Ten Days to the Holidays @ Ten Penny

This event was awesome as usual! I brought a friend who is new to YEE, and she was truly impressed by the quality of the event and the attendees («Yelpers are so cool!»).
It helped, of course, that we won a door prize! Rachel was clever, as usual. She set up a raffle with clues about the contents. So it was a fun surprise when we saw what we actually won! The people next to us won a gigantic gummy bear – like 5lbs. So fun!
As for Ten Penny, it’s a great space, the service team was top notch, and the food was delicious. We’ve already made plans with our significant others for a future double date here!
My least favorite part of the evening was the cocktails. It wasn’t clear whether they were from Wigle (who was on-​site) or TP, but they tasted strange. One of them tasted like old school cough syrup, and another one tasted like drinking Kahlua straight from the bottle. I like coffee-​flavored anything, but this was not good.

Super event, as always. I really liked the different-​themed bags as door prizes, even though, sadly, I was not the recipient of one. Ten Penny has a lovely warm atmosphere, and the staff was all quite friendly. I really liked the whiskey tasting from the perennial favorite, Wigle Whiskey, and also dug the fact that their whiskeys were featured in several of Ten Penny’s cocktail offerings that night. I’m a sucker for crafts, so once again I was delighted to see that I could get my craft on by putting together a gingerbread house with my date. Oh, and the food? Delightful, when I did manage to get it. I appreciated that some of it was passed on trays by staff, and I would have appreciated the buffet more, and I not been so absorbed in building my gingerbread ski chalet that I missed out on most of it. Oops.
Anyway, a great venue, a delightful hostess, good company, tasty food and drink, and nifty gift bags. All in all, a great way to end 2014. Looking forward to the New Year!

I thought this was a great event! I loved the variety of food and the space worked very well for the size of the group that we had. I loved being able to sample Wigle Whiskey and decorate Gingerbread houses too! The gift bags were a very thoughtful idea as well. I have since gone back to Ten Penny for dinner and have been very satisfied with my meal.

Tis the season for yet another Unilocal event!
I was happy to check out Ten Penny after having driven by it numerous times and thought, «Huh, Ten Penny. I should check that place out.» The space is beautiful but we were a little crowded and it definitely felt like we were in the way of the servers. But I did enjoy the cocktails (one of them was a cold coffee cocktail with a little bite that I really liked) that featured Wigle Whiskey products. And the food was impressive (that truffle mac n cheese was my favorite along with the cream of asparagus soup) but not very plentiful. I waited for the line to go down a bit before hitting the buffet. By the time I did, there was no one to explain what the offerings were and no signs either. I tried and enjoyed everything, but some things could have used some description (I think I ate a fried artichoke… and something with salmon???) I didn’t really expect the wait staff to actually wait on us like some people did. When I wanted a full sized beverage, I went to the bar.
Rachel put together some wonderful Unilocal gift bags to be raffled off. While it is unfortunate that I did not win one, I didn’t walk away empty handed. Ten Penny gave everyone in attendance a cool mug. Rachel also provided some gingerbread kits to make houses and trains. Most of these turned into group projects and were a fun activity to enjoy for the holiday.
Once again, this even proved that the holidays are better with Unilocal

Similar to other Unilocalers, I have to split my review into two. It absolutely pains me to write a 4-​star review, but it’s the combination of a 5-​star Unilocal and a 2-​star TP appearance.
5-​Stars — Unilocal: As always, the planning was great. The PGH Unilocal crews connections in the community continue to grow as evidenced by the growing partnerships with other Pittsburgh staples (i.e. Wigle) and the incredible raffle bags that were put together.
2-​Stars — Ten Penny: I shouldn’t be surprised at this, as it mimics my other two standard experiences at Ten Penny. OK food, horrible service. On the Wigle side, while I enjoyed the whiskey samples, the cocktails left a lot to be desired (not sure if they were TP or Wigle’s concoctions, but they tasted like strait simple syrup).
Regardless, I still had a good time socializing with the Pgh Elites as always and look forward to more great events!

