Where do I begin? 4 starters....the atmosphere was lively. Uptempo, bubbly, and fun. It's located at the forefront of Bakery Square on the Eastside (East Liberty) of Pittsburgh. The staff was friendly and accommodating...I was seated and serviced quickly by Caitlyn, who by the way was super friendly and helpful. I had my taste buds set and fixed on the "Steak" burger, unfortunately it was so good that it was sold out. I then shifted and ordered the "Social" burger...at first bite I was sold. It was seasoned and cooked to sheer perfection. The fries it was served with will quickly remind your of the potato patch fries from Kennywood. (you know what I mean if your from the Burgh) only they were much better....so that says ALOT! Social also has a bar with ample seating and tv viewing from all angles. The outdoor seating is great too. Because I couldn't get the burger I originally wanted I gave a rating of 4 stars vs 5, however it was a 5 star experience all the way and a nice setup for me to return! Great job Social! I'll certainly be back!
(4)
Lana L.
Had to make a trip to Target, so we stopped by Social for lunch first. They have outdoor seating but it was drizzling out, so we opted for indoors. We were brought to a table by the window and got to reap the benefit of natural lighting. Boyfriend chose the Eggs in Hell from the brunch menu and liked it (but wished it came with more than one small stainless steel sauce cup of tots). I got the Social burger (rare, minus tomatoes) from the normal menu. This was the rarest burger I've ever consumed (see photo; so much red if the picture does it justice), which is not a bad thing at all! I enjoyed the rareness quite a bit. It was so rare that it didn't taste much like meat--more like cheese or mashed potatoes? I don't know if they always make their rare burgers like that, but that's how mine was. Yum. The Social sauce was a nice finishing touch too. The main problem I had with the burger was that it was too salty, but luckily it didn't ruin the whole experience. The fries that it came with were good. They have multiple TV screens in the dining area, so that's a distraction for you if you're with boring company (not that I was :P). With great prices, friendly staff, and a casual atmosphere, this place is good for a brunch or lunch with friends. Taste | 3.5 Atmosphere | 3 Presentation | 3.5 Service | 3.5 OVERALL | 3.5
(3)
Amanda B.
absolutely loved social! we made reservations for a group of 8 and when we arrived our table was all ready and we were sat immediately. the staff, atmosphere, food, and drinks were all wonderful. I think of Social as more of a place to visit with friends for drinks and appetizers or even for lunch, than a place to visits for dinner. it has such a modern, fun vibe that makes you want to keep drinking and being social. the only downside was the service was a bit slow. our server was so nice and attentive when she was with us, but it took her a while to come to our table. I'm not sure if it was because we were a larger group and she wanted to let us talk or what, but that was really the only minor complaint I had. everything else was great! some of the things we tried were: jacked Arnold Palmer: not very sweet. has a strong whiskey flavor. I just expected something totally different social punch: dangerous. this stuff is so good! black bean quesadilla: everyone loved it social sticks: so addicting. the cheese is mixed perfectly on these and the dough is so so good Luis' spicy chicken dip: this is very cheesy, but it's so good. it's very smooth and has the right amount of spice to be appealing to all fried chicken and waffle sandwich: this was ridiculously yummy! it has a maple aioli which I think was overpowered by the fried chicken, but was really good on it's own. when ordered again I'll get a side of maple syrup for it too BBQ chicken pizza: my husband said it was "unreal" so many things I want to try... various grilled cheese, pizzas, build your own salad.. I can't wait to go back!!
(4)
Jason D.
They have the best beer special in town! Wednesday night is Shit Can Wednesday with select cans for only $2. They have a good selection of microbrews in cans. You can't beat it! The kitchen is only open until 11 though. Most of the food is pretty good. I haven't had a bad pizza yet and the mahi sandwich is great.
(4)
Bernadette U.
My husband and I came here for impromptu brunch a few Sundays ago. It was later in the day around 1ish so it wasn't very crowded, however we got to sit next a meeting of the backwards hat club. Sorry, a personal pet peeve I HATE IT when men wear baseball hats in restaurants. Sure, yeah it was a Sunday brunch and I'm sure they partied hard the night before and it's not like Social is a "fancy schmany" place, but come one guys, take a freakin shower and comb your hair. Okay, personal rant over. Anyway, my husband(who was NOT wearing a hat) ordered the corned beef hash and eggs and we were both impressed with that dish. I was lame and got a salad, but it was a well-sized portion and came with pickled eggs(!!!) which I love and was very pleasantly surprised by. I also ordered a virgin bloodie as I am currently expectin g and unfortunately we got charged the full price for a Bloody Mary and alcohol tax even though it didn't have any vodka and my husband just got coffee. We didn't make a big deal about it at the time, tax was only 28 cents. But, in future will definitely ask/follow-up on being charged for booze here and at other locations. Lesson learned. I'm only giving this 3 starts for now, am interested in coming back for dinner and taking advantage of their on-tap beer selection once I have this baby.
(3)
Veronica C.
Food: On point and HUGE serving! I ordered a build-your-own salad. My boyfriend enjoyed his sandwich. So we definitely got this place on a good day. Hmm for others it could be a hit or miss. Ya never know. Drinks: There are several mimosa choices. I ended up with grapefruit mimosa. Yummy! Service: Not too shabby. Our party sat outside. Our server seemed busy and did forget couple basic things but it happens. Although, later throughout the night it was odd. They have a "bouncer" who is poorly dressed and checks ids by the entrance. To make the place more welcoming, give him some kind of uniform...like a black polo shirt or something. Then the guest became a little too drunk, a little too quick...which became humorous. All in all, the place isn't too bad and I wouldn't mind coming back for the food and drinks.
(4)
Chi E.
A friend and I came here since she had a $10 gift certificate. We shared the Argentinian steak salad and chicken & waffles sandwich. The salad itself was ok but the steak was very tough and chewy. Some pieces were so tough that I had to spit it out. The chicken on the chicken & waffle sandwich was pretty good but the waffles were so oily and hard. Do they fry the waffles? Not sure but definitely felt like they do! I just took out the chicken and ate it by itself. I couldn't even finish my half of the sandwich. Neither did my friend.
(3)
Brittney S.
This is my favorite restaurant in Shadyside and I go all the time! Love the $2 cans of beer and the food is delicious. Although a bit pricy, I don't mind going here because I know I'll always have a good time. The atmosphere is super fun - indoor or outdoor seating, bar, big TVs, corn hole, ping pong tables, people bring dogs - it's great. (also kid friendly) As far as food, my regular is the grilled cheese with orzo as a side - really good! I've also had the cauliflower patties, pizza, and brunch. All great!
(5)
Laura M.
I visited last night at around 6:45. Because I was meeting CM here at 7, I decided to sit at the bar and take advantage of happy hour. I was impressed by the long list of $2 beers, which included Woodchuck Amber hard cider, which I ordered. Happy hour here seems quite popular--the bar was almost full at the time that I arrived, and was completely full by the time CM arrived--and given the selection and discount, I can certainly understand the attraction! Once CM arrived, we got a table. Having heard good things about the fried cauliflower patties, we decided to get an order of them to share. (This worked out nicely, since one order comprises 4 patties.) They were quite nice, esp. with the lemon aioli sauce drizzled on them, tasting similar to potato patties. Cauliflower patties aren't an item that would normally hold a huge appeal to me, but I'd definitely recommend them! For my entree, I ordered the turkey burger, since I'd also heard good things about it, and CM ordered the Social (beef) burger. Based on other reviews, I was expecting a mind-blowingly delicious turkey burger. Alas, this was not the case. Paradoxically, the turkey patty and bun were extremely dry, whereas the toppings were overly moist. As I ate the burger, the far end became soggier and soggier, to the point that I found it inedible, only finishing 2/3 of it. The burger wasn't nearly as flavorful as I was hoping, either--I could barely taste the gouda cheese, and the lettuce and tomatoes didn't add much to it in terms of flavor, either. In general, the ingredients struck me as low quality. I ordered the cheesy tomato soup as a side, and it wasn't bad--it was thicker and creamier than Campbell's, though it wasn't quite as cheesy as I would have hoped, and I'm not sure how I feel about the toasted bready thing floating in it. The burgers came with fresh cut fries, which was a nice touch, but they were nothing too special. Aside from the food, service was pretty lackluster, with our waitress making minimal conversation, etc.--although she did keep our water glasses filled, which we appreciated. As for the ambiance, I'd describe it as rather loud and somewhat boisterous--which I suppose is to be expected for a place called Social. People were engaging in some fun activities, such as ping pong and darts, which was cool to watch. Overall, with the exception of the cauliflower patties, I wasn't very impressed with the food at Social. (I found out later that Social is owned by the same group that owns Shady Grove, for which I have similar feelings.) If you want a solid turkey burger, I'd recommend checking out BRGR nearby. I'd consider returning for happy hour, but would definitely go elsewhere for dinner.
