Taste of Dahntahn

Awesome upscale diner. Nice variety in menu and reasonably priced. Cool atmosphere and friendly staff.

I have been going to Taste of Dahntahn regularly for the past six months. it is one block away from where I work and it’s been my regular place for happy hour, and dinner before a Pens game or a show at Heinz Hall.
The food is good, the service is good, and the bartenders are usually wonderful.
Today, my girlfriend’s regular happy hour work group was looking for a place to go and I suggested Taste. We were a party of nine that trickled in over the course of a half hour.
When I was coming back from a phone call, the waitress took me aside and told me discreetly that we all had to be on one check and that they could not split the check. These were the rules — she had gotten in trouble for the one group member who had already left and paid for their share.
The manager joined us and berated me for daring to want the check split. She literally yelled at me in front of the other staff and told me I was out of line for wanting to split a check.
I told her that we were a happy hour group that I brought because I loved the food, and this has literally never happened before. She said that there was another happy hour group in the back with sixteen people on one check, and that I shouldn’t expect special treatment, and that she didn’t care if I never came again because she has never seen me before.
She implied that she didn’t want to pay the credit service charges because it wasn’t worthwhile to her. I asked if there was a pre-​calculated gratuity being added that would make things difficult; there was not.
We put the entire group on one credit card, and none of us will ever return again. No food is worth being yelled at by the manager in front of everyone for something that shouldn’t even be an issue (splitting checks).
Dear older manager with blonde hair: Thank you for ruining our night and making me look like a fool for suggesting a «nice place to go.»

An earlier reviewer described their experience with this restaurant in one word, «underwhelmed.’ I have to agree.
With a cool location right in the heart of «dahntahn,» I was left a little puzzled by this place. The interior has an odd mixture of upper class and casual. The décor is reminiscent of a diner, with a touch of class. There is a large bar in the center of the main room as you enter the door with another dining room in the back. As we were looking over the light-​up menu, a «house magician» showed up at our table to perform tricks.
The small menu features Pittsburgh classics like pierogis and chip chopped ham bbq sandwiches as well as some classier sounding dishes. I ended up getting the ham bbq, which I think makes this the first time I have ever ordered that in a restaurant. It was pretty tasty, but honestly tasted no different than when I scoop it out of a crock pot at a family reunion. Other members of our party were unhappy with their main courses as well, including my wife who’s chicken was dry and potatoes cold.
One bright point was the dessert. Made in-​house, the chocolate lava cake was delicious, served warm with a scoop of ice cream.
I’m unsure if I’ll give Taste of Dahntahn another shot. Perhaps someday I will, but won’t be making a real effort to do so.

The name of this restaurant screams classic Pittsburgh but once you experience it you will feel it screams ripoff.
My coworkers and I went on a Saturday evening after work to celebrate the holidays and just wanted drinks and some appetizers. We had to sit at the bar (which was fine with us) but the noise level was way to high to hold a conversation. We ordered our drinks and the bartender gave two of us refills even though we said no thank you and we were forced to pay for them! The food was ⁵⁰⁄₅₀. We ordered a pizza which was very good and we all loved it. Then we also ordered the perogies. You got 4 perogies for $ 12 and they tasted like Mrs. T’s frozen perogies! The bartender asked us how everything was and when we told him what our thoughts were he said that there isn’t a manager on duty and he didn’t have the authority to change our bill. We paid our tab and agreed never to go back.

OK, I have to admit, based on reviews and word of mouth I was very nervous to select this for me and bf’s NYE meal. I’m happy to report that we had a very pleasant experience!
Bf started with crab and corn chowder that he LOVED!!! He said he would go back for that alone. My wedge salad starter was balanced perfectly. Our main course was cheeseburgers which we both really enjoyed.
The two highlights for me were the French fries which were cooked perfectly and delivered in a mini fry basket and the Bellini! One of the best I’ve ever had!
We will def be back to try their regular menu!