Here’s my dilemma… I think that Rachel did an excellent job organizing this event. Goody bags and door prizes.(Yay! I won one of the door prizes and I never win anything!) Ten Penny was a beautiful space and the ambiance is perfect for almost any event. Other cities may have restaurants that have a mixture of industrial chic and homespun items, but that mixture is rare in Pittsburgh. And the Wigle Whiskey folks showed up and showed out once again.(How do they do that?) Merry, Merry Christmas to us!
Now on to the food and service… No one at our table received samples of everything. We all lived vicariously through each other’s food experiences. I know that Rachel had to tell them how many people were going to be there and I just don’t understand how the food ran out. I know that there are some greedy guts at all of the events, but come on man! It just seemed like the folks at Ten Penny decided how much food they were going to have and that’s that. Additionally, I don’t like to waste food and I didn’t want to take anything that I know for sure that I don’t like. There was no one there for a while to explain what we were sampling. A simple place card would have sufficed. While we were waiting in line for the asparagus soup, the server suddenly stopped serving and went to talk to a manager.(She still had soup on her tray.) I went and asked her if she would be back and she said, yeah! When she came back, a couple of other people asked for soup. She told them very tersely, «You’ll have to wait! I got these other people in line.» The same waitress came to us at our table and tried to basically force us to order calamari. We said no thank you several times, but it didn’t sink in to her. Other servers kind of ignored us when we asked food or drinks. The service was bizarre.
I personally enjoyed the asparagus soup, the cider braised pork belly, the fried artichoke appetizer and the chicken meatball. The truffled mac ‘n cheese was a little salty and the port poached pears in my salad were fantastic.
I don’t want to appear ungrateful because I have an understanding of the work that goes into this type of event, but bad service can kill a restaurant that has good food quick. I would actually give this restaurant a 3, but Rachel deserves a 5. So, I’ll split the difference and give the event a 4 based upon service. Happy holidays to all and thanks again Rachel for a great event!

The event was absolutely awesome. The ten penny is a classy establishment and they did a great job of hosting the Unilocal event.
The event was held in the back of the restaurant, it had a very casual vibe for a classy venue, there wasn’t much room to sit because obviously the restaurant was operating at its normal capacity– but this made it good for getting to know the other people at the event.
The cocktails were made very strongly with very exotic flavors– my favorite being the cucumber one, shortly followed by the orang e and lemon featured drink. The coffee and patron one was hard to drink.
Service was very attentive and classy the waiter named eddy seemed pretty chill and nice being super cool to the guests.
The featured whiskey and gin was all very delicious And smooth, I will definitely have to your wigle.
Food had more fancy a name rather than taste, the chicken meatballs were good but missing pineapple flavor. Salmon was delicious but fell apart to easy. My favorite was artichoke stuffed with goat cheese and asparagus soup!
3.7−4 stars for tenpenny. 5 stars for Rachel’s event!

This was one of my favorite events! The food was great, drinks were great! I won a HUGE gummy bear o. O AND made an awesome gingerbread house. Winning everywhere!
Ten Penny was a great venue, I have been there before, but never for food. The asparagus soup was amazing, as was the salad, and dessert (I don’t eat meat, so I didn’t try anything else), BUT all 3 of these things were amazing.
I can’t wait to see all the pictures!

