on an electric guitar, what was the point of that?
The drinks were good but the food there is terrible and overpriced. I’d go there for drinks if there was no musician and they turned the damn televisions off!
It has potential, just needs some tweeking. 2.5 stars

The red room and accompanying lounge are very nice spaces, with a darker modern décor, it’s a great place to hang out and have a drink, but you should go somewhere else for food. The menu reads nicely but the execution is a bit clumsy, and the service takes years.
so grab a couch a libation, and hang out, just dont open that menu

I dug it. 5 $ Mojito happy hour special in the 2red lounge half was AMAZING, like, really good mojito with lots of alcohol. I had the port-​gorgonzola fondue and it was very tasty. It came with bread and meat, and I kind of wish it had been cheaper and only come with bread, because I liked the bread + fondue better than the meat + fondue.
It was comfy and quiet in there and our waitress was nice and changed the channel on one of the tvs from espn to the news for me. There was hardly anyone there (reasonable at 4P on thursday) which is actually probably part of why I liked it so much– it was quiet.

I met friends for dinner at 2Red, the lounge half of Red Room. The upstairs patio had a nice atmosphere, but the food was a bit lacking. We bought several appetizers to share.
— The blackened shrimp enchiladas didn’t have much flavor.
— The red bean hummus was so so
— The gorgonzola port fondue was pretty tasty and very, very rich.
Maybe the regular menu has more to offer.

Really nice atmosphere. The catering services were very impressive. Delicious soup and desserts. High quality and flavorful. I’d definitely return!

came here for a triple birthday and the only thing i liked about this place was that a lot of my friends were there. i know it’s supposed to be more up-​scale but shit, this place is still in east lib territory where i can get cheaper drinks at kelly’s bar and shadow (including a cover). i waited for 10 mins to order a drink even though there was barely anyone at the bar and 3 bartenders. i can get quicker service at phi bar at its fullest capacity with one bartender.

I really enjoyed my meal at Red Room. Very unassuming from the outside, which seems to be the way of things in Pittsburgh.
I started with a salad… can’t quite remember which one it was, except that it was good. I also had the strip steak, which was excellent. I didn’t particularly care for the pickled veggies on the side, but if I stayed away from that, then it was fine. We had the bread pudding for dessert, which was divine. I’d come back just for that.
Atmosphere is dark and cozy, but the tables are far enough apart that you don’t have to worry about being too romantic with the people at the table over. Service is good.

Underwhelmed, yes I’d say this word sums up my experience. However, I will expand. We were here last night for dinner and I was a bit disappointed to find Chef Kevin Souza who just arrived here weeks ago has now moved on again to Nine on Nine (3^rd move this summer for this talented chef). The space is very nice. It is full of deep reds which automatically relax and a nice dining area. The bar next to the dining area is a little bizarre because the seats are too low to the ground and force you to feel like your sitting at the kiddies table with you barely able to put your elbows on the bar. I asked about the ackward seating and was told it has to do with them buying a bar that was too tall and insurance issues on getting properly fitted seating. They have great big leather seats for lounging with your cocktails which are a nice touch. They’ve also recently added outdoor and rooftop seating which is great on a warm autumn day. The service was a little below average. We had a very unenthusiastic chap named Mick who didn’t commit any major faux pas, but it was clear this was not were he wanted to be. The wine selection is okay. They have a few more expensive interesting options, but the waiter didn’t offer any suggestions or seemed trained at all on the description of the bottles. The bread was okay. I’m guessing breadworks bread served with this interesting pomogranite and onion butter. The flavors worked okay for the butter, but I would have been more pleased if the butter and bread were served warm. I ordered the salmon tartare which had a nice flavor seasoned with cilantro and mango, however the fish itself was a little warmer than room temperature. This is not good for tartare. It should be served slightly chilled. Fiona had the scallop appetizer which was served on this extremely bland breadcrumb type pancake. The scallop itself was delicious and cooked perfectly however for $ 12 I think one deserves more than one average sized scallop. I had the lamb chops which were cooked perfectly and very flavorful, however the greens that accompanied were bland. They don’t put salt and pepper on the tables which is okay and I’ve been to other fine dining where this occurs. However, if they won’t provide the flavor enhancers they should be spot on with the seasoning. Red room is not. Fiona had the strip steak which was $ 42. This seems a bit much for strip. It was very fatty and had a weird chemical flavor. I’m guessing from a charcoal bricket. It was edible, but I’ve had better steaks at TGIF. We skipped dessert. The bill including tip was $ 180. This place is overpriced for the quality of food and serving size. I’d be okay paying this cost if I was trying something unique like I was hoping for with Chef Souza, however they have re employed an old sous chef who is now doing the cooking and in my opinion does not justify the cost. It’s a shame because I’m sure they’ve put a lot of money in overhauling the restaurant, but this won’t be a top notch restaurant until they get better talent in the kitchen or reduce their prices. This place probably deserves 2.5 stars.