I could honestly review this place with a single word: underwhelmed. But, to be fair, I’ll tell you why I feel that way.
We came here for ‘brunch.’ I use the term loosely, because although it was served on a Sunday morning, half of the elements that make brunch ‘brunch’ and not just ‘breakfast’ were absent (i.e. there was not a single lunch item available). This, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. We wouldn’t have said, ‘We’re not going there!’ if they had advertised it as breakfast, but we would have been more prepared for the short, single-​page menu they offered.
The good: our server refilled our coffee and water as soon as they got low. The service was prompt. There was a TV playing a show about dogs! The pancakes were thin and very tasty.
The bad: Although they have a hostess stand at the front, there was no one standing there, and we were called to from across the bar (the far end of the bar, so across the room) to follow one of the servers, but the layout made it feel like we had somehow gone the wrong way around the bar. It was a little bit of an odd start. Then, we sat down and checked in on Unilocal,and a check-​in offer for free donut holes popped up. I showed our server when he came by, and he read the offer, which said ‘in July’ (we were there in December and the offer still popped up), so he said, «I don’t know what that is, but it says July, you’ll have to find a newer offer.» I tried to explain that the check-​in offers pop up in the moment when you check in, but he said he couldn’t do anything about it. Minor annoyance, but annoying nonetheless.
The food itself was not bad. The dippy eggs and toast were quite good, although my sausage links and potatoes were kind of cold. The pancakes were the real shining star of this meal though. They’re marketed as ‘pancrepes,’ which is accurate: the thickness is somewhere between a crêpe and a pancake.
I want so much to like this place, but I feel like we’ve gotten off to a bad start. On Light Up Night, my husband tried to make us a reservation here prior to the start of the Light Up Night events. He called and was told we could get a table at 4:30pm, but that ‘there would only be lunch options.’ That was fine with us, the important thing was that we wanted to eat and have enough time to make it to a tree-​lighting up the street at 5:45.
When we got to the restaurant at 4:30, we were told there was ‘no food’ served until 5, and they couldn’t imagine who gave us a reservation. The earliest they could seat us would be 5pm, but that would be too late for us to make the event we wanted to go to. If they had said, ‘We don’t take reservations until 5pm’ when we initially called, we wouldn’t have minded, we would just have come back on a different day. As it was though, we ended up missing dinner completely until long after the Light Up Night Festivities ended, as it was impossible to get a reservation anywhere else at that point.
So, we gave it the second chance for ‘brunch’ a couple of weekends ago, and we were still unimpressed. I feel like we’ll probably give it one more shot sometime for lunch, because I want to try the pierogies (I have a thing with trying all the pierogies of every Pittsburgh restaurant!), but it kind of breaks my heart to have a place with so much potential disappoint.

I kind of want to just tell you «Meh» and leave my review at that… but I won’t cop out.
My wife and I went there for brunch. The brunch menu is really just a breakfast menu. I tend to get breakfast at brunch anyway, but if you like to blend, you’ll be out of luck. As for the meal, it was okay; middling, you could say. We had the Carnegie (eggs and filet tips), served in a cute dish with a handle. There was nothing wrong with the food, but it certainly didn’t wow me. We also had the «pancrepes,» which were just wafer-​thin pancakes. We would have liked mimosas or something, but the first time I learned they were even available is from the reviews running next to this review I’m typing now.
As for ambiance, the place is sort of diner-​y, but doesn’t have the blue-​collar feel suggested by a name like «Dahntahn.» It’s more like a yuppie’s impression of a diner.
Lastly — I’m not sure what can be changed about this, but the way the place is set up at the entrance is not particularly inviting. Maybe it’s different at rush periods, but when we came in to brunch, no one greeted us at the door, even though there is a hostess station. Someone called to us from the other side of the bar which takes up most of the main room. It almost felt like we were intruding. Part of this is the close quarters and narrow corridor created by the large bar, but I think it’s also a demeanor issue.