Great event to end the year.
I had never heard of Ten Penny before this event but, I do remember when this space was a day care so I was truly amazed to see the transformation.
Once I arrived my jacket was taken by the hostess and I made my way to the back where the event was.
As soon as I sat in a booth with some of my other Unilocal friends the wait staff started to make their rounds. Unfortunately quite a few times they had run out of food before getting to me as other Unilocalers attacked them like vultures on road kill before they could get to me.
I hate to give a Unilocal Elite Event anything less than 5 stars but, a few things could have been better. The event itself was defiantly 5 stars as Rachel thought of everything for this event. There were ten prize bags that were available if your name was called. One of my friends Shelly H. even won the Beyonce Gift Bag that featured a bottle of wine. There were even gingerbread houses and trains on the tables that we could build. Wiggle Whisky was there with their unique spirits as well.
However I do have two complaints about the event. My first complaint comes from the wait staff as some of them were rude and seemed pretty ticked off as they had to weave through the sea of Unilocalers to deliver other diners their food. I tried several times to get different servers attention to place an order and they completely ignored me as I spoke very loudly.
My second complaint is about the food. In the beginning of the event unless you were on the main floor mingling you didn’t get any food as the servers never went up to the booth seating area until the second hour of the event so I never did get to sample the asparagus soap and most of the cocktails that went around as every time I saw a server with something by the time I got to them they were wiped out. I did finally get to try the Truffle Mac & Cheese when the servers made their way to the booth area during the second hour of the event though. It was so good! The truffle sauce and pieces of bacon really made the dish. I also tried the Juniper cocktail and I must say it was pretty tasty.
Also a small buffet was set up for us to try some of Ten Penny’s signature dishes. I just happened to be putting my name in for one of the prize bags so luckily I didn’t have to wait so long for food. I passed on the salad as I thought I would go back later so everyone else could get some food as well. Much to my surprise the food went pretty quickly and just about everything was gone when I went back to get what I missed the first time. The pork belly was amazing. I really enjoyed the salmon also. The meatballs were pretty good as well. The eggnog crème brulee was a nice way to finish the buffet.
By the time some of the people at our table got to the food there wasn’t too much left for them to try. You would think that they would just make more as we were around the corner from the kitchen and the restaurant was still full of diners so I know the kitchen was still open.
It was also nice to catch up with David B and Linda W. I can’t wait to see what Rachel C. has in store for us in 2015!

What a lovely Christmas get together for us Elites! I was excited hearing that the event was going to be held at Ten Penny because I’ve been anxious to try then for awhile now. The space is awesome. It’s very in touch with the rest of the restaurants in the Cultural District with their rustic and sleek atmosphere. Decent size too which I was not expecting.
As far as the food, I was stuck in the middle. The things I liked, I loved; the things I didn’t like, well, you do the math. The salad and mac and cheese were awesome. It was such a different kind of cheese they used and it totally paid off. Though, my favorite was the salmon. Wow! I like seafood, but I’m more of a chicken or steak kind of guy. Their salmon was like no other. Juicy (if that makes sense), flavorful and much different than any other salmon I’ve tasted. The other items were sort of lackluster. The chicken meatballs tasted like bland balls of stuffing and the pork was sort of just blah. Great chocolate ball desserts, though! Very yummy! I will say that the presentation was great! I loved the buffet style! Much easier.
I wasn’t to keen on the cocktails either. I’m more of a vodka guy, so it was definitely a change trying the gin and whiskey. Very strong, yet very interesting. Props to Wiggle Whisky for being so generous. I think my favorite was the cucumber flavored.
Huuuuuuge kudos to the staff. Of all the Unilocal events I’ve attended, the staff totally had this together. We stayed till about 7:30 and they were still coming around with plates full of food and drinks. Very nice job! Huge thanks to the management who gave us a generous gift basket as well. I think this is all the reason why I’m bumping my review up to the full five stars rather than four. Customer service goes a LONG way with me.
Unfortunately I didn’t win the gift bag (what was in the «Pinkies Up» bag?) but the idea was so cute. I loved the little descriptions and trying to guess what was inside.
Once again, nice job! Merry Christmas, Rachel! See you (hopefully) next year! :-)

Super cool Unilocal event. This is a great space downtown and we had our own private section in the back (they also have another private room with a door which would be great for parties of about 12 or less). The wait staff was very friendly and brought around 3 different cocktail samples by Wiggle. I tried the cucumber gin which was very strong and liked the sweeter red drink (forget what was in it) much better. They also had a coffee one at the end of the evening to try. My date and I ordered a beer and it must have been happy hour specials as we got two beers for $ 10 not bad! Next up was the mac and cheese served on tiny spoons with bacon bits-​I had about 4 and would def. order the full entrée. Also tried an asparagus goat cheese soup which was delicious! They also had a salad for us to try with blue cheese crumbles, walnuts and dried cranberries Also tried some sort of fried cheese appetizer. My only complaint is that they did not label any of the appetizers in the buffet so not exactly sure what I was getting. Crème brule with peppermint and chocolate truffles to round out the night which were all delicious. Would like to go back for happy hour! I have to update forgot about the cool gift bags Ten Penny gave us with a gold Ten Penny mug inside-​perfect for serving Moscow mules! Also the Unilocal giveaways from Rachel– I am never lucky to win but looked like some pretty cool prizes for those that did!

