Restaurants near National Aviary

Thank you Cucina Alfabeto for redeeming our Valentine’s Day! My wife and I were underwhelmed by the restaurant we dined with on the 14th, but upon discovering your restaurant still miraculously had some availability, we booked a “mulligan” Valentine’s Day for the day after. Our experience with your amazing restaurant and team more than made up for our previous night’s debacle. I had the Veal Milanese - protip: ask for extra caper gremolata, it makes the dish - and my wife got the cod tortellini which was masterfully presented. We chose to sit at the bar despite table availability and were delighted to make the acquaintance of the new head bartender, Chris. He is an expert mixologist and wonderful host. After dinner we popped over to the bookstore, remembering the manager of Cucina Alfabeto is able to work their register, so my wife and I picked out books for each other. The night was perfection!

Our first experience will not be our last! We live a few hours away and planned a weekend getaway. Everything from the ambiance, service, and food was impeccable! Check in and valet were seamless. Sitting on the swings waiting to be called to our table was a total vibe! We were seated below the bar right at the entrance. At first I had really wished we were upstairs but the food and ambiance made me forget right away! We started with the bread board appetizer which was delivered by one of the managers, Shakur. This impressed me because he was interacting with the guests and you could tell he wanted to make sure our experience was satisfactory! The breads were delicious and the spreads were perfect compliments! I had the haddock and my husband had the lobster mac and cheese. We were expecting small portions for the fine dining price—we were WRONG! We were shocked at how much food arrived and we had to box up a big portion of everything (appetizer, meals, dessert) that we ordered. To finish, we had to order the Pittsburgh cookie table! Were the cookies the best cookies we’ve ever had? No. Am I still glad we ordered it? Absolutely! I especially liked the heart shaped cookies. They were delicious! I must try brunch next!

Enjoyed Valentine’s Day dinner and atmosphere as well as food quality and service. Due to holiday crowd, service was a bit slower than usual, but in general it moved along adequately. Dessert was a disappointment as first choice wasn’t available (peanut butter mousse) and we didn’t know that for several minutes, and second choice was a turtle cheesecake that had very spicy pecan topping which we were unaware of. But appetizer and main meal were very good. A nice evening overall.

Right when you walk in everyone is very friendly! We got seated within 5 minutes of our reservation. We went on Valentine’s Day, so they were very busy but managed it very well. The waitress we had was very polite and friendly. She told us about the highlights of the menu and her personal favorites. It was a nice experience to hear the popular recommendations! All 3 courses that we ordered came out in a timely fashion and were absolutely delicious! The lobster crab cake appetizer was definitely amazing! The steak was cooked perfectly and was so tender! The crème brûlée was so light but cooked at just the right temperature and time! Overall, we were very pleased with this restaurant and will most definitely be back very soon!

Service was EXCELLENT, constantly checking up on me and was just overall very friendly. It has a nice interior with a dark red and brown gentleman’s vibe. Unfortunately I started feeling sick from the food shortly after. But otherwise I recommend this place