What do you do when a restaurant has great food, but can’t get their service together? Go somewhere else; there’s plenty of great food out there.
Taste of Dahntahn sets you up for disappointment from the get-​go. The name conjures images of native Pittsburghers in their black and gold, eating pierogis and chip-​chopped ham, and «warshing it dahn» with an IC Light. Aside from the name and pierogis on the menu, nothing here says Pittsburgh. Large cut-​outs of Marilyn and Elvis, multicolored abstract art, a Hollywood poster and lots of red in the front room — just what are they trying to be?
There is a huge, cool backlit menu sitting on the table when you arrive. One menu. I want my own menu. Now, the missus and I like to plan our meals (calorie counting) by going to the website ahead of time. Don’t bother. The website is not up-​to-​date. For that matter, neither is the menu. On November 14(!) our cool backlit menu had their summer caprese salad, which is not available.
Our server placed bread plates on the table after we placed our order. After we finished our salads (Artisan Field Greens; Beet Salad — delicious, btw) I asked our server. «Was there bread.» «Oh, you didn’t get bread? I’ll make sure our manager gets you some.» The bread arrived as we were finishing our entrees (Virginia Spots; Deconstructed Lasagne — also delicious).
Our drinks (water, iced tea, coffee) were never refilled without asking. Sometimes we asked and were forgotten.
Great food? Sure. Going back? Probably not.

Pretty darn good. A little pricy, even for Downtown, but the food is good enough to eat here again. We checked in on Unilocal,and were awarded a free order of doughnut holes, and these turned out to be excellent. The bread is very good, a little savory and fresh. I had the Sweet Sausage & Fresh Linguine, which was cooked nicely with mushrooms and scallions. My son had the Salmon, which was also good. Seems like it’s a restaurant in search of an identity. I wish I could find something to rave about, but then again, there’s not that much to criticize, either.

Stopped in last night for a couple drinks. They have a clean establishment that has a classic feel. We did not eat during our visit, we arrived after the kitchen closed at 10:00PM.
They had a reasonable selection of draft beer, including a couple for IPA lovers. We also ordered some Long Island Iced Teas which were also good.
The bartender provided good service and was quick to offer another drink when our beverages were empty. The clientele also offered some friendly conversation when sitting at the bar.
This business has a great social media presence and communicates with its customers if your twitter account is linked to foursquare. Pretty impressive on the quick follow ups and eagerness for feedback. As a customer, one thing I love is being seen and they did a great job. These extras go a long way and make this appealing for a second visit to sample their food.

I didn’t know what to make of this place after having walked past a number of times, and after eating there, I still don’t know.
Service was ok. Our server and hostess were a bit on the awkward side (asked if we had a reservation at 11:30am), but I won’t demote anyone for that.
Food was expensive. I would like to try the pizza, but the salads, sandwiches and steaks were just not grabbing me off the menu. There was nothing particularly pittsburgher, which I expected given the name of the place. I settled for a grilled romaine salad, and that’s what I got, nothing spectacular.
The atmosphere is quite unique, as many have described, but I would put it somewhere in the vicinity of sports bar meets the jetsons.
I’ll go back and give them another chance.

This place, y’all…
I wanted it to be so much more. I’m even struggling to write about an experience because there really wasn’t one.
Okay, my first experience there was just for drinks. I ordered two drinks and each one of them was incorrect when I ordered them. One of them was a beer, not that difficult to me at least. Then I was charged for it which really irritated me. I will say they took off the incorrect drink no hassle, but still it’s a nuisance.
My second experience was for lunch. I ordered the chicken chop salad. The salad was great. Everything was fresh and tasty, but man does the service suck. We were forced to sit at the bar because there were no tables available, however, they had plenty of seats. I know they use Open Table so maybe they had reservations, but not from what I saw.
I just don’t get this place. I’m not sure why it’s named, «Dahntahn», but really doesn’t reflect Pittsburgh inside. Don’t get me wrong I hate how people will highlight the flaws in Pittsburgh by way of using some of the local language. I’m glad it has more of a 60’s retro feel to it, but I just don’t get it overall. What are they trying to do with the space? And there are way too many televisions in the bar. The space is too small for all of those television sets. I feel like I’m at a Best Buy when I sit there.
This restaurant does not reflect downtown or «Dahntahn» to me one bit.