Fun space, good food, and interesting conversation!
My guest and I enjoyed seeing and speaking with familiar faces while sampling some of the bites. In addition to the cocktail samples, we purchased a couple glasses of wine from the bar to further quench our thirst. I really liked that there happy hour (until 7) discounted their $ 7 glasses to $ 5. We enjoyed their moscato, pinot noir, and chardonnay.
We really enjoyed the soup sample and mac n’ cheese that was being passed around. The meatball was yummo, too, as was the artichoke appetizer. Unfortunately, that’s all we tried because the food quickly disappeared.
Making your own gingerbread home was a fantastic idea, although we didn’t make our own. It looked like a lot of people were having fun and being creative.
Although we didn’t win one of the door prizes, we were really excited to take home a thank you gift. Plus, my date’s bag included a gift card so that we can return to Ten Penny in the future.
Lastly, I think the Ten Penny staff did an amazing job keeping up with the crowd. I will say, though, I was a bit embarrassed at how some guests didn’t seem to respect them for what they were doing. For example, there were two times when a server (Erin) was trying to explain what was on her tray only for people to come up like vulchers and take all the appetizers off, leaving nothing for those that wanted to try the food. Also, there were plenty of people piling their plates with food to the point where it looked like something could easily fly off if they weren’t careful eating. I think we all need to remember that these events are free, are often attended by a large number of people, and include sample portions of food. If you’re hungry, eat in advance and allow the event food to be an add-​on.
Happy holidays to all and thanks again for a great event in Pittsburgh!

Great space, wonderful food, and fabulous prizes. This was a Unilocal event to be remembered down through the ages. First, this would make a great space for a company party or special event. Secondly, the Truffled mac’ n cheese, Creamy asparagus soup, and chocolate truffles were amazing. All the food was excellent, expertly prepared and with a flair for creativity. It was also wonderful to have Wigle Wiskey there, and their representative was able to speak very knowledgeably about their libations. This was an expertly managed event, with just enough people there to make it exciting, not too crowded.
I was thrilled to win one of the prizes, a bag o’ bacon. Bacon soda, bacon lunchbox and bacon candy canes. I know, pretty awesome. The prizes added to the Holiday theme, so everything worked together to make a perfect event.
I have never been to Ten Penny before. I had no idea the food was this great, so I will definitely be back.

This was a great Unilocal event! And not just because it was a holiday party or that there was food, drink, a great venue, great company, lots of mingling, prizes, and a take away gift. Oh wait, maybe that’s EXACTLY why it was a great event!!! A huge thank you to Rachel and Ten Penny for putting this together. THANK YOU!
We hadn’t been to Ten Penny before and were anxious to check it out. What a great space! And apparently others have found out about it too since the place was packed. We had our own Unilocal space in the back and despite the fact we were sort of right there among the restaurant patrons, it worked out very well. The cocktail samples that were continually passed around were interesting and innovative. Just enough to get an appreciation for their offerings. The samples of cream of asparagus soup topped with blue cheese cream were amazing! I would SO order that. I am not a Mac and cheese lover (I know, sacrilege, right?) but I went ahead and grabbed the truffled sample passed around. With a real cheesy blend of Parmesan and cheddar with white truffle oil and topped with crumbled pancetta, I could be a convert. It was delightful. The mini buffet was really good and yep, that egg nog crème brûlée really was fantastic. Certainly got me in the holiday spirit!
A fabulous time and a spectacular event.