(3)
Matt P.
The three-star average is about right. Social is decent but certainly a long way from great. The highlight is that there is a good beer selection, including several Pennsylvania microbrews. The food is decent, the setting is decent--you get the picture. I will say that my initial reaction to three stars was to stay clear--but it was fine. Three stars does mean that this is a bad restaurant. So if you're looking for something easy and convenient, Social is a good choice. If you're looking for something special, keep looking...
(3)
Britney C.
Had a great night at social yesterday. I was leaving east end food co-op in east lib and I was looking for a very good salad. I had only been here once almost two years ago after a yelp event but never ate their food. We were seated right away and ordered out drinks. I was driving so I ordered a virgin margarita. It was so delicious and somehow carbonated but extremely tasty, not overly sweet with a sugar rim. For our entrees we ordered two salads and a turkey burger with the tomato soup. My salad was the grilled shrimp one with a hard boiled egg. It came with the lime vinaigrette but their southwest dressing was way better. My hubby ordered the southwest salad complete with black beans, corn, warm chicken and avocado. First off even without dressing my salad was great! The feta cheese alone was so flavorful that each bite tasted greAt!! The shrimp had that great grilled flavor and was nice and juicy. Instead of tossing the salad in the dressing I decided to just dip it in the dressing to save on calories. This worked really well because I only needed half the dressing for the entire salad. My husband really enjoyed his salad as well, the warm chicken tasted so good with the cold lettuce cheese and onions. Onions always make a salad taste great!! We split a turkey burger and tomato soup which I was surprised how well it tasted. The turkey burger was plump and juicy not dry, accompanied with sweet mango salsa and Gouda cheese. Very simple burger yet very delicious. The tomato soup is probably the second best I've ever had which will definitely make me come back for more. I was never a huge tomato soup person but this place hit the nail on the head for me. It had some nice texture to it unlike the Campbell's that's basically red water in a can. Food, drinks, atmosphere where all great. The noise level was acceptable, music was good but the lights were a little too low, even for me and I have good eyes. I will definitely be back soon!
(4)
Stacy M.
Pros: Delicious pizza and Bloody Marys. Cons: Noise level and slow-ish service We rode our bikes to Social (Yay!) and were able to sit outside on a beautiful day. Parking can be rough in this area, so it was pleasant to deal with bike parking instead of car. I started off with, what I would call, a "rustic" Bloody Mary that was awesome. Ordered fries for appetizer but they couldn't be awesome with awesome sauce because that is not vegetarian (Boo!). Fries alone were only ok, but then again, I don't share the same fry taste buds as most Burgher's because I don't like Kennywood fries! The 2 small pizzas came and they were so filling that we were eating the leftovers for several days. The mushroom Bianca and the Roasted Cauliflower were so tasty! All of the service was friendly but a bit slow. We've visited another time and it was the same. The acoustics were not the best. What I found odd was that the outside enclosure was pretty loud as well. But this doesn't out-weigh the positives so we will go back.
(4)
Cary S.
We live around the corner and had heard mixed reviews and decided to judge for ourselves. The setup is appealing to my inner southern tendencies/roots (christmas light canopy/rustic cheque ). Ordered the pizza and was underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong - I ate some of it- but factored in having had to skip lunch due to work obligations. I was at the point were stale bread would have tasted like truffle butter. Service was very pleasant and attentive without being obnoxious (unlike the hipsters two deep...*sigh* to be young and blissfully ignorant)
(3)
Ana G.
So I really like this place, mainly because of the close proximity to my place, the good drink specials, as well as the trivia that takes place on most Mondays at 7pm. I have tried a few of their appetizers, the tuna wrap appetizer is pretty awesome as well as hummus is pretty standard, the veggie dip, which was good, as well as the coli-flower patties which in my opinion are pretty excellent - love that sauce they use!! In terms of their main dishes I love the Argentinian salad. This is really my go to dish when I am here. They use field greens, sauteed portobello mushrooms, I opt for medium rare steak, blue cheese, onions, and tomatoes all topped by a fried egg with some chimichurri dressing on the side, which is pretty spot on. I have had a slice of their buffalo chicken pizza and their BBQ chicken pizza, which was pretty tasty as well. I especially like the fact that their crust is fairly thin. In terms of service it is pretty good and have had no real complaints. Overall, this place is pretty solid and as long as their trivia and drink specials exist and they don't tweak their Argentinian salad, I will be coming back.
(4)
David B.
The pizzas are excellent and the beer selection is very good. I mostly come here for drinks, so I have not tried anything other than the pizza, but they make really good pizza. I did see that they have a $40 bottle of wine that the restaurant pays less than $10, so I can't recommend the wine at Social.
(3)
Beth G.
Came here with friends. The inside was loud, which makes conversation difficult we ate outside on a beautiful afternoon instead. I had the social burger and it was well cooked. They talk about their social sauce, but it really didn't add anything to the burger. You could barely taste the sauce. A friend of mine had a Philly cheese steak type sandwich, and it was overcooked and greasy. The fries were yummy. The beers were interesting. I would eat here again. But it's not one that I would make a special trip to search out. The staff t shirts are fun and we had great service. I do think they need one that says social butterfly.
(3)
Jayme S.
To begin, I had high hopes... Wrong We got there, weren't greeted by anyone so we sat ourselves down. Then we weren't noticed or given menus for another 5 mins. The host guy came out put all the menus/silverware in the center of the table, didn't look at any of us. I said thank you, got no response and he walked away with not a care at all.... Food: So so. We got the nachos, supreme pizza, banana peppers. It was alright. I wasn't thrilled when I ordered the cookies. They were cold and not worth $3. On a good note, our waitress was a sweet heart and my social mojito was so so good! The outdoor seating is really great too! I'll come here for drinks again. Probably not for food.
(2)
Sarah M.
I was here for their soft opening and a couple months after. Giving this place another try today. I arrived at 2:58pm to meet friends who had already grabbed a table and had been there for a couple minutes. It is now 3:30 and we are still waiting for the three beers we ordered. I could not find a server but I told the bartender we had been waiting. He was very nice and said he would find somebody. Still waiting....
(2)
Simone H.
This is a revised review. I continue to have a love/hate relationship with this Bar, so I will attempt to be objective with this review. The Ups: 1. It's the closest and only bar within walking distance of my house 2. I run into nice random people here all the time. 3. They rotate their drafts regularly 4. Free Wi-fi so I can watch my movie homework at the Bar 5. Roomie event space for groups 6. Outdoor seating The Downs: 1. Overpriced Canned Beers 2. The original opening menu has been revised and they took off my favorite Caesar Salad [it came with awesome strips of anchovies] 3. There is an imbalance in staffing [more about this later] 4. You are oft forgotten by the Bartending staff because they know you come to hang out 5. Will give another try but the mixed drinks are awful 6. The food is hit or miss even if you continue to order the same thing [the attempt to substitute Kale for Spinach was a fail, the jerk wings vary in spicing and the meatball sliders have an overly intense seasoning] The improved: 1. The Bartending skills and attentiveness has improved since they opened [between replacing the bar or training them to be better] The latest: The reason I knocked the rating down to 2 stars rather than a more appropriate three or 4 is and remains the service. Personally, I am an efficiency freak [duh - CMU ops]. So I cannot help but comment on last Sunday's experience: I visited on a Sunday at around 4:30pm so it must have been right when shifts were switching. The place was fairly empty as there were no sports games on TV and it was pretty cold outside, but that did not stop them from having 2 bartenders, the regular hostess and not 1, 2 but 4 waitresses on staff. Of these 4, only 1 of them was actually hustling and working. The remainder were BS-ing at the Bar with what I presumed to be the owner [recalling from memory once being introduced at the beginning of Social's existence] and it was almost unidentifiable whether their shifts were over or not. If they were on, you gained a sense of abandonment as a customer, who would routinely look around for refills on beers, if you were off shift, take off your aprons! Now I understand about giving your boss attention but still. Same with the Bartenders, my regularly seen bartender would drift back and forth between the kitchen and within the Bar, however ignored my need to refill by Beer. It took a while to catch the attention of the second one, who stared at my 15% full glass and never bothered to ask if I wanted a refill. Now, I was doing homework, however I would have enjoyed my black and white movie more with an additional dark beer or two. Naturally, will continue to come back from the given "Ups" listing above. But I seriously hope they smooth out their regular experiences.