This is a Lunch Review:
First I’d like to start off with stating that I’m regretting giving this place only a two star review. But the final reasoning for the lower score is because just like Dawntawn Pittsburgh, it’s a very forgettable experience.
Let’s start with the pros.
Despite Friday’s being a popular dine out day, the restaurant was only comfortably full. I personally like this, it allows for a steady flow for the waiters and bartenders and I don’t experience anxiety sitting on top of somebody else.
The hostess was pleasant and ready to help me to a table, but as it was only me, I took a seat at the bar. The bartender came over unrushed, but promptly and handed me my customary water with many lemons. It’s still a workday so I was disappointed I didn’t think to glance to a drink menu, despite a really attractive, well stocked bar. He handed me a menu which displayed a decent lunch selection. I hope this is a shortened menu for lunch hours, if I were displayed the same selection for a dinner time, I would call it limited. The bartender was also prompt to stumble through the three daily specialty dishes. I say stumble, as the menu is doing it’s best to read in the finest (worst) pittsburghese the city has to offer.
Struggling with the same hurdle, I chose the devonshire sammitch. This item turns out to be a slice of butter fried toast stacked with lots of shaved turkey meat, a couple slices of bacon and smothered (!) in what looked like nacho cheese sauce. It looked or tasted nothing like I expected it to, which turns out to be a good thing. The sauce is homemade and not oversalted, and though it looks like it’s overpowering you soak it up with the mounds of meat you are given. It was suprising one of the best tasting lunches I’ve had in a while, especially for a lunch. Also, I had to eat it with utensils. Suprise! With a pittsburgh theme, I was expecting something to pick up with my hands. (happy me)
The bill was unrushed, my plates were cleared quickly and the bill was decent. (tada 10 dollars)
Now what made the review go sour: The atmosphere.
This place has an identity problem. It’s called a tast of ‘Dawntawn’ so you expect it to be almost over-​yinzered. Disregarding the menu for a second, i don’t know what downtown their talking about, but it’s not Pittsburgh. First, it’s NOT decked out in black and gold (jaw drop).; second — it’s looks like it was decorated by three conflicting interior designers, trying to mesh a roaring 20s ideal (from the giant mural on the wall to the martini etc alcohol posters opposite it) with fifties diner accessories (the fries, if you order them, are served in miniature fryer baskets and there is a oversized set of cutlery mounted in a corner) and waiters that are dressed injapanese steak house chef jackets. Everything (!) is RED: the countertops, the walls, the lights, the placemats, the menues. Red on red on red. The single exception is the hideous awning on the outside of the building.
All together I was so dizzy trying to figure out what the impression of Taste of Dawntawn is supposed to have on me, that I will have forgotten it all together by tomorrow. If not by the end of the History Uncorked event in 3 hours.
So regrettably, despite the actually good food, I have to knock down the review to «Meh» as I will probably not be returning to the location.

I think this is a place that doesnt know its own identity. I came here with some friends for a later dinner. The layout is not all that conducive to socializing or interacting. Location people!
Food was OK, but overpriced for what it was. I probably wouldnt give it a second shot.