Absolutely one of the best events of the year! They pulled out all the stops setting up shop in this lovely and intimate restaurant with first class service and a very unique layout.
All the delicious samples of drinks and food were amazing including the wonderful appetizer buffet with a candied walnut an poached pear said as well as salmon wraps and chicken meatballs finished with a eggnog or peppermint crème brûlée. Unfortunately I left of one second to use the bathroom and by the time I returned there was a line of over 40 people waiting to try the delicious layout of samples. I ended up missing out on the pork belly which I m sure was amazing if it taste like any of the other pork belly I’ve had.
The cocktails were very interesting as well. The Elder dutchman belie was probably my least favorite because of the strong cucumber flavor but I did enjoy the Juniper blend with the rosemary syrup. I ended up purchasing that cocktail and enjoyed it very much. My husband on the other hand was in favor of the client café. He prefers coffee anyway but I am not a coffee drinker at all. This drink had a nice quick to it which was very unique seeing that it is coffee based.
They had a nice raffle going on for 10 prizes. We couldn’t see what was in the bag but we did get a little clue from the name tags provided. Each table had a gingerbread house kit on it that anyone was allowed to build as several people had. I’m not too crafty so I passed mine over to someone else.
Wigle whiskey came out to enjoy the party too as well as provide some samples of their new drinks that created for the season. Of the three available my favorite was the bourbon, then the gin with hints of lavender and lastly the apple cider whiskey. The bourbon was the smoothes for me but the gin had great floral taste. The cider just didn’t agree with my palate but once again it was my hubby favorite.
Again I must say that this event was a nice gathering with plenty of food and drinks to go around as well as great service. I will definitely be coming to Ten Penny for dinner soon.
FYI: the cards inside the gift bags are NOT gift cards but business cards. Glad we asked Rachel about it before we left. One would think it was a gift card form the looks of it. Thanks again Rachel for a great event.

Another awesome Unilocal event! I was so excited to see there was another elite event in December, considering I could not make it to Smashburger. I was also excited because my boyfriend was able to attend his first elite event with me!
This event was perfect for the Holidays! I have never been to Ten Penny, but have heard about it. The space was GORGEOUS. Beautifully and uniquely decorated, with an overall fun and chill autosphere. My boyfriend grabbed a drink at the bar before the event– we were impressed with their draft selection and ordered «Old Man», which is Southern Tier’s seasonal winter lager. We really enjoyed it!
I loved the idea of the surprise grab bags! The names were so fun! I put my ticket in for the «Bill Nye» grab bag– but didn’t win. It was an adorable idea and I enjoyed seeing the gifts that were in some of the bags.
Now to review the complimentary bites from Ten Penny. The first item I sampled was their asparagus soup. I am not a fan of bleu cheese, so I was a little hesitate of it at first, considering there was a little bleu cheese sauce on the top of the soup. The soup was incredible! I couldn’t even taste the bleu cheese. My boyfriend loved it too.
My favorite food item of the night BY FAR was the macaroni and cheese. The truffle sauce and salty bacon pieces were so good together and I loved the large, non traditional macaroni noodles. So tasty!
In all honesty, I wasn’t too impressed with their cocktails. I’m more of a beer and wine girl overall but I still enjoy a cocktail every once in a while. I had the opportunity to try each one and did not really love any of them.
We had the opportunity to check out a small buffet with appetizer items. The vinaigrette that was provided with the salad was awesome and super tasty! I also enjoyed the artichoke bites with cream cheese, but do not think I could handle an entire order of them. Overall, I have to say nothing really stuck out to me in the buffet besides the vinaigrette. I found the crab meatballs to be a little bland and i also didn’t enjoy the bourbon pork belly as much as I had hoped. My boyfriend, on the other hand, adored everything! He loved the pork and even loved the salmon– which is a big deal for someone who doesn’t eat fish.
As if we aren’t spoiled enough as elites, we were given adorable treat bags when leaving the event. They contained little chocolate coins and an awesome ten penny mug!
Overall, this was a wonderful event! Thank you, as always, to Rachel C for being awesome and putting together a great event!
Not sure if I plan on returning to ten penny to eat, but I would definitely go there to check out their drafts after work sometime. The service was awesome the entire night which is another reason I might return in the future. :)