(2)
Elizabeth M.
Womp womp. First time here was good. Second time here not so much. We came here as a group of 4 on a Saturday evening. Our waiter took our orders and disappeared for what seemed like forever. A few times we asked him for things like sugar or napkins, and he wouldn't deliver. We had to ask again. I ordered a build your own salad, and they forgot the fries! Which I wouldn't of said anything about, except for the fact that it was a significant up-charge. At the end of the dinner, we decided we wanted to try their dessert so we asked for the dessert menu. 20 minutes passed. a literal and real 20 minutes. Then he finally showed up with the menus and we declined. Just give us our bill please and let us get out of here!
(2)
Mara K.
I anxiously awaited the opening of Social a year ago or so and I've been here probably a dozen times since. I can't say I have had a consistent experience, some menu items I love, some I hate. Let's start with the love: The Buffalo Chicken and Spicy Chipotle Sausage pizzas. Both are incredibly tasty and made with a thin crust. Fresh ingredients with a good ratio of cheese to ingredient. Hate: the Mushroom Bianca pizza. It appears that a mushroom "paste" is slathered on this pizza. Just not my thang. Alcohol - specials are good here! For example, Sundays they have $5 Bloody Mary's. Not Pittsburgh's best Bloody, but certainly not the worst, and the price is reasonable. They also have $2 beer specials and a nice array to choose from. The service here isn't awful. In the summer it gets busy and you can sit outside and enjoy the weather. Actually, in the cooler months they have this patio area covered with heated lamps. I dig it. Although, with busy Penn Avenue just a couple feet away it is a little noisy. I'm just glad there is a decent bar/restaurant, like Social, within walking distance from my house. Because parking at Bakery Square just aint fun.
(4)
Amanda M.
I always have great experiences here. The patio us fantastic, even in cold days they have it heated! The soups and salads her are creative and delish!
(5)
Whitley S.
My only gripe is the fries... Nothing special. I could have made better at home. I had the tuna nachos, and their Cosmo in addition. I love their Cosmo, very appropriate for Spring sipping. If you like tuna tartare and heat you will like the nachos. Next time I will probably get these with the wasabi sauce on the side. The service was good, food was ok, and the atmosphere was ok. I'll have to give this one another shot!
(3)
C L.
Social is a hip, informal restaurant located in a newly revitalized area. Food is good for the price, but the service leaves much to be desired. Every time I go to this establishment, I order a pizza but ask that one half contain no cheese. However, the staff is often confused by this request, and I end up having to send the pizza back and wait for them to fix their mistakes. During my last visit, we had two different waiters that didn't know the other was taking care of us already. We had to point this out to them, and the restaurant was not busy at all. Not sure how this confusion occurs so often. I keep coming back because the food is incredibly delicious and the drink specials are great. I just wish that they could get the staff trained properly.
(3)
Yeta M.
Stopped by here on my way back from Trader Joes. The service was great. We didn't have to wait too long for our food which is a plus. It was as little too dark for me, I could barely read the menu and so did the family next to me, we had to use the flashlight on our iPhones. The food was cooked perfectly and served piping hot which I loved. But the burger (social burger) and fries were very salty, I couldn't finish my meal because my body was complaining. Don't order the Social burger if you suffer from high blood pressure aka hypertension because you might have a heart attack. Overall a good place to go with reasonable prices.
(3)
Sarah W.
Sangria is awesome- please try it! Outside seating is also a nice touch. Recently I came in for lunch. They have GF pizzas, so I wanted to see what other GF items they had on the menu. Unfortunately, it's just the pizzas, salads, and some soups and apps. They don't have GF bread or buns for the sandwiches and burgers, which was disappointing. I started with the tomato soup, which was good but a little tart. The soup was slopped into the bowl and there was dried soup all over the sides, and it was served with crackers in plastic wrap (tacky). The margherita GF pizza was lackluster. They used sliced heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil, I just wished for more toppings and I wished the toppings went all the way to the crust. It's in a great location. I went one night for drinks and it was filled with 30 and 40 somethings and very bright. It is just ok.
(3)
Chris G.
Good dinner at the bar. Food was good, 2 dollar can beers, awesome! Service was fare.
(3)
Nancy S.
Heard through the grapevine on Twitter that the burgers were exceptional here. Stopped in for a late lunch. Love outside seating and FREE parking in garage for 3 hours. Service was service... A slightly shy server kinda just went through the motions. "Menza-menza," (so-so) as my italian mother would have said. Server introduced me to the "build your own salad" that will most likely be my selection on my next visit. But, since I came for the burger, a burger I ordered. When it came, I asked for Ketchup (one of the reasons I order a burger; a good excuse to dip something in my periodic native craving for heinz ketchup) so the server says, "it comes with Social sauce on it so you may not want ketchup." Poor kid! Must not be from Pittsburgh. The burger was good. Very, very juicy; borderline too sloppy. Tasty, but the texture bothered me a little. It reminded me of a time I put way too much Adolphs meat tenderizer in my burgers at home. So, nice taste, a little small for $11 quite honestly. Nice size for lunch. I'd go back but I would try something else.
(3)
Meghan S.
Dogs are permitted on the patio and they even get their own water bowl. Enough said.
(5)
Michelle C.
Food is not good. Drinks and drink specials are worth going for. $2 can beer Wednesdays!
(4)
Bridgett W.
Delicious cocktails. They have great Sangria and an excellent whiskey drink called Brooklyn Bridge. We had a large group party there and overall service was excellent but they turn up the music super loud later in the evening. So loud that I couldn't even talk to my guests without shouting. I lost my voice for 6 days after that, so I would never have a party there again. We even asked them multiple times to turn it down and they turned it up instead. Not very speedy with service. I love the Asian salad. And their pizza is pretty good, too. Overall I would come here for good drinks. They have great craft beers for all you beer enthusiasts out there, and delicious high-end cocktails. And the location in Bakery Square is perfect since there is 3hr free 3 parking in the garage.
(4)
Erin N.
I've been to Social only twice, even though it is within walking distance of home, easy, and is on the No Wait app. That definitely says something. I've even been putting off this review because of how unmentionable our 2nd visit here was. The first time coming here, +1 and I were feeling adventurous. We're not big eaters, so the "dirty bird" (a Thai skewer type starter) and Margherita pizza sounded great to share. The skewers were small, but done well; paired with rice, I ate most of this, glaring at the poor man when he went to reach for another. The pizza was mostly basil, but we still ate half. It was better as leftovers the next morning, for sure, but nothing incredible. I think the saddest part was how boring our bevvies were. Delicious, but too simple. The wolfhound is my kind of sweet + vodka (with elderflower, of course) dream, but at the crafty cocktail price, no. Overall, the service this night was great, and we decided overall we could come here again. It would work well for groups with pissy, picky eaters (me!). Unfortunately, the next time I was here, not so lucky. A girlfriend and I were out for drinks and wanted a little munchies. Upon arriving, we were carded at the door by some random, unmarked man just hanging out. There weren't any servers or hosts, so we figured bar only, fine. The crowd was horrific. Kids that looked not old enough to be there seated around the packed bar with rowdy older couples .. The whole thing was not my style. We were finally given drink menus without a word. Kitchen must be closed? Fine again. We ordered our drinks about ten minutes later when she chose to acknowledge us, two prosecco cosmos. They arrived, frothy and low in the glass. There is no nice way to say it, but they were soapy, almost a pear shampoo (use your imagination). We laid our $25 on the counter in cash and got out of there. Silver lining, we had our lyft driver drop us off at Aiello's to make up for the horrific time at Social. It was necessary. Looking for creepy patrons and horrible, boring, overpriced drinks? This is your spot. Get excited for nonverbal bartenders too. If you're desperate during the kitchen hours, it's okay. I wouldn't suggest it, but I'd grudgingly tag along.
