Verdetto’s Bar & Restaurant

This is a decent bar that offers huge 22oz (if I had to guess) glasses of beer for $ 3. We stopped here quickly on the bar crawl. You really get a home town, family atmosphere in this place. The service was great, even when it got pretty busy.

I’ve been here twice. It was like visiting two completely different restaurants.
The first time my girlfriend and I tried this place on a Friday night about a month ago, we loved it. It’s a small place, clean and inviting, with a neighborhood-​hangout kind of vibe. We’d heard the wings were good, and we weren’t disappointed; the garlic Parmesan wings were a knockout. We also had a Yinzer sandwich (very good), cheese sticks (also a winner), and some beer — big damn $ 3 Yeunglings. And to top it off, as we were leaving, the owner ran out to stop us – we left such a large tip that he thought we’d forgotten money.
Great food, cheap beer, attentive service — what was not to love? We were DEFINITELY coming back.
Well, tonight we came back. Whoops.
They were short-​staffed; the bartender and the cook were the only people working. But they weren’t that busy — about ten or so people in the bar, with two in the dining room when we sat down and four more seated about fifteen minutes after us. The bartender came over to get us drinks, and assured us the cook would be right out to take our orders.
The cook didn’t get the memo. After waiting a good twenty minutes, we flagged down the bartender as he was getting the newcomers’ drinks. When he saw we hadn’t been tended to yet, he graciously took our order — another Yinzer sandwich, some cheese sticks, and some more of those delicious garlic parm wings.
And then came the waiting. And the waiting. And the waiting.
I repeat, the only other diners ahead of us were a couple who already had their food. A handful of carryout orders got filled. Yes, they were short-​staffed, but it was clearly a slow night.
We could see the kitchen from where we were sitting. My girlfriend swears she saw some meat — ham? corned beef? — fall out of a container onto the floor, which the cook promptly put back into the container, which went in the fridge.
Maybe he was just putting it there to dispose of later. Maybe the five-​second rule is actually an official health department guideline. Maybe it was just some ham-​shaped candle wax.
We flagged down the bartender, and managed to convince him to refill my girlfriend’s Pepsi and get me some water. (To be fair, I’d been nursing my beer in vain anticipation of the food.) He checked in on the food, and assured us it was almost ready. We could see our sandwich spend a good fifteen minutes in various stages of assembly.
The other table of four seated after us was getting equally ignored. One of the ladies complained into her phone that she was being held hostage.
The food arrived. Eventually. Most of it. We got our sandwich — now cold — and our cheese sticks — deep-​fryer fresh! — a good forty-​five minutes after we ordered them, and well over an hour after we first sat down. I repeat, nobody was ahead of us in the dining room when we sat. The bartender advised us that the wings would be a few more minutes.
Based on past experience, I estimated how long it would take them to bring us our check once we were finished, and asked for it immediately.
Aside from being cold, the sandwich was very tasty. And the cheese sticks were as awesome as deep-​fried cheese usually is. We finished what food we had — and there was still no sign of the wings.
«How many more minutes are those wings going to take?» I asked the bartender. He ducked into the kitchen to ask. «Five more minutes,» he said.
Ten minutes ago, it had been «a few more minutes.» This kind of dialog is very funny in a Guy Ritchie movie. Less so in your neighborhood bar.
«Cancel the wings,» I said.
I threw down a twenty. I’m pretty sure it covered what we ate. No way in hell was I going to wait for change.
I think the table behind us was packing up to leave as we walked out. Poor souls. They never got any of their food.
So. If you visit Verdetto’s, it would seem your experience will hinge on who’s working that night.
If the owner is around, expect fast, courteous service and some of the most delicious bar food to ever come out of a deep fryer. An easy four stars.
But if you got the guys we had … the bartender, while hardly attentive, was prompt when directly cornered and at least had the decency to look embarrassed by the awful service. I don’t think the cook cared if we lived or died. Zero stars.
The only other time I’ve ever said «Fuck this» and left before my food arrived was when an ex-​girlfriend and I went to a Primani Brothers in the Strip before a Deftones show; they only had three people working, and were completely crushed under the crowd. Verdetto’s had no such excuse.
If you’re in the mood for cheap beer, good wings, and you’re really feeling lucky, give them a try. But if you have someplace you’d like to be afterwards, you’ll want to go somewhere else.
(Also, do note that the kitchen is closed on weekends. Perhaps it’s for the best.)

You know that green and yellow bar on the right side of the parkway north as you leave the city, this is it. I’ve passed this place about 500 times and always wanted to stop in. Well last Saturday I finally did, and man-​o-​man was I pleased. I expected a dingy divey old bar, and this was the opposite. It’s clean with a beautiful original wood bar, tin ceilings, and all sorts of brass nicknacks all over the place. The clientele is a bunch of middle aged Northsiders that like to pump the juke box full of classic rock, talk Stillers and ‘guins, drink their drinks fast, and do a lot of laughing. The beers are cold, tall, and dirt cheap. A mason jar full of Yuengling is $ 2.10 or a 24 oz glass is $ 3.
As outsiders I expected my friend and I to get a «You’re not welcome here» look, but the bar tender and other patrons were very friendly and quick to include us in conversation if we wanted to join. Looks like Verdettos just joined my list of go to joints for a good cold beer.
Oh, and apparently they are famous for their Turtle Soup, so there’s that too.

Great little bar close to my home. It’s definitely a place for regulars, but they welcome the occasional outsider as well. The inside has been redone, so it looks very nice — but it still has a dive bar feel. And in case you have any doubts, the prices are cheap and you’ll see 40s to go in the cooler as you walk in.
The dining area is not that big, so if it’s busy you might have to eat in the bar area. Which is no big deal, the whole place is not that huge. The kitchen is only open til about 8pm, though, and isn’t open at all on weekends (hence the loss of one star). I know, this seems crazy. But if you are able to go during the week, definitely stop by and grab some grub. The same guy is always working the kitchen, both taking orders and making the food. He’s terribly nice and always makes our visit a pleasant one.
The menu is pretty basic and reasonably priced. Daily specials are usually something interesting if you’re feeling adventurous. Otherwise, try the Iron City Beer Battered Fish Sandwich. Now, I’m not at all a fish sandwich connoisseur, but I’ve had my fair share. And this fish sandwich at Verdetto’s is quite possibly the best fish sandwich I’ve ever had in Pittsburgh (at a place that doesn’t already claim to have the best fish sandwich in town). The fish has the most perfect crunch on the outside and the softest flakiness on the inside. I don’t know how it’s done. If you’re not feeling fish, the Patty House Burger is fantastic (you can get it plain or add toppings). I recently ordered the burger with bacon and cheese and could barely find the (half pound) burger under the generous portions of toppings. Sandwiches come with slaw or fries — the slaw is good, but the fries are seasoned. There are other sandwiches available, pizza and they have some pasta dishes on the menu, too, as well as salads.
As impressed as I always am with the food and the service (all from one amazing man), I guess it only makes sense that the cook/​waiter/​host gets those weekends off.