What a way to end Unilocal 2014 on a high note! Rachel, you and Ten Penny hit this one out of the park!
Ten Penny gave all of us an incredible sampling of their amazing food & cocktails and Rachel came to play with prizes & goody bags. Merry Christmas, indeed!
The space is beautiful and their back area of the restaurant was a great space for our party. The asparagus soup, truffled mac ‘n cheese, the cider braised pork belly & those yummy port poached pears in my salad won me over. Then the eggnog crème brûlée & your signature cocktails sealed the deal! It’s no wonder your restaurant was filled on a Tuesday night!
What a great event and many thanks to Ten Penny, Rachel & all our fellow Unilocalers for such a wonderful, fun evening!

Unilocal Christmas party [greater than] work Christmas parties
This pretty much sums up my feelings about Christmas parties, and last night’s YEE. I’d never been to Ten Penny, but it offered a beautiful space for such an event, esp. with the lights and decorations adding ambiance. Although I initially encountered a bit of difficulty locating the event due to odd directions from the hostess and the location of the event in the restaurant/​bar space itself, unsegregated from other patrons, once I located it, I felt that it worked quite well.
As usual, the food and drinks were great, with my favorites being the truffled mac and cheese (yum!), the crème brulees, and the junipear cocktail. Wigle Whiskey also offered shots of their apple, cherry, and ginever whiskeys, all of which were flavorful, smooth, and strong, as I’ve come to expect of the brand. Wes, the representative from Wigle, did a great job explaining their origins and flavors.
Although I didn’t win any giveaways, I received a complimentary mug as a take-​home gift, which was greatly appreciated, due to the paucity of hot beverage mugs at my apt. I’ll just have to remember not to put this one in the microwave, since it’s metallic, haha!
As always at YEE, I enjoyed receiving the opportunity to catch up with Elite friends who I’ve met in person previously (Larissa G., Lauren B., AJ S., Tony W., Meghan B.), and to meet new ones (Amin A.). I hope you all have a great holiday, and I look forward at seeing you at YEE in 2015! And, of course, no review of a YEE would be complete without a shout-​out to Rachel C. – thanks for organizing, and for being our CM!

What a perfect way to celebrate the holidays with my fellow Unilocalers! I had never tried Ten Penny before, so tonight’s tasting was an excellent opportunity to both dine and mingle. Really, my only nitpick about the event would be that it got a little harder to chat and mingle as the night wore on since we were sharing the space with other patrons, but like I said: that’s a total, total nitpick. This event overall was splendid: it had the best company, excellent drinks, and fabulous food! There was some seating available for our group, which definitely helped keep the crowding in our area minimal. And to add a splash of holiday cheer I saw a bunch of gingerbread house kits set up around the place — which I know some people really enjoyed!
I was admittedly more focused on the food than the house kits tonight, but can anyone really blame me for that? :) My biggest tasting highlights of the night had to be:
–The Wigle Whiskey tasting. Really, can you go wrong with Wigle? Some of their whiskeys from tonight had a heck of a kick, too! What a way to start the night off.
–The mac ‘n’ cheese. It was creamy, cheesy and topped with the right among of crunch in the form of bacon. I could have eaten that and that alone all night!
–The asparagus soup. This was WAY more tasty than I expected as someone who isn’t fond of asparagus — it was definitely a pleasant surprise and given how much I liked it, I now want to come back and try more on their menu!
–The eggnog crème brulee. C’mon, does this really need to be described? I can summarize my opinion in two words: So good!
–All of tonight’s cocktails were winners, too. I started the night off with Wigle’s cucumber mix but was particularly fond of the JuniPear (I think), which had a bit of a sour kick to it that I loved.
And to make my night even better, I actually won one of Rachel’s special Unilocal gift bags (the Bill Nye bag). It was such a thoughtful touch and the perfect way to end my evening at this event. And Rachel, for my final thoughts I just have to say that I am in awe at your giving spirit as highlighted by tonight’s excellent event. Thank you so much for another amazing year with Unilocal!Merry Christmas!