Vicino

Be prepared to spend a lot of money! The food was good but portions are a bit small especially for the money. I do have to say that our service was fantastic! Very pleasant and accommodating. The biggest let down was the cost — I don’t know if they can make it in this location with these prices.

Nice ambiance with a river view! Service was a excellent by Amy! Small menu selection for lunch-​but adequate. Had fresh made gnocchi that was very good! Decent wine and cocktail menu with signature drinks! Tiramisu was delicious! I would love to come here in the summer and dine on the upstairs deck outside!

Overpriced limited menu for Italian restaurant. My husbands ravioli was hard around the edges, and my veal parm was overcooked and tough to cut and chew. It seriously tasted like Sysco food! Which is fine if you’re at Applebee’s, but not for this pricepoint! Never offered fresh pepper or cheese on our salads or entrees but neighboring tables were. My husbands wedding soup was good, but my side of pasta was average at best. $ 77.00 for 2 below average dinners with no appitizers and one glass of wine.
Also, we overheard heard waiter complaining about diners at his table while we were seated at bar. Not very professional! Will not return.

My last review had an error. …Menu says brushetta… it’s spelled Bruschetta, as an upscale Italian restaurant, you should spell it correctly.

A very nice spot that we just popped into yesterday night. My wife and I both had their Pork Chop with Butternut Squash and Sage Butter special and it was pretty delicious. Though the pork chop was a little bland the butternut squash was absolutely amazing. I did have to send my chop back to get cooked more as it was fairy undercooked for pork. I do recommend stopping in, the staff is really nice and attentive. It is also a great spot overlooking the river.

Don’t go to a restaurant where the bartender eyeballs a measure for a glass of mediocre wine and charges $ 14 per glass. Food was average, service ok and price exorbitant.
Not worth it!!! Avoid stopping on your way along Allegheny River Blvd.

My wife and I had dinner at vicinity recently. We will be back. The cheese and meat appetizer reminded me of many small restaurants in Italy I had the scallops and my wife had the gnocchi. They dinners were perfect. We splurged on desert tiramisu and gelato. Pay a visit you will enjoy yourselves. The river view from all three floors (especially the open rooftop area) give the diner a wonderful view.

I visited Vicino on a Thursday evening after work. I was so looking forward to a nice place for dinner and cocktails on the way home from work, so I entered Vicino with high hopes and a forgiving attitude. The restaurant has several dining rooms and a rooftop deck, and (except for the carpeting on the steps) was nice looking and cozy. Unfortunately, that’s where the good experience ended.
I would offer 3 stars if rating only the food, and 1 star if rating only the service. I thought most of the menu items were overpriced. If a restaurant is going to charge $ 24 for rigatoni, all aspects — food, service, environment, and all the little details — better be spot on, and they were not.
MENU: There is a nice selection of appetizers, and they all sounded good. A+ for app selection. The rest of the menu was mid-​size, but I was surprised there were no chicken dishes available. Several desserts are offered. My partner tried to order the beef ravioli, they had «run out» which I didn’t understand at such an early hour and practically empty house. Only the house balsamic, gorgonzola, or ranch are available with the house salad; I didn’t understand this because entrée salads had other yummy sounding dressings but you weren’t allowed to order them with the house salad. WT???
FOOD: I’ll discuss food in the order it was received. We were served bread and butter. The first basket of bread was cold and hard as a rock, we asked for more and it came warm and soft (much better). I did not like the sweet butter, but that is a personal preference. We started with the stuffed meatball appetizer, and this dish was very, very good. The meatballs were deliciously well seasoned, and the sauce had a slight kick and extra tasty. I ordered the rigatoni with sauce that included ground hot sausage and red peppers. The sauce was good, but there was way too much, probably 2 – 3 times what was needed and most of it was left on my plate. The pasta was truly a disappointment… in an Italian restaurant, go figure. It was undercooked, and pieces were clumped and sticking together. I don’t know how any chef can put pasta on a plate with pieces clumped together and think it’s a good idea to serve it —? Partner had the bucatini which included meatballs and marinara sauce. Again, the meatballs were superb. The pasta was cooked well, but the sauce was bland. We ended our meal by sharing the vanilla bean crème brule. It was a little less dense than I’m used to, but it was very tasty. The dessert was a win.
SERVICE: Service was an epic, and I mean EPIC, fail. Holy smokes, I don’t even know where to start. We arrived early, about 6 or 6:15. The place was empty, maybe 4 – 5 tables taken throughout all of the dining areas (my point: not busy). I was seated on the deck and didn’t see a server for almost 15 minutes. I placed a drink order, and another 15 minutes passed before I received my cocktail. Service was very slow throughout the evening, and multiple mistakes were made. My salad came with the wrong dressing. 20 minutes later the correct salad came, with my meal 5 minutes on its heels. At the urging of the server, we ordered the crème brule to share, but we received the cheesecake. It wasn’t noticed we needed refills again and again. Dirty dishes were not cleared promptly or at all. Dirty dishes sat on our table from course to course, and a tray stand was in the middle of the deck piled high with dirty dishes (and drawing flies) almost the entire time we were there.
BEVERAGES: I ordered one of the cocktails listed on the «feature cocktails» list. I knew when it arrived it wasn’t made properly, because it was the wrong color (should have been red, and my cocktail was yellow). I clarified to the server what’s supposed to be in that cocktail, and subsequent cocktails were made property (and were good) except that there were ice chips floating in the drinks (amateur). Partner had the Italian iced tea, and that was good. A change-​up from a Long Island, very tasty and refreshing.
THE LITTLE DETAILS: A serving spoon was not provided with our meatball appetizer; we were left trying to use our forks to scoop sauce from the bowl onto our plates. Music would be nice. The deck was fine, except I was surprised to see Stoli umbrellas over the tables (I expect promotion umbrellas in a corner bar, not an upscale restaurant). Our salt shaker contained a large, hard clump of salt — no sprinklin’ happening there.
I doubt I’ll return to Vicino unless I’m looking only for an appetizer and I’m not in a hurry. I will drive past Vicino a few short miles to Picolo Forno in Lawrenceville.