(2)
Traci T.
I come to social often because it's a short walk from home. I mainly come for apps and drinks which have been good. On two occasions I've had issues with my meal. My philosophy is that we will all make mistakes or we all have bad days, but what's important is how those mistakes are dealt with. On those two occasions, the staff was apologetic and went above and beyond to make the situation right. I've appreciated this about Social and it's why I return.
(4)
Maria L.
I loved this place! I heard my cousin rave about the Thai Chicken pizza so I just had to try it. We meet up for lunch there but unfortunately they took the thai chicken pizza off the menu. Boo!!! Bring it back!!!!! We ordered the BBQ chicken pizza and it was delicious! Social is in the up and coming Bakery Square so parking was a little hard to find. I cant wait to go back to try more.
(5)
Kerri M.
This is a place to come to drink, especially for their great daily drink specials and happy hour specials. The cocktails are made with fresh fruit, and Social offers a nice variety of craft beers in the can and on draft. My fav drink so far is the margarita, and my fav special is BOGO cocktails on Tuesdays (you can mix and match). The food is OK - for me, it's there to soak up all the alcohol I enjoy at Social. It's not bad, it's just....average. They offer the option to build your own salad, with a notepad on your table to do just that. Be careful, all those extras...they are going to add up and you may have one pricey salad! When the weather agrees, enjoy the large seating area outside. You can park in the spots in front of Social, but it can be difficult to find a spot - you are better off parking in the free garage. Social filled a void in Bakery Square, as there was not a full-service restaurant located there for years. I've read some complaints about the sparse, industrial decor, but I kind of like it. The large bar is the feature of Social, and the drinks are their best asset.
(3)
Sam P.
We came in during happy hour for a meal, some drinks, and to watch the beginning of the NFL draft. The happy hour was great, half off cans and had some specials on pitchers as well. The beer list wasn't huge, but big enough that you can find something you like. The spicy chicken dip was great. Definitely one of the best I've had! For my meal, I had the chicken sausage sandwich. Again, it was very good. Smoked gouda, artichoke pesto, and fresh spinach. We sat at the bar and the bartender checked in often with us. We also spoke with some servers that came and went and everyone was very friendly. It was a beautiful night in Pittsburgh with the doors open and the patio was a happening place. It seems like a great place to hang out in Bakery Square. It seemed like they have some nice specials throughout the week. I would love to come back!
(4)
Aire B.
We really didn't have plans to eat here, but I'm sure glad we did! The bf wanted to watch a game that was on so we sat at the bar and were waited on by the nicest bartender. He let the bf try a few beers he was not sure about. I got their chicken sandwich with asparagus pesto, I never knew I could love a pesto so much. It was so light and refreshing! The tater tots on the side were also a good choice! After 2 bites the bf declared their burger one of the best he's ever had! I personally can't wait to go back!
(4)
Mike O.
The atmosphere is really nice and I really liked the beer selection. I just feel that it was really unprofessional for the bartenders to drink while working. If your not sober while working then how can you expect to look after your customers?
(4)
Jonathan D.
While I'm not a huge fan of Social's food, this is the place to head on Saturday's and Sunday's when mimosas (Saturday) and bloody Mary's (Sunday) are half off their regular price. In addition to the traditional orange juice mimosa, they offer cranberry and apple. Bloody Mary's, although traditional, are not weak by any means and are served with a couple garnishments. Give them a try on an upcoming weekend.
(3)
Jennifer D.
Horrible service. I came in and sat at the bar for 15 minutes being completely ignored before I finally just walked out. I will not be coming back here.
(1)
Matt C.
The drink specials are great, the servers are friendly, and the prices are reasonable. I really want to like this place. But I'm 0-for-4 on enjoying my food. The first time I tried a sandwich which was basically all bread. The second time I had a BBQ chicken pizza which was overcooked and not well designed to begin with (I could write an entire separate review on what was wrong with it and how to fix it). The third time, I tried just eating snacks and desserts, both of which were bland. And last night I had some decent meatball sliders with over-fried and over-salted wings that came with a sickeningly sweet and hard to apply dipping sauce (though to be fair, my excellent waitress did recommend the other sauce, but I wasn't in the mood for it). Maybe I've just been unlucky. But the next time my friends want to do dinner and drinks at Social, I'll probably eat somewhere else first and just join them for the drinks part.
(2)
Alison L.
This was our first visit. We liked the atmosphere and rustic accents. The service wasn't great (especially for a place named social) but not a total deal breaker. Nacho app had great flavor but a little soggier than preferred. Loved the 'build your own salad' concept, but I wasn't impressed with the mahi. I'd try it again with chicken though. My husband's meatloaf sandwich with smashed egg was by far the best thing ordered at our table. We'd try this place again; the pizza at a neighboring table looked goooood.
(3)
Rachel C.
I keep thinking about the delicious turkey burger I had here. That's when you know you had a good meal! All I want to do is go back and get another. And another. And another! My friends, it's the best turkey burger I've ever had! But the thing is, it was good on all levels. The smoked gouda, lettuce, tomato and mango ketchup made it a dream. And let me tell you, I usually have to douse my burgers with condiments, but everything was the perfect amount. And the bun was awesome. I believe it was a potato bun, but whatever it was, it was a really good bun:) I also ordered tots, which were good and crispy... but that burger just shined! Oh yeah, there was also some good ahi tuna nachos too. They were really good actually, but... you know what I'm gonna say... the burger was the best! But just so you know, the nachos are not necessarily nachos, but one singular chip with ahi tuna and gauc on top. They're a small portion, but a good starter. I also like the fun atmosphere. It's really just all about being social. I like the wide open feel. So even though I was there for lunch, I'm definitely going back for a happy hour or late night with friends. Definitely a very strong start for this new joint!
(4)
Morgan D.
I'm glad I came back to Social because they really impressed me this time. A large group of singers from Renaissance City Choir (check us out!) went to Social after a recent performance to celebrate. Our server didn't bat an eye at our group of 15 or so, kept our drinks coming, food came out in a timely fashion, checks were split with no hesitation, all with a smile and a friendly demeanor. Wow! Color me impressed. On top of that, the food was great. I had Thai shrimp tacos which were so good, and a slice of a friend's buffalo chicken pizza, which had such good crust and nicely charred chicken on top. My husband was raving about his pierogi pizza too.
(5)
Alex D.
Wow. Another 5 star review. Can I help it that PGH has some awesome places to go out and eat? Went here for lunch with my wife today - we had it on our list since the Yelp Geeks Out party, where we enjoyed a sampling of some of their appetizers. Rachel had also written a lot of great things about the place, so we decided to check it out - so glad we did! It's great to see a new place packed... PACKED for lunch. We were politely told by the hostess that we would have to wait for a table, but could sit at the bar and order if we wanted to. Once again, glad we did! The bartender was friendly, efficient, and attentive. He certainly was skilled at making a whole variety of interesting drinks for the patrons while we were deciding on our order. We decided to try their shrimp 'tacos' (the taco shell is actually a rather tasty wonton, much like their tuna 'nachos') and a beet salad and shrimp salad. Awesome. The grilled shrimp were pretty much the tastiest shrimp I've ever had. Anywhere. The goat cheese and beet salad was tasty and filling, and the nice part was that both salads came with the dressing on the side, so you can dial it in or out as you see fit. Prices are reasonable, and overall, this looks like a great place to have lunch or meet up with friends to watch a game or two. Will definitely be back!!!
