Best Lunch Restaurants in Downtown

We opted for the calamari before delving into a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner. The calamari was absolutely perfect. I think I shall always get this dish at Capital Grille! Thanksgiving Dinner was good as these things go. My husband thought it was excellent. Turkey and gravy were excellent, as was cranberry chutney, we both agreed on that. We disagreed on stuffing. It was wet, and I like mine more crunchy, so that was just a matter of preference. But I wish they had had a bit of both! Green beans with almonds were always good; I did not try the mashed potatoes yet - I won’t try them until the leftovers we have tonight or tomorrow. As to the sweet potatoes we ordered, I was really looking forward to them, and I was really disappointed. Their consistency was like mushy baby food - worse than applesauce - that I can’t imagine even a baby would even eat them because they were so horribly sweet. Really, they made the hair on the back of my neck stand up on end. I only tried two fork fulls (the second one was just to confirm that what I first tasted was in fact as bad as I had thought - sorry Capital Grille, but this one was a definite loser). We did not take any home. My husband talked me out of telling the waiter how bad I thought they were… I’m not sure why. If the chef thought they were good enough to send out, I don’t know what he was thinking… My husband had cheesecake for dessert. I snacked on its decorative berries. Dessert of course got an A+. So all in all, except for the sweet potato mash up, another excellent meal at Capital Grille. They told us they expected to sell 1100 turkey dinners before the day was through. That’s a LOT of turkey!!! THANK YOU TO ALL THE SERVERS AND COOKS AND CHEFS AND STAFF THAT MADE TODAY POSSIBLE!!! We totally appreciate your efforts and your sacrifices by being at work today!

Terrance was a very attentive excellent server. The chopped salad was delicious with the homemade bread. Got orecchiette which has such a great blend of chicken, garlic, squash and pasta. Our other entree was Cioppino filled with scallops, swordfish, shrimp, mussels & calamari-- Unbelievable!! Portions are perfect. Especially love the option to have half orders on pasta. A true asset to Downtown- highly recommend.

This a beautiful historical location and always so pretty around the holidays. We went here a couple of years ago at this same time of the year and this year had very few people- they even asked us to come early. The service was outstanding. The food was good, but rather ordinary- we had a turkey sandwich and a spinach salad. Both were fine but the bread was a little dry, salad could have used more apples and walnut. Limited menu - all items you would see in any good restaurant- they need a signature dish or soup. Maybe something they served years ago and diners thought it was great.

My wife and I had a great experience at the Ritual House. We started at the bar before dinner with a generous, well made, gin martini. We were seated upstairs for dinner which is beautifully decorated. Our server Leena, was fantastic from start to finish. This was not our first time here, but I had never ordered a steak. I had the filet with the brown butter bearnaise and butternut squash purée. It was truly one of the best meals I have had in a few years of dining out in Pittsburgh. We’ll definitely be back soon!

The menu is quite limited, but possibly that is why what they serve is very good. The beet salad was exceptional, our entrees were quite good and the chocolate ganache was great. Wide selections of beer and wine. Service was great. Only suggestion - which is minor was both my husband and I had entrees with a sauce at the bottom of the chicken and salmon - both sauces were a little cold. Maybe it was plated before the meat and fish were done or maybe cool bowls??