The restaurant is not much to look at, not fancy, and the parking lot is inadequate and tight, but if my first visit is any indication, diners flock here, even on a miserably wet night, for fine cuisine and excellent service. We were provided a window table overlooking the Allegheny River, which could only have been better if the night had not been one of storms and overcast conditions. The spacing of the seating is poor; it was not possible for my wife to get out of her seat without pulling my chair out and standing up because we were inches away from the next table. A gentleman who is apparently the owner came over during our meal to greet us and to ensure satisfaction, a lovely touch which we appreciated. Our server, Amy, was efficient, gracious, pleasant, and delightful, intent on providing top notch customer service. Everything we were served was delicious: risotto cakes and mushroom bruschetta appetizers, warm, fresh bread and soft butter, a salad filled with fine greens, two types of tomatoes, and a fine house Italian dressing, bucatini with meatballs, sausage with polenta and broccoli rabe, and Chilean sea bass, and ricotta cheesecake with a few strawberry slices. I would like to see the Pittsburgh favorite, fried zucchini, offered as an appetizer. The portions are not generous and prices are on the high side. Our appetizers were each $ 11 and entrees are $ 18 up to $ 49 for a 16-​ounce grilled pork chop, a price which one can expect to pay at one of the area’s elite steakhouses.

Excellent food! They don’t have their liquor license yet so we BYOB’d with a $ 10 corkage fee. Service was great, great environment — we sampled the meatballs, arancini, minestrone, sea scallops with english pea risotto, tagliolini lump crab and crème brûlée. Authentic Italian very well done. Meal was $ 150 for 4 people before tip. Menu was just right in its selection, not too much to be overwhelming and enough for variety. It’s definitely targeting a higher price audience with larger portions than an evening snack, but that’s what we enjoy. We will be back! Barcelona didn’t make it there, but hopefully this one will. They are on the right path!