Really, this is a 2.5 star review. 2 is too harsh, 3 is probably too many but I’m pretty critical, so 2 it is!
The good:
Layout and décor. Cute, retro, just my style.
The green beans. A part of my grilled chicken lunch entrée… the best part and deservedly so.
My guest’s Fried Green Tomato «sammitch» — so she says. But she’s kind of a pushover…
The fair:
Service — Fine, not stellar; though one server (not mine) was exceptionally friendly and helpful. My server? Not as much, but not bad either. I don’t mind waiting a few minutes for another glass of water…
Chicken. The main part of my lunch entrée. On the dry side, but at least it was a pretty-​looking breast (heh).
Coleslaw. Decent — nothing to write home about.
The bad:
Nothing. Honestly — a fine place, but as 2 stars specifies «I’ve experienced better.»
The surprising:
I guess I thought the menu would be more interesting. With headings like: Sammitches and Burgers N’at, I thought it would have more Pittsburgh flavor… literally. Sadly, not a pierogie or french fries-​laced salad in site. Oh well. Plenty of that to go around elsewhere!
If you’re dahtahn it’s worth a try, but don’t get your hopes up too high, you just might… um…cry? I love a good rhyme.

Why did this have to suck so much? The sign.. . have you seen the sign? It’s AWESOME! I wanted to be able to judge this book by its cover. I could not.
Guests from out of town wanted to experience a restaurant with local flair. What better way to do that than visit a place where even the spelling of the name smacks of Pittsburgh? Turns out.. . lots of better ways.
First, let me start on a good note. There are really awesome things about this restaurant. These things, while not awesome enough to slide the scale from a two star review to a three or four, ironically made our evening less memorable. Ironic, because if everything about this restaurant had sucked, at least we all would have looked back on that indelible memory and said, «This restaurant experience was the worst in my life.» But it wasn’t. The sign is great. The décor is cool. The location is fantastic. The food is actually really good too.
But the service was awful. Amateurish. WHY would you pay for this location and go through the trouble of making really good food, only to have your wait staff stumble and blunder through every meal to the point where it eclipses the experience and THEN some.
Some low-​lights:
No greeter at the door. The bartender told us she’d be right back. We waited about five minutes before she showed up. We had reservations, but the place was half empty.
Despite being half empty, we were shown to a table RIGHT next to another full table. I don’t like eating on top of other people. We asked to move.
No water with dinner, unless asked. Specialty drink came with basil in it (the selling feature for my sister-​in-​law, who thought it sounded kind of neat).. . the drink arrived without it. When she inquired she was told they were out of basil.
The wine order was botched twice. The drinks came slow. Verrry slow. We quipped that perhaps it was because the place was so busy, but at the point we were placing our order, the half of the restaurant that was full emptied out for what I assume was a show, and we occupied one of perhaps three tables in the place. Nevertheless.. . slow.
At the end of the meal I remarked upon how great the sauce with my pasta was. I lamented the lack of bread on the table. We inquired.. . they had it all prepared, just never brought it. The bread was AWESOME. Sooo simple to put the bread on the table.
The waitress was very friendly.. . just.. . clueless. It’s like they spend a million (or whatever) on a restaurant start-​up then ran out of money and had to hire relatives to work strictly for tips.
The two star rating for Unilocal says, «meh. I’ve experienced better.» And I have. All over downtown Pittsburgh. As I was telling my wife before we left, I really liked the food there, but I really like the food a lot of other places too. There’s no reason for me to go back there when I can get food I like just as much somewhere that pays for competent waitstaff.

The boy and I were in the mood to try something new for our weekly lunch out downtown and I remembered that a new restaurant had recently opened so off to Dahntahn we went.
The interior is pretty sweet, I liked the sparkly floor, hey, I am female! He ordered some sort of hoagie and I, per usual ordered something with turkey in it. I’m a sucker for turkey sandwiches. The meals were okay-​ish. We didn’t get sick and it was tasty, but I personally think they used frozen ingredients. It had that «chain like» taste to it.
I would recommend it if you like sandwiches, I hear their pizza is decent. The boy and I probably won’t go back though.