(5)
Erin S.
Mixed feelings: if you are going here to drink you are okay. .nice open bar, outdoor seating, trendy area..the food on the other hand is probably only good if you are drunk. Very bland, poor quality, cheap meat, can mushrooms, watery chili, flavorless cheese. Black bean quesadilla is just a can of black beans with no seasoning inside a chared tortilla..beans were cold. Not served with salsa or sour cream....plus I think they stole the layout and theme of Burgatory. You can customize a salad, however it will cost you about $20 for toppings on it. on the plus or minus side, depending on preference you can bring your dog. we were sat at an outdoor table next to three dogs, we asked to move, kind of annoying. overall if you want a fun place to drink this is ok, but don't go for the food.
(3)
Jonathan F.
Food is decent, not great but not bad. Service is ALL OVER THE PLACE. They seem overwhelmed by the usual crowds of young folks who like to hang out there after work and drink. Brought my family there last weekend and ordered a bunch of appetizers and each ordered an entree. They brought nothing for a long time, forgot to bring one of our drinks, and never asked about refilling our drinks... Finally they brought the entrees, closely followed by the appetizers. I spoke to the manager about that one. Honestly, you'd think this was run by high school students. The wait staff all seemed to be about 16 years old, perhaps 20 at most, and they seemed... confused.... OK, as for the food: we ordered wings, which were dry (not coated with a sauce like every other wing place I have been to). Their pizzas are decent and served on little platforms that take up so much room that we ran out of room at the table. I ordered tacos, which were really unimpressive and kind of dry. Overall not a good experience. Probably a good place to go after work and have a beer if you work at Google. Not a place to bring a family. Too noisy and badly run.
(2)
Jessica D.
I went in there with plans for a salad. While the salads are awesome - they give you a paper menu and you pick out what you want thrown in, I didn't want to end up with a $40 salad. And trust me, with toppings like grilled shrimp, steak cooked to order, artichokes, asparagus, cheeses galore - it would have definitely been 40 bucks. So the hubby and I started with the ahi nachos. I think it's a bit of a misnomer to call them nachoes since it was just single chips with tuna and guac on them, they were awesome no matter what they were called. The tuna was very fresh and had a nice sauce on it. The guac was the perfect amount. The chip was super crispy and nicely seasoned. We then decided to split the pierogie pizza and damn, are we glad we did. It was gigantic, seriously huge. The crust was cooked to a buttery golden brown and very crispy. Very unique type crust. It was covered with carmelized onions, bacon, sliced fingerlings and a garlic aoili. Absolutely fantastic! We will be back, oh yes, we will be back.
(4)
Mary D.
Food was OK; might go back for food although I can't say it was the best veggie burger I ever had. However, waiter did not tell me there would be a surcharge for giving me a small salad instead of fries. Other local restaurants either do not charge extra or at least say they are going to do so. And altho I put the bill and my credit card right next to me, she returned it to my husband--which never impresses me.
(2)
Suzanne R.
Stopped in Thurs on my way through town. Food and atmosphere great. Server sweet girl named Maggie couldn't have been more helpful. Will definitely stop back here when in the Burgh.
(5)
Allison F.
I have always liked social. It's great to have a local place for good food and drinks aside from shadyside, which tends to drawl a young crowd. The food is very consistent. It always seems fresh and I think the price is fitting (maybe a tad over). The cauliflower patties and kale and shrimp salad are my favorites. I think the main downfall of this place is the decor. They could do a lot to make it look less drab.
(4)
Bill M.
Fantastic location and great hours. Food is very good and the beer list is excellent. They also do takeout, with that I recommend the Thai Chicken pizza.
(4)
julia l.
Decent ambiance. Not a super foodie place. However, the gluten free pizza was really quite good, so we will likely return, especially for the great outdoor seating and happy hour specials.
(2)
Jess C.
Casual place to get some cocktails, beer or grub. Reminds me alot of Jack's Urban Eats in Sacramento.
(3)
Rob L.
Disappointing experience. Ordering a dinner salad provides you with about 2 TB of dressing. Any extra dressing is an extra 50 cents, poor management decision for not empowering employees to provide this to customers who have ordered salads. Last three trips here have been less than satisfactory for the cost and service provided other options by the parent chain would be suggested over this establishment.
(1)
Rebecca M.
I was really excited when this place opened, but my excitement quickly faded once I dined there. The portion sizes are the size you would expect for a "small plates" dish and while the food was not bad, it was not good enough to command the price of tapas. My old fashioned was equally miniature. After we finished our food and first drinks, I was tempted to order another round of EVERYTHING (both food and drink) but decided that was quite socially acceptable since the dishes were not supposed to be small plates. We ended up just getting more drinks and leaving hungry. Our waitress was overly nice, almost to the point of annoyance, but I guess that is better than the opposite. The patio is Social's one redeeming factor, but since it is almost winter I will have no reason to go back any time soon.
(2)
Kaitlyn D.
Great place for drinks if you're staying at Bakery Square. We went on Friday, which was half price bottles of wine night. It was excellent. The hot chicken dip was a decent app.
(4)
Darae C.
I came here a few months ago during the summer months after driving by several times and seeing the patio always packed with people. I loved the open and airy look to the place and was thrilled that Bakery Square actually landed a restaurant. I'm not sure if this is my fault for going during lunch during the playoffs for the Pirates or if the place is always so damn loud, but the volume of the television was laughably loud. It became a running joke the entire meal how my friend and I couldn't hear each other across the table because the game was so loud. The place is all metal and wood too, so the acoustics made it even worse. It was very very busy and there seemed to be tons of later 20 somethings/early 30 somethings there to watch the game. Our server was upbeat and friendly, and the artichoke dip we had to start with was fantastic. I had the shrimp po boy and it was messy and forgettable. My friend got the steak sandwich and instead of coming shaved it came with huge chunks of chewy meat. He said the flavor was good, but the texture was ridiculous. Overall I'd try this place again on a non-game day because I actually like to enjoy the company I'm with. The branding of this place is so cool and I really really would like it to become a regular spot.
(3)
Michelle C.
I cannot stop thinking about the banana pepper appetizer from Social. It was a crock of melted mozzarella, sausage, marinara and peppers. It reminded me of all the best parts of a lasagna. So so good! Our server was great and kept our drinks refreshed. I ordered a design-your-own salad and didn't really like the looks of the chicken when it arrived. Their manager swooped the salad away, no questions asked, and switched out the chicken with shrimp. I returned for drinks later that evening and discovered that the kitchen closes as 11. It was 11:10 - sadness! A little while later, we ordered our last call drinks though I ended up leaving some behind when the lights were turned on and we felt like it was time to head out. Next time I'm in town visiting Rachel C I'm going to request a visit to Social so I can be reunited with that pepper appetizer!
(4)
Matthew U.
Wow, people were right about the smell outside. I really hope that if you do come here, you take a seat inside. I hope that they figure a way to overcome the storm drain right next to the patio area, it's unsettling. Asides from the smell, the atmosphere is, um, how do I put this, uppity. I felt like I was looked down upon by the other patrons. Really, you're in East Liberty, a block away from Larimer and Homewood. So what, you're in the same building as Google, that doesn't make you any better than me. Now, to the food. The most amazing part of this place. My favorite was the kale and artichoke dip. The chunks of artichoke were so big, so tasty, that it made me forget the other things. The service here too was well above average. Very nice, and very happy. Knowledgeable about the menu and able to answer all my questions. A return visit here would definite have to be one where I sit inside and go at a different time in the day.
(3)
Amanda W.