This place is amazing!!! The food is fresh and taste amazing. Fresh ingredients!!! The view of the river is breathtaking. I highly recommend this restaurant if you love Italian food

Really upset with the choices thus far. Service was less than average. Seems like they lacked new open training. But I’ll wait a few months and try again. I’m all for good Italian but Verona Village Inn is far superior to what I had. Maybe it’s the fact they just opened so I’ll give it a second chance. Hopefully they’ll have booze by then.

i’ve been waiting for them to open figuring they would have a great menu but after looking at their website or lack of and then finding a picture of a so called menu posted on facebook I won’t be stopping. looks like they don’t offer much and what they do seems expensive. all that time to open and thats it? sad

My wife and I share our commute into the city. Twice a day we drive on Allegheny River Boulevard (ARB.) — Between Verona and Highland Park, it is a barren stretch scattered with very few homes and small industrial buildings.
A few years ago on ARB, there was a cute restaurant, Barcelona, serving Mediterranean cuisine. The ambience was great and the joint boasted a pleasant view of the river, but was rarely visited and ultimately closed as a result of the lack of clientele.
The building sat empty for some time, but in the last few months there has been some activity. It appeared that a new restaurant would fill this void on ARB. My wife and I have been anxiously awaiting, watching and scouring the internet for any morsels of information.
Finally, a sign was hung outside and we had a name– Vicino.
Their website indicated that they would open in the Winter of 2015 and we accepted that it would be a long wait until we’d be able to try a new place to dine. However, on the evening of 4÷15÷15, we drove past and noticed a packed parking lot.
The evening of ⁴⁄₁₆ my wife and I were debating on what to have for dinner. Would it be the standard pizza or hoagie? Maybe a gyro? Then it hit us, we were going to drive right past Vicino! Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that the lot was full the night before… just maybe, in spite of an outdated website and lack of online presence indicating their arrival, they were open. We rolled the dice and pulled into the lot.
We were shocked to find the restaurant open and greeted right away. We were given no explanation for the website date but told that the night before was a private party for the owner’s friends and this evening was their soft opening. I could accept the lack of fanfare in that instance.
I’m a big believer in first impressions… The place looks great! The ambience is wonderful. There are several dining areas and most offer a nice view of the Allegheny river; as well as the Fox Chapel Yacht club. There are two bar areas, one upstairs and down. Sadly, we were told they hadn’t finalized their liquor license and we were unable to order drinks.
Our hostess led us up a flight of stairs to the upstairs dining room. On the way, we passed an open view of a waiter station and noticed a young server stuffing her face with bread. She looked at us as if our presence was a nuisance. Not the best impression. We were seated at a table in the center of the dining room and given menus.
The options were VERY limited. Starters and pastas. There were no proteins, sandwiches etc to be found. The Mrs. Gave me the «this is pricey for a weeknight, spur of the moment meal on ARB» look. I agreed. The meals are all over $ 20, but I rationalized that we’ve been anticipating this for awhile and let’s just dive in.
We settled on the Bucatini and Papardelle.
The dining room was cozy and I think it would have been more intimate, if it weren’t for the pop radio station playing. (Perhaps some slow jazz or classical would help create a better mood?) Also, we were placed directly under an air conditioner that was running on full blast. It was so bad that we had to request for it to be turned off.
Our server brought us out fresh baked Italian bread, a honey butter and side salad (field greens, cherry tomatoes, house vinaigrette and gorgonzola.) This was a nice surprise as the menu gave no mention of this inclusion. The salads were tasty but the honey butter felt disjointed in an authentic Italian restaurant. Don’t misunderstand; it’s delicious… but it seemed a bit out of place.
Our meals were brought out rather quickly and everything looked fine. My Papardelle was good, but reminded me of a stroganoff-​sans the dill and Dijon.
My wife’s meal was tasty. The sauce contained sausage and bits of pancetta; very flavorful. It is spicy and there is no indication on the menu or caution given by our server. Fortunately, we’re both tolerant of a kick.
Our bill came to just over $ 60 after tip. For two meals; no drinks, starters or dessert, on weeknight, it felt like a bit much.
My final impression is that the portion sizes are generous and overall, the food is good; I’d go as far as to say really good… but not worth the price of admission. It feels as if you are over paying for a location that boasts no other nearby happenings and a view of a river; not the downtown skyline.
There are just too many great places offering quality pasta dishes in more accessible areas for a fraction of the price. (Gia Visto and Amelia’s Garden come to mind.)
Hopefully, with time, the menu expands and offers more reasonably priced fare. If so, I could easily see myself stopping in after a long work day for a cocktail and small plate/​sandwich.
I hope the same fate doesn’t befall them as did Barcelona, but as it stands they are repeating many of the same mistakes.