Nice atmosphere and though I have only seen it from afar they have recently added an outdoor seating area-​more hip lounge than the leather and fireplace den-​like style that makes up the main part of the restaurant. Can’t believe I live close to this place and have never been in. My group had drinks and wine. Service was pleasant, wine was tasteful. I recommend the Belli-​tini. My friend go this berry laden martini and I plan on trying it next time I’m there…

I had dinner here and the food was fresh and deliciously complicated. It felt like I was eating food from the Top Chef. Thankfully, our waiter Jim, who had worked with the chef Kevin Sousa at 3 previous restaurants, was able to explain to us every dish so that we could understand the party that was happening in our mouths.
The chef used a lot of different ingredients in every dish, but the flavors went perfectly with each other and you could taste the each individual flavor despite how complicated the dishes were.
To start we had:
— Shrimp sausage with pureed shrimp fried rice, a korean bbq sauce, kim chi cole slaw and peas
— Massaman curry soup with a generous pinch of crab meat
— Cooked tomato butter with the bread
To eat we had:
— Pork belly with crawfish, beans of a possibly refried nature, condensed snow peas infused with grapefruit, mushrooms and pistachio crumble
— Pike wrapped in chicken skin, with rosemary, purple rice, smoked manchego milk and balls of guava
For dessert we had:
— pb and j: some kind of craziness with peanut butter, fresh berries, and ritz cracker ice cream
— chocolate chunk bread pudding: with fresh berries delivered that morning, some kind of delicious cream and a bit of ginger
The menu changes all the time, so I can’t guarantee that you’ll be able to eat what we ate if you go, but I do know that you’ll enjoy it much.
We went on a Thursday night around 7pm and the place was pretty empty. The service was a bit on the slow side so be prepared for a leisurely meal if you go.

Great atmosphere in an up-​and-​coming neighborhood. Red Room has an eclectic menu that changes frequently, and puts unique spins on American cuisine.
When you walk in, the walls are of course a dark shade of red and the whole restaurant is mostly candle-​lit. On the left is lounge area with extremely comfortable leather chairs all along the wall, as well as a fireplace which makes for a great place to drink with friends. We talked to a man who we think was the owner, who told us that he bought and shipped all the leather chairs from a specialty shop in North Carolina. This lounge would be great if you’re bringing in friends from out of town. On the right side of the restaurant is the dinner area, which is private and would make a very nice date place. Just make sure you make reservations, especially if you’re going on a weekend.
First of all, you wouldn’t think that a restaurant could do bread /​butter really well. But they gave us warm breakd with pomegranate butter. We went through two baskets; I’m not kidding.
Next, we had some mohitos, which were great for the first round. The second round tasted a little bitter, but were still good.
We started our with the arugula pirogi with the truffle sauce, sized enough for a taste and were very unique. For the entrée, my wife had one of the specials, a heavier seafood pasta with a bold taste. I had the Gulf shrimp tempura with sticky rice, which was delicious. The dish came with ~6 fried tempura shrimp pieces on skewers, served on sticky rice with a spicy dipping sauce. It was excellent. After all that, we had no room for dessert.
The only reason I give this place a 4 out of 5 is that the service was somewhat slow, but the waitress was very nice and explained to us several times that they were running a bit behind. Both drinks and food took a while to come to the table.
The only other issue would be parking. We didn’t see any kind of valet service, but they might have it at other times (we went on a weeknight). We parked at the Walgreens parking lot and walked across Center Ave. You could park across Center Ave on Highland Ave closer to the restaurant, but it can be tough to find parking.
Overall, a great place to have in Pittsburgh. With faster service, this place would be a 5 out of 5.

I can’t really speak for the food. I’ve been to Red Room countless times for drinks. The Tomolive martinis, dirty, with gin, is pretty much all I order here. Ambiance is nice and the wait staff is excellent. I only wish it were open later. The only bad thing I can say is that the martini’s are pricier than many similar lounge/​bars in Pittsburgh.

I have been to the Red Room multiple times for both dinner as well as just lounging late at night as a bar/​hang out.
What really draws me to this establishment is the fact that in Pittsburgh, which hasn’t really yet joined the rest of America’s larger cities in becoming smoke free, this is a gem of place — smoke free!!!
It’s interesting to note that the place is very hit or miss in terms of the number of people that come out to play at this restaurant/​bar/​lounge. In the immortal words of my sister’s boyfriend, «sometimes this place is poppin’ bee-​yotch! and sometimes it’s not!» :D
First, this ambiance/​décor is very cool. In one area, there are lots of comfy couches for people to relax and socialize. Of course, there is the bar itself, and then there is the restaurant area. So, whatever you happen to be in the mood for, you can get.
The restaurant has an excellent menu, but it is a bit pricey. This is definitely a place that you have to go to knowing you will be spending some $$$. In terms of the appetizers, I highly recommend the Seared beef tenderloin and toasted brioche with blue cheese port fondue ($ 13) — this is always a perennial fave with everyone who has tried it. I have tried a number of their entrees and specials and really haven’t had a bad one yet. But the entrees will run you $ 20 – 40. And save room for dessert — the bread pudding is so great. Anyone who knows this place knows that it used to be even better (if you can believe it) but even in its new form, still a dessert to plan on getting.
Drinks — they always have a nice by the glass wine selection. And the wine bottles aren’t too expensive, depending on what you choose. The martinis are great — try the South Beach. It will seriously knock you out after 1 or 5. :D And I don’t say that from experience. ;) The expresso martini is also a good choice — if you want to stay up all night.
Overall, I love this place. Try it if you get a chance! And remember, if the first time isn’t quite what you were expecting, give it another try.