Atmosphere: We tried the new addition to the booming Bakery Square area on a beautiful night so the breeze from the open windows made the restaurant light and airy and a little rustic. We would have preferred an outdoor table, but there aren't very many. There are lots of TVs, and they were all baseball that night--which was exactly what we wanted. Go Bucs! Food: Bottom line = The prices are ridiculous!!! I was just expecting better for the prices and the location. It's just so basic and boring. There is very little to eat for gluten allergies... even the fries are not gluten-free so I settled on a salad. For my market (read: DIY) salad, I paid $16. NOT WORTH IT. -The portion was small relative to the price. Yes, "supposedly fresh ingredients", but they're not being flown in from where they're grown to make them worth these prices. -The 4 grilled shrimp were nice but did not wow me. -Definitely do not go with the regular lettuce/romaine base. Tastes like bagged salad. -There were "stray" ingredients in my salad, e.g., few pieces of green peppers and a type of cheese other than the moz that I ordered -Some really good salad ingredients are missing, e.g., olives Mr. W had a meatball sub and fries. He liked it, but again, there are better ones at better prices at a whole list of places in Squirrel Hill and Shadyside. Why pay these prices? Redeeming Factor: The beer list is impressive, and the $2 can special on Wednesday did make Mr. W quite happy.
(3)
Beth K.
During happy hours, great deals on good beer. I had the Thai Steak Salad and was very pleased. This was a dinner sized salad with lovely bits of edamame, carrot, and crunchy wonton strips. The steak was perfectly cooked and paired nicely with a spicy peanut dressing. The service was a little rushed and scattered, but all in all, good. At the end of our meal we were encouraged to stick around and drink more at the table, which I love (although I understand kicking people out to sit at the bar, I still hate it!). Get your drinks while you can during happy hour, though, because the prices sure do get high afterwards! I'd definitely be back and I'd be excited to take people here in the future.
(4)
Nikolaus S.
Came here on a bustling evening after an event at Google. The place was busy, but not packed. It was loud, but not obnoxious to the point we couldn't have a conversation. It's obviously designed to accommodate large groups of diners and bar patrons and engineered to feel 'active.' The canned beer selection was interesting and I found a style of Anderson Valley that I hadn't seen in Pgh before. Bonus! Pizza was fantastic. I'd rate it up there w/ some of the best I've had in Pittsburgh. My wife had the grilled cheese and enjoyed it. It wasn't mind-blowing, but classic and it hit the spot. Our friend had the cauliflower patties, which we'd tried -- and loved -- at an event earlier. She wasn't disappointed. She happens to be gluten free as well so the availability of a hard cider option was welcome. The build your own salad options looked cool too and I'm looking forward to trying that out. Overall, this is a great space. The patio looked cool and possibly a great lunch spot. The noise/distraction level may be a turnoff to some and is the only reason I couldn't go full 5 stars.
(4)
Anthony C.
Social is an excellent choice for a place to grab a drink or bite to eat after work. Stopping by is convenient since parking in the garage is free for 3 hours. There is plenty of space both inside and out on the patio hangout and relax after work. I personally like the beer selection which has a variety of craft beers including a local selection with a few of my favorites. They carry Fat Heads and East End regularly. They also have a variety of specialty pizzas, of which I recommend the Green Eggs and Ham. They also host a corn hole league night through the Pittsburgh Sports League during the summer. It's a great atmosphere and a good time. The location is convienent for those in the east and northern parts of city. Additionally, my girlfriend has done company happy hours here and the service has always been great. The owner and the staff are friendly and helpful!
(5)
Ryan P.
On a beautiful summer evening, I was excited to try sitting in the porch. It's pushed up against Penn Ave., and hence is wonderful every five minutes or so when the stop lights line up just right to quell traffic. Otherwise, not so much. There was a strange intermittent smell of sewage as well. Bummer. The inside wasn't appealing as it was ice cold. On the plus side, the shrimp salad I ordered was made with fresh crisp ingredients and was quite tasty. I also sampled the Thai pizza which comes on an incredibly crispy crust. It was vaguely reminiscent of something you'd get at California Pizza Kitchen. There's also a decent beer list. Overall, I wasn't terribly impressed, but that wasn't really their fault. The sewage smells while eating don't exactly help a meal. I'll give them another chance in the future and probably sit inside (and bring a jacket).
(3)
Karen M.
They have fantastic gluten free pizza, the best I've ever had eating out! It's thick and tastes like bread, or at least what I remember bread tasting like! Way to go! For all gluten free people in Pittsburgh, go here!!!! Very friendly wait staff as well! :-)
(5)
Loukeisa E.
I have been to Social several times and I always get the same thing...so this review is about how great I think the Social environment is, but ALSO about how completely delicious I think the Grilled Shrimp Salad!! I wish that I could rave about all of the delightful menu items but I cant. This shrimp salad has spinach, peas, orzo, feta cheese, and kale (my fav). I always go with the lemon basil vinaigrette that the menu suggests because it is the BEST for this salad. The lemon in the dressing gives the salad a nice kick to an otherwise mild mannered albeit delicious salad. If you are a salad lover I suggest Social and the Grilled Shrimp Salad. Hopefully I will break from my comfort zone and try other salads on the menu. If I do, I will tell YELP first :) note* The staff at Social have always been kind and attentive which is a HUGE Plus in my book!
(4)
Jason E.
Full disclosure: I am very critical of restaurant staff because I am a fifteen year industry veteran and have zero tolerance for phonies. This place is filled with them. We had a large party and a child. We ordered uncomplicated items and tried to make it as easy on the staff as possible. Our server, Christian, did a great job and was the ONLY one hustling during a fairly brisk pace of business. She deserves a pat on the back and recognition for basically carrying her team the entire time we were there. I watched her running around the entire restaurant as the rest of the staff slowly meandered around shooting the shit and basically doing nothing. I watched three times as our drinks sat at the service bar maybe 15 feet away from us while multiple staffers walked by, made conversation with the bartenders or by the computer station. I almost got up and told them to get our drinks multiple times but my girlfriend wouldn't let me as we were with her family. It was so annoying to see one person working so hard while everyone else had social hour... Maybe that's where they got their name, who knows. Two of our food items were wrong but we only mentioned one issue which took far too long to resolve. We asked for more cheese on our pizza and it took LITERALLY 12 minutes to get our pie back. The 'manager' brought it back to us and apologized but after watching her underperform for the entirety of our visit I was less than willing to accept her apathy as authentic. All in all it may be a good place to drink as their happy hour includes half off pitchers of shitty beer (they have good beer but its not included in happy hour, wtf) so there's that. The food wasn't bad but it wasn't good either, could be best described as concept-centric completely lacking in creativity. Christian was the only saving grace. She was really trying and is the only reason we stayed. She should look for work at a better restaurant where her abilities won't be squandered. We were given a gift card to return as a gesture from the same 'manager' but we passed it off to a neighbor who likes shitty beer as we will not be going back. Get your act together or get out and make room for something worthwhile.
(2)
Miriam H.
Pros: service and environment (kinda) cons: food is pretty boring/bad. I wouldn't go back here unless I was in the area and starving.
(2)
Rosalind C.
Underwhelming, if you're coming for the food. If you're just here for drinks, I'm sure this is a much better place. I came for lunch, and ordered the soup du jour and a side salad. Kind of hard to mess up, right? The salad was supposed to be a caesar salad, but had the barest essence of dressing, pretty much non existent cheese, and the lettuce was wilted. As in, floppy limp whythehellwouldyouservethis wilted. Whatever, it was a side salad, and I get it. Who cares about side salads. It's not like you're charging $4 for stuff you probably wouldn't feed your own kid. Oh, but there were a few giant croutons. Guess that's what made it a caesar salad. Maybe I was just disappointed because for a place that has a "build your own salad" option, I wouldn't have thought that a side salad would have been so disappointing. The soup was "baked potato" soup, which was really just creamy potato with some bacon and sour cream. I'm not sure what I was expecting, come to think of it, so I'm not going to give them a hard time about this one, but it wasn't anything I would come back for. My friend had the veggie burger, which came with a whole bunch of tater tots. Now, I haven't had tater tots since elementary school, so I actually give them props for appealing to my retro side. She said the burger was very good. The service was fine, and it's got a nice informal atmosphere that I am sure makes it the perfect place for happy hour. But as a person who doesn't much drink... this place is not impressive at all.
(2)
Angela F.
