Tonic Bar & Grill

My friend and I stopped at Tonic after having cocktails at Ten Penny. I’ve always wanted to try it, but someone timing was always off, but not this particular evening. The atmosphere was pretty casual. There were a few patrons — not many — no the noise level was fine. Our server was pretty attentive; gave us our menus right away and made helpful suggestions. I don’t typically go for a burger, but that night I was in the mood. I settled on the kitchen sink turkey burger and if my memory serves me correctly, it was constructed with avocados, a black bean and corn salsa, fried onion rings, and other goodies that I can’t remember now. I remember when it came out, the burger stood up stately with a steak knife right through it. For my side I opted for a salad and asked for a light dressing which was a lemon based vinaigrette. I liked that they didn’t skimp on the portions. They were ample and left me feeling quite satisfied. Give ‘em a try!

Love this place. The happy hour specials are awesome and the goat cheese croquettes are out of the world. Good music and atmosphere and the food is prompt.

I’ve been holding off on writing a review of Tonic. They’ve switched management, they’ve switched bar service.
They’re over priced — sure.
The food is subpar but has gotten better within the last year.
Their drinks are pretty grand.
I’ve heard rumors of the managements battle with the bottle, and it’s perhaps not hard to imagine it being true. Everything is very disorganized, the service is usually a little snotty, the drinks have been hit or miss lately.
Here’s the deal, if you’re in a rut, there’s worse places to eat than Tonic. There’s worse bars to drink at than Tonic. Just make sure you have some extra cash as the prices aren’t the most agreeable. The sweet potato fries were good, they were quite soggy the last time i had them. My first trip was the worst trip, my second trip was lovely, my third trip was horrific.
If you’re a gambling person… give this place a shot. It might prove pretty impressive, or it might not.

The apple (+bacon and maple aioli) burger is ahhmazing. Their wraps, also delicious. They serve the best french fries — the ones with the little crunchies on them. We choose here for lunch sometimes during the work day. Reliable seating availability upstairs. Great building and location, especially during furry week. Perfect furry spotting locale. Occasionally the service is a bit too slow. And my friends order no pickles, but they always leave mine off as well. Boo.

I recently visited Tonic with a large group and we had the first floor to ourselves. There is also outdoor and upstairs seating. The interior of the restaurant was very nice and bright, and the staff were nice and very professional.
We started with the squash flatbread appetizer, which was pretty good. The goat cheese provided a nice salty component to the creamy flatbread, and the vegetables were nicely cooked. The bread itself was soft and warm.
I then had cajun tilapia, served with wild rice, asparagus, and paprika cream. This is where I wasn’t as impressed. First, the portion size was on the smaller side, so even after two pieces of flatbread and the entire entrée, I wanted to eat more. There were only three or four spears of asparagus. However, everything was cooked deliciously – the asparagus was tender; the fish had a deliciously crispy exterior and moist, flaky interior; and the rice was good. The paprika cream did not agree with me though. I didn’t like the strong cream taste. In addition, there was too much on the plate. It covered most of the other components and turned a delicious plate into a not-​so-​great one. I tried to get as much of it off as I could. If it weren’t for that, I’d be very happy with the food here.
Bathrooms are also very clean, but there is just one, not separate stalls.
I would be happy to return to try some other items on the menu.

Visiting the Pittsburgh area for the weekend. Packers will be in town playing Steelers so figured I would enjoy the city. Went to another bar for drinks and was feeling a bit hungry so stopped in.
The kitchen was closing in 2 mins so luckily the bartender lets us order a few select items. Figured we would order the wings since that seemed pretty quick. The wings were ok at best. Felt like the wings were just warmed up and smothered in BBQ sauce. My friend bf enjoyed his wings but mine were a little pink on the inside and didn’t seem cooked to me.
The service was fine and the bartender was attentive. Overall, not sure if the food was just rushed but would be willing to try again.