Pretty disappointed with my lunch from here. I took some coworkers out to lunch and it was pretty packed so we dined at the bar. The service was fine and the food came pretty quickly but other than that, I don’t have many compliments to give. I ordered the crab cake sandwich which for some unknown reason is listed under burgers on the menu. I’m not sure why this and the sweet potato sandwich, which would be perfect for any nonmeat lover like myself, would be listed under this category but that’s besides the point.
The crab cake sandwich that I ordered was not so much a crab CAKE as small chunks of crab piled on a bun. The crab kept falling off the bun while I was eating it and the bun itself was too much bread. I had better luck eating just the crab with a fork. Also, I didn’t think the remoulade sauce had much, if any, flavor and they put iceburg lettuce on the sandwich, which just doesn’t do it for me. You can add fries to your meal for $ 3. They were your typical fries and tasted fine but I wish our waitress would have mentioned that they are large enough to split between two people and saved me from spending $ 9 on fries for three.
All in all, my bill for 3 people w/​tip was around $ 50 (and on a side note, we all had water to drink). Given the fact that we sat at a bar (albeit a nicely decorated and clean bar), this was lunch, not dinner and the food was far from gourmet, this place was way overpriced. I won’t be in any rush to go back.

I hadn’t heard of this place till some Unilocalers clued me in. Went here for dinner or more like a sampling of different menu items. The décor is a bit confusing — diner meets trendy bar… it doesn’t really work, but doesn’t substance count for more than just appearances — well in this place it does.
We had the shrimp saffron risotto, eggplant app, and tomato balsamic salad. I really enjoyed the risotto and there was an abundance of basil on the tomato salad which I really enjoyed. I wasn’t a huge fan of the eggplant appetizer. It was really cheesy and lots of tomato/​marinara sauce — I guess that does sounds like it would be good, but I wasn’t in to the texture of the eggplant and it had too much sauce for my liking.
We also got the lemon sole entrée which was yum, yum, yum. The fish was cooked perfectly and the seasoning was light, not overpowering and the potatoes were a great compliment to the dish.
I was a bit skeptical about the place b/​c as we all know looks can be deceiving, but check it out and you might be pleasantly surprised as I was!

I had no clue what to expect from a name like this. True Yinzer nation would expect a pretty casual dahntahn type environment, with lots of TV’s to watch the Stillerz. There are TONS of TV’s to watch dem’ Stillerz, but that’s about where it ends for the casual feel.
If you can imagine what an upscale diner looks like, that’s what you’ve got. Gone are the sometimes dirty greasy feel of a diner and in are the shiny seats and fancy «artwork.» If you consider artwork being a huge curtain of the city skyline.
The menu has a little bit of everything from pasta to steak to seafood. Not much else in between. It was odd because I was more drawn to the app choices than I was to the main entrees. Not many veggie options for my veg head friends.
Between the three of us we decided between two app choices; the Eggplant and Shrimp Risotto. The Risotto in my opinion was the best. I really enjoy a creamy risotto and this hit the creamy spot! I also enjoy la well done, almost crispy eggplant and I felt like this was a bowl of sauce and cheese with some slightly cooked eggplant. The sauce was good though… so maybe if they have a red sauce pasta in the future try that!
We also ordered the Caprese Salad which was so so. You could tell the tomatoes weren’t farm fresh. More like Giant Eagle «fresh.» Good tomatoes NEED to be in a Caprese Salad if you’re offering it!
We ordered the Lemon Sole w/​Shrimp entrée that was served on top of mashed potatoes. This was excellent. The fish was perfectly cooked and you could really taste the lemon infused in everything, right down the mashed taters. It was super tasty!
The best part? They don’t have their liquor license yet and are giving away free booze (YESSSS!). So I indulged in a nice big mug (yep, a mug o’ beer) of Blue Moon.
Having been to so many farm to table restaurants lately, I feel underwhelmed by the obviously not so fresh offerings. Some of the dishes were just OK, while the main entrée shined. I think the place has potential to be great… but use your local farmers… it’s all about the fresh ingredients to make a quality meal these days!