I had been wanting to go to this place for a while, and finally got to go last weekend. I remeber when they first opened they had some Google (it's located in Bakery Square right below Google) shin-dig and the food looked really good. It has an outside seating area but the when we were there it was raining so they covered the outdoor area with an awning thingy. I rather enjoyed the sound of the rain pelting the plastic awning, but, I'm a weirdo, so... The menu is a lot of the norm- salads, sandwichs, pizzas- but with a kind of flare. For example, I got some sort of western salad with corn and black beans but it had mahi mahi on it. SO GOOD! The mahi mahi was delicious and cooked to perfection! Even was boyfriend who thinks everything is so-so declared it was fantastic! And they have delicious, unique dressings like bacon bistro and chipotle lime. Very good! A lot of the sandwiches have unique, unusal ingredients that shake things up as well. My BF and I ended up spliting a pizza and the salad. Like I said, the salad was amazing and the pizza was close behind. Because I picked the salad he picked the pizza and chose a buffalo chicken with blue cheese. Now, being a bread lover I always try the crust first. Having a good or bad crust strongly influences how I feel about a pizza. It was pretty good. Not too thin or thick with a nice wood fire oven taste even tough I don't think it actually is cooked that way. Now, like I said, it was buffalo chicken, which I like, but I'm not a huge fan of blue cheese and this cheese was, I was told, a strong, aged blue cheese. Way too strong for my weak palate. Other than that the pizza itself was good with a tasty buffalo sauce and lots of chicken. Overall I really liked it. Food is definitley about average for a casual joint and the atmosphere is pretty cool too.
(4)
Laura H.
I heard Social had a nice patio space so what a perfect place to dine on a night like last night! We sat at one of the bar tops around the edge of the patio. We were quickly greeted by Aubrey (?) who started us off with 2 beers (a 21st amendment IPA for my boyfriend and a Slyfox 113 IPA for me) and waters. Just FYI, pretty sure they have only cans and a few draft selections-no bottles. Friday was half price bottles of wine but we both stuck to beers. The menu I'd classify as "new American"-pizzas,salads,sandwiches,etc. My boyfriend started off with the soup of the day-a chilled squash soup with basil and crème freche. I had only a spoonful but can report it was yummy. A great cold soup for a warm summer evening! For entrees, I ordered the cheesy bacon grilled cheese on white. It came with a side,of which I chose the side salad with jalepeno lime dressing. The grilled cheese was apple bacon and some gouda. It was tasty but the bread overwhelmed the ingredients. I felt there should have either been less bread or more ingredients. The salad was a standard salad but the dressing was excellent-had a spicy kick naturally, being jalepeno dressing. My boyfriend had the Cuban sandwich with fries. On the Cuban was swiss,pork,capicola,pickles,and Dijon. He said it was very tasty but did not resemble a "typical" Cuban. I noticed a lot of tables had pizzas and they smelled delicious so I'd love to go back and try a pizza. It was not too loud outside at all and our service was good so really no complaints on our dining experience!
(3)
Swati J.
Awesome: Cauliflower Patties, Ahi Tuna Nachos ,grilled shrimp salad, Caprese, Margherita and the Mushroom Bianca Pizza. But I mostly go there for their great cocktails specially the Manhattan..
(4)
Daniel K.
I'm usually a fan of social; however, tonight was the worst restaurant experience I've ever had. My girlfriend found what looked like a live caterpillar (possibly a maggot) crawling through her salad. The service was slow the whole night and I had to basically chase down the waiter to inform him of the live creature in my girlfriends food while my girlfriend tried not to puke in the bathroom. I will never visit this restaurant again and hope that others will read this before accidentally being fed live maggots by this disgusting excuse for a restaurant.
(1)
Iliana C.
All I have to say about this place is get the veggie burger. It's so good! Order it without cheese and aioli and it's AMAZING and vegan. What? Yes! We were in such disbelief that the burger was vegan that we had the server ask the chef to verify that it was in fact vegan. This place is a little pricey but it's cute and new. I liked the decor which was open, airy, clean, and inviting. If I worked closer to here I would make this the place to go with coworkers for happy hour. Also like that this place is open late so I can get the veggie burger when I get a craving later in the night.
(4)
Alexa P.
I love Social so much!! It's a great addition to the Bakery Square area. I would eat here every day if I could. The spinach and artichoke dip is delicious, and the fried chicken and waffle sandwich is so awesome. The waiters and waitresses were super friendly. All in all, it's a great place to eat.
(5)
Melanie Z.
Social has become my new go-to bar. Why? 1. Really good drink specials, both happy hour (5-7 boasts a HUGE selection of $2 beers) and daily. Their drinks are on the pricy side when not on special, but unless there's only one thing you drink, you can find something very affordable. 2. FREE PARKING! It's super close to where I live, but I can convince friends to join me over in 'Sliberty because of the ample ample free parking--both surface and garage. 3. Tasty tasty pizza. The green eggs and ham...oh man. Rarely do I order the same thing twice, but I've had that delicious pizza on several occasions. The pizzas look pricy from the outset, but once you see their size, it makes some sense--2 can easily split a large with a couple of slices to take home. 4. Friendly service! I've sat at the bar most of the time, and have gotten great recommendations from them. They're generous with the pours (my companion had ordered a beer that came off the tap with a thick head of foam, and without any prompting from him, the bartender pulled him a fresh pour), and well-informed about the menu (allergies, etc). But for Pete's sake, DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE FLOOR. I realize they're going for something a little "industrial-chic" but the floor is a huge eyesore, especially in the bathrooms.
(4)
Yas T.
I had brunch here and it was OK. The portion was a descent size and the taste was fine. I think it was a little salty for me which means for a normal person veryyyy salty.
(3)
Brian K.
Undecorated, bare block walls and concrete floor, echoing, droning acoustics and basement of a frat house feel. The menu is sparse, boring, and the signature cocktails way over priced. For a prime development like Bakery Square I expected much more.
(1)
Cara E.
The worst service I've ever experienced. Upon arrival, the manager acting as the host did not offer us the option to sit in their patio area and seated us at a high top table in the middle of the bar on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. Our server, Erin, introduced herself and brought us drinks and that was about all that she did during our meal. After waiting about 45 minutes for our breakfast pizza and mushroom spinach scramble, I asked the manager who was walking by if he could please check on our food. In the meantime, our server did not stop at our table once. Other couples seated in our section that arrived after us had their meals come out and Erin refilled their waters and checked in with them all the while walking past us and not even glancing in our direction. The manager came back to tell us there was a large party ahead of us and we were about 2 tickets away. He refilled our coffee and was apologetic for the wait. After another 15 minutes, our food arrived. The breakfast pizza was extremely hot. The scramble was a mess and clearly made in haste, the "toast" was soggy bread not even toasted, and the tots were cold. The server finally came by after the manager had already gotten us butter and Sriracha and mumbled an apology about the wait and asked if we needed anything for the first time in an hour. My meal was inedible and after waiting an hour we got a few apologies and $2.70 knocked off our bill. As an experienced server myself, this was completely unacceptable service and management. Will not return ever again. Steer clear!!
(1)
Lauren P.
I could not wait for this place to open as I live within walking distance and Bakery Square has been in desperate need of a restaurant/bar. It is a great place for a large group for happy hour. Also great to go when it is nice outside and you can sit in their outdoor area which has picnic benches. The daily drink specials are awesome. Tuesdays are BOGO fancy drinks which includes their Sangria (not the best I have had) and margaritas which are so tasty. The pizzas are their specialty and large enough for two people to share. I have gotten salads both times which are delicious and they even have a create your own salad option. Top that off with the scrumptious ice cream cookie sandwich is a must. The only thing that disappoints is the decor-I just don't get it, kind of an arcade theme with plants that look like they are growing from the walls.
(3)
Kathleen L.
Social is a nice looking establishment although I've never had the opportunity to eat there. The three times I stopped in, the staff was so busy talking to each other that I was never greeted. This made a very poor impression and didn't make me want to try and get someone's attention to show me to a table. :-(
(2)
J D.