Stopped in for lunch and loved it. Nice atmosphere and great service. I loved the décor and will certainly go back. I had the nachos with chicken and they were very good. The guacamole was good you can tell it was fresh.

Cute. Great food… If I was to rave about one item, it would be the seared ahi app.
It is not overly seasoned, so the natural flavor a just come alive in the fish:) plus it is cooked well– not overly done.

Nice atmosphere at Tonic Bar & Grill. Waiter and staff are very friendly and it is a comfortable place to go especially when you are a visitor to the city.
I had one of their burgers while my wife had the roast beef au jus. I would say the food was a bit better than average. It certainly doesn’t knock your socks off nut it isn’t disappointing either. Just a tad better than average.
While our food wasn’t memorable, Tonic Bar & Grill is still a place I would have no problem going back to for some pub style food.

I had lunch several times and food is subpar. Nothing really special about the food. But great place to come after work for a beer or cocktail. Try the TonicTonic if you are a gin lover it is one of their signature drinks.

Nice location, clean, friendly service, seasonal outdoor seating but, a bit sub par. I did enjoy a Basil-​Lemon Gin-​tini $ 9.00 and ordered a hummus platter. It came with warm pita and vegetables. The hummus was actually pretty good; it had a unique herb flavor, the pita’s well they were just warm pita’s and the assorted vegetables were no so fresh. I did happen to glance over at my table neighbors who had sweet potato fries and hot wings, which looked and smelled yummy.
All in all, the Gin-​tini was yummy.

Went in for some drinks and also ordered the hummus plate (recommended). They gave out popcorn. Friendly service from all team members working there — mystery bottled beer everyday. Bar tenders were cool. Hit this place up.

So there I was, noon on a Tuesday waiting to meet a friend for lunch at a table at Tonic when I got a last minute message that an emergency came up and had to cancel. Felt bad about the emergency but hey, I’m at Tonic now, a restaurant I’ve had my eye on for some time so I may as well order some lunch.
I made my way to the bar and got a mango iced tea. A few things worth noting about the bar: its very clean, the bartender was cheerful, they have a variety of craft beers, but the one thing that really stood out, at least for me, was the bar stools. The wooden square seats on the bar stools struck me as unusually big.
The menu here at Tonic is rather limited but everything looked good. I decided to go for the French dip and opted for the veggie of the day, grilled asparagus, over fries or salad.
It took a little long for my sandwich to be served, about 25 minutes, but it was worth the wait. It sported a generous portion of roast beef on a fresh roll; not at all fatty and covered in melted Swiss cheeze. The dip tasted as you would expect and contained lots of onions. The grilled asparagus complimented the sandwich nicely.
The bill came to around $ 15.00 us tip, a bit steep for lunch here everyday but as a once in a while treat I’d come back again.

Visited to taste the legendary sweet potato fries, but was disappointed. They were good and the maple dipping sauce was savory, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for them. Also had tacos with chicken (they were out of carnitas) which were fine. Again, nothing to write home about.
Décor was also very mediocre. Had potential but we felt like it looked cheap downstairs. The price boards behind the bar were those black panels with snap on white letters like you see at snack bars. Upstairs looked nice when we popped in with its exposed brick walls and wood.
There are certainly nicer places to go downtown. Sorry, won’t be back!

We decided to eat here before the winter beerfest due to its proximity to the convention center. We’ve drank here multiple times but never thought to try their food. We arrived before the rest of our party so we had a drink at the bar. The initial person who asked what we wanted wasn’t that friendly and didn’t offer us a drink menu. After getting up and trying to figure out what beers were in the coolers, another bartender offered us menus. We were also served popcorn with a ranch seasoning while we waited at the bar. It was really good. Not greasy with a nice flavor.
Once the rest of our group arrived, we moved to a table in the bar area (the upstairs was booked). The menu isn’t extensive but everything we had was delicious. The consensus was that the buns for the sandwiches had to have been made at a local bakery– they were very fresh. Two people in our party had turkey burgers and they loved them. The side of the day was broccoli with a sweet chili sauce, which was a nice way to spice up broccoli. One couple shared fish tacos and raved about the seasoning on the fish.
All in all, I won’t rule tonic out in the future when looking for a place to eat. The service isn’t five stars but not so bad I wouldn’t go back.

Dined here last night and sat at the bar. Had their happy hour appetizers and special main coarse. There mussels appetizer was amazing. Some of the best mussels I have eaten in a very long time. There beer cheese appetizer was just ok. The beer cheese is served cold. It was good, but I didn’t expect it to be cold. The French onion soup and my entrée was spot on. The casual dinning area is really nice for a bar type area. Very clean and modern style that I love. The bartender was friendly and could hold a conversation without being intrusive to the party I was with.

Food is below average.
The service is so rude that words can’t describe it.
See other reviews on rude service. Is true !!
Prices are way too high for quality of food and service.

I went here for lunch on the Friday of Antrocon (aka Furries) taking over downtown Pittsburgh. They have a great location for Furry-​watching, whether outside, inside or upstairs. Unfortunately, that was probably the best part of the experience and Tonic didn’t really have anything to do with that.
Our server, Justin, was very nice. He was attentive to our needs and very friendly. But the meal was slooooooooooooooow. There were maybe 4 – 5 other occupied tables and it took FOREVER for our food to come out. I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t have an hour and a half lunch break. Especcially for a burger!!!
Their menu was intriguing, but I was not impressed with my burger. I liked the idea of it… guacamole & corn salsa… but the roll seemed stale and the meat was nothing special. For a $ 20 lunch, I expected a little more.

Went here while waiting for my Greyhound (don’t even get me started on how much I hate their system)
The strategic placement of this restaurant definitely adds to the allure. I went during happy hour and got their mussels and sweet potato fries as recommended by my waitress.
Mussels — delicious, buttery goodness
Sweet Potato Fries — Good fries, weird sauce. The selling point was their homemade special sauce for the sweet potato fries which didn’t really impress me at all. Too sweet and had little to no taste of anything else.
Would I go here again? Only when waiting for Greyhound.

Furry watch 2013 happened here. Seems to be a trend to come here during furry week for me. I think next time I’ll go to Sonoma Grille and spend the extra $$ for friendly service and good food.
This was actually the first time I had eaten here. I had heard the rumors of great sweet potato fries. Those rumors proved to be true. They were really great. Sweet with a touch of spicy. And whatever that honey sauce they served with it… I practically liked it clean. And stole my friends container of it too.
But the rest of the experience, not so great. I ordered a veggie wrap as well and it was pitiful. Pretty much spinach with a few red peppers tossed in the mix and a dollop of hummus. It was very bland and really in sad shape.
Our server was also not very happy with us towards the end. I will tell you exactly what happened so as not to confuse the situation. Was it busy? Yes. Was she friendly up until the check issue? Yes. Do I understand how things work because I’ve been a server before? Yes!
So the problem… there were 5 of us ladies who, of course, did not have much cash with us. She told us at first the system «couldn’t process» more than 3 cards and cash payment split between us. She left us to figure things out. She comes back and we asked her if we could pay with 2 cards and cash, and she said no, their policy is that during conventions or busy times, they just don’t split bills or payment. A little bit conflicting? Yes. She also told us the policy is on the menu. Now I cannot attest to whether it is or not, but I would be curious to know.
Now I understand that in some instances places prefer you to pay in cash in a larger group, but usually they will tell you that at the beginning of the meal. This did not happen. I guess what I’m trying to say was that there were holes to the story. Whether it is restaurant policy or not, I just don’t think it was communicated properly. She was clearly frustrated with us and it was a bit of a frustrating situation.
I could be persuaded to come back for the sweet potato fries, but I’m coming with cash next time, lesson learned!