Lofty Letdowns

I kind of hate to write this post, but I am not about to lie to my readers or lead you astray by not telling you the "whole truth" in a review of places I've been to. Although this blog is to show that Pittsburgh has great things and places to go to and that anyone can have a good time basically anywhere, that is not so much the case in this post.

On Saturday, MJ and I went to The Wine Loft with a group of friends to celebrate the 25th birthday of our dear friend, Gabby. I love seeing this group. They were some of the greatest and most genuine friends that I have met and I'm thankful that their friendship has extended beyond the walls of Seton Hill and even though we've all graduated either two or three years ago, we still can get back together without missing a beat.

Photo credit.

 However, we might have been better off going somewhere else. I had such high hopes for The Wine Loft. I swoon every time I have look at their website. I turn into a lush just thinking about all the different wines (and food) on their menus and was so excited when this was the place Gabby picked. To be fair, the wine was dry like I wanted it to be, the food was as delicious as I thought it'd be, the decor and layout of the place was beautiful, but the service was so sub par that I know I will not be returning anytime soon.

Let's talk about the decor. Since we were seated in the upper level, I felt like we were at some one's super chic apartment. Very VIP and classy. My only problem with the decor/layout is that there is really no understanding of the place when you walk in the door. No one is there to greet you, no hostess table or area where it makes sense to stop and, not only be welcomed, but to be shown where to go or told what spaces are available. Luckily, as per usual, MJ and I (okay really just I) was running fashionably late and we saw our group when we first walked in. However, for the first member of our group that wasn't the case and she had to track someone down to see where our party was supposed to be. She was never greeted at the door or asked if she was waiting for someone or anything. You know, the typical restaurant protocol that you would expect anywhere else.

Also, although not totally her fault because there were only two waitresses running around all night, but our service was terrible. As someone currently working in the service industry, I feel bad saying that but it was just absolutely terrible. To the point where the same friend who wasn't greeted at the door, went to the bar to get a round of waters since we never got them after asking for them to be delivered with our food. Water is the easiest thing to get people. Also, MJ had to track down our waitress to tell her our dessert orders since we hadn't seen her for about 20 minutes and then had to repeatedly tell her what we wanted. I understand that it was not fully her fault and do not blame her, but the management of this place made me cringe. If all of your waitresses call off on a Saturday night, you call in more. Oh, and our waitress kept complaining to us that they had run out of glasses and they were not doing bottle service. Excuse me? This is the Wine Loft. You are known for having wine. Why don't you have enough glasses? It's not like there was an absurdly large number of people there - it was a typical Saturday night crowd.

What makes me the most upset is that, we had a reservation, and our friends knew what they wanted before everyone got there and ordered for everyone, yet still, nothing seemed to go right. Sigh. I won't go on. The plus side of the evening...seeing our friends and catching up with the wonderful women we used to see everyday. I missed each of them so much. And we got to see a wedding proposal, which was cool to be in that special moment of a total stranger's life haha

This post is not to tell you to totally write off The Wine Loft. As always, I encourage my readers to go out and experience anything I review for themselves and to form their own opinions. This is just a warning to hope that you'll have a better experience if you decide to go. Things to keep in mind: make a reservation, know what you want before you get there, and know that, for some odd reason, they might run out of glasses.