First of all, it is in East Liberty, Bakery Square--not Shadyside! Give credit where credit is due!! We had an hour to kill so we stopped in on a Friday night about 9:00. Hubby and I were able to sit at the bar, several open tables around. Nice crowd of people, mostly couples. Ordered the stuffed peppers--they were delish! Each of us had two drinks, I had a berry mojito for $9, and although I could not taste the alcohol, it was yummy. Hubby had two Guinesses. Overall, prices are comparable to what you pay in the rest of the city, bartenders were very friendly, I'm sure we will be back. I would not say this would be a destination for us (mostly because of the parking in Bakery Square), but it is a nice "lay-over."
(4)
Lauren H.
Brand new, but lacking luster. The descriptions on the menu belie the actual appetizers and entrees. This "gastropub" was suggested to me for happy hour by a colleague. At first appearances the menu suggests interesting twists on standard pub fair, but don't be fooled. I ordered the "dewedged" salad that claims pancetta as an ingredient. What actually appeared on my plate was cold chewy bacon bits. The consensus at the table was that the food fell far short of what was touted by the waitress as being made predominantly in-house. There's a caveat to the $2 can Tuesday happy hour: It only applies to beers $4.50 and under. Sadly, the beer selection is limited generally. The beer selection priced at $4.50 and under forces you to choose from run-of-the-mill beers like Red Stripe, Blue Moon, and Yuengling. I had a better experience at Industry Public House in Lawrenceville.
(2)
Cridick G.
This place is decent for a quick bite to eat and a drink. They have plenty of craft brews and cocktails to choose from. We ordered the cauliflower patties, southwest salad, and jerk wings. The wings were a little dry, but the taste made up for it. The mango jalapeño dipping sauce was pretty damn tasty. Everything on the salad was fresh and the cauliflower patties were nothing special, but they were good.
(3)
Jason F.
I really wanted to like Social, I really did, yet while they have a great space, both the service and food was lacking. I stopped by here this past Tuesday evening with my fiance and two other dining companions. My fiance and I had been looking forward to coming here since we noticed that it opened. From the street it looked like a fun place and the same could be said whenever we walked up to it. Outside of the restaurant is some patio seating and a ping pong table while the inside has a dominating bar in the middle with seating around the outside. There is a lot of open space though and so it feels quite large. After looking at the menu I was having a hard time making a decision as to what I wanted for dinner. This night I was not in a mood for a sandwich which pretty much left me the options of having a salad or a pizza. They did have an interesting concept for the salad though where you could make your own. They had a pad of paper and you could pick the toppings that you wanted on the pad and give it to the server. I ended up passing on that as it seemed too pricey and ultimately went with a large Pierogie Pizza. Whenever it came out my first though was that the name was misleading as the pizza had cheese, some onions, scallions, some potato pieces that reminded me of home fries, only a bit larger, and pancetta. Granted I know that in its simplest form a pierogie is potato, dough and topped with onions but I still think they would be better off to call this a loaded baked potato pizza as that resemblance is much stronger. No matter what it was called, I can't say that I enjoyed it too much though. The crust was at least done right as it was a little crispy and had a good taste to it. The sauce was MIA and I honestly couldn't tell if there was any of the garlic oil that was mentioned on the menu on my pizza. Finally the toppings were good although not exactly what I had been expecting with the caramelized onions being my favorite part. Beyond the food I have two other things to note about our experience. The first is that our waitress was slooow. I understand that she had tables both inside and outside (poor decision by the manager?) but she went missing for long periods at times which made it difficult to order extra drinks. The second item is that one of our dining companions had a quite large and sharp piece of a walnut shell in her salad. She bit into it and hurt one of her teeth pretty good on it. We were not looking for a free meal or anything from it and pointed it out to the waitress who said something like "Ohh". Awesome, we just wanted you to let the kitchen know so that they could be more careful. The bottom line for me is that I might head back here again in the future but certainly not for food. Both the service and the food disappointed me and while I did not order any of their drinks, they have a nice list and I was eying them up and imagine that I could enjoy one in the environment that Social has.
(2)
Bob J.
The cauliflower cakes are awesome. Crispy outside with a soft tasty inside. Served with an aioli sauce that compliments them very well. Also had some wings that were very crispy and seasoned to perfection. The sauce was served on the side which was a nice touch. The wings were spiced enough to stand alone on their own and the sauce was a nice compliment.
(3)
Sarah R.
I want to give this place 4 stars... but something feels slightly lacking for me? I guess I just don't feel impressed. I was pretty hyped about this place opening up, and I think I was anticipating impressive food--but it's your basic bar food offerings: sandwiches, flatbread pizzas, salads, etc. Social is a really laid-back place, with a very open, industrial feel to it. My brain might be inventing this detail, but the outdoor seating was like picnic table-y. It seems like a sports-bar, basically, but with a somewhat hip feel to it. BUT WHO CARES ABOUT ANYTHING I JUST SAID. Food is what brings me out to a place, and we tried the Thai Chicken flatbread pizza and the steak sandwich. Can't say the pizza spoke amorously to me, but I definitely am going to hit the steak sandwich up again. That totally took me by surprise. I was expecting something like a philly steak sandwich, but it was actually was a 6-8oz hanger steak that was REALLY nicely marinated and topped with mushrooms, caramelized onions, and something cheesy. I am absolutely returning for that sandwich. I ordered an old-fashioned, but the server seemed really unfamiliar with what types of whiskey the bar had on hand. Not really a thing to be upset about, since she seemed very new at serving, but I would definitely recommend the restaurant do some type of training for their servers when it comes to what their bar offers. She was really sweet and friendly, however. No complaints there. What I didn't get to try--the Build-Your-Own salad option. The build-your-own salad order sheet had a LOT of things to offer, and I'm looking forward to checking that out... if I can will myself to choose a salad over that steak sandwich...
(3)
Glenn M.
I really enjoyed their Reuben Sandwich and Fries. The dressing on it was fresh with a bit of a kick to balance some of that sweetness you normally get. The kraut has a great texture and flavor. It's grilled without being "smashed" like some places are known to do. I give the sandwich a FIVE but I'm rating the overall experience a four because it is a tad loud if you're seated next to the bar and the wait staff were assigned too many tables to really be attentive. They tried, though.
(4)
R. P.
I usually like this place but our waitress was one of those people who shouldn't be in the business of pleasing others. .. She was unfortunately just rude to us about multiple things we inquired about. Otherwise decent beers (not a hugee selectiom) and the food is pretty good. They have a nice large outdoor seating area in the front, and trivia on Mondays.
(3)
Heidi S.
This place is suffering from an identity crisis, but aren't we all these days? Natural wood and terrarium accents clash with bright lights and colors which compete with the multitude of TVs which interrupt the idea that this is a place where you would come to have conversations which questions the whole pro-new-media-we-are-located-in-the-same-building-Âas-google vibe. But I can kind-of get it; it is Pittsburgh's updated version of socializing (watching and talking about sports in a bright and airy post-industrial space while posting on Facebook and Instagram, or whatever, via smartphone). However, I don't think the atmosphere appeals to anybody in particular, certainly not to me, even though I love terrariums; and I've heard sports fans complain that they keep the volume off (or maybe it was too low) on the TVs (that's just what I heard, could be a rumor! But that's a natural consequence of Social contexts). I half expected Social to have more techy stuff, like iPads at the table with apps that allow for communication with other tables to play games of sorts or select the music, or something, I wouldn't know. So, I've tried the veggie burger and it was just OK, and I had some pizza at an event once which was also alright. Then, there's a couple of REALLY well crafted things about Social: The Brooklyn Bridge and The Bourbon Blast.
(3)
Hillary C.
I want to like this place, I really do. I've been here a few times before but sat at the bar and never ordered food, today I tried something new. When we entered, the hostess station was cluttered with cell phones and the blonde hair hostess was texting. We were seated outside, waited about 10 minutes before anyone came to our table. When we finally got service, he was a little slow and spent more time talking with two girls sitting at a hightop table than actually "working." He forgot refills on drinks Never checked back once our food arrived. (His name is Chris). The Cuban sandwich was good but the fries were ice cold. Too bad Chris didn't come around so we could get new ones. Maybe we'll stick to the bar for service.
(2)
Amy L.
Came for the soft opening so all the food was free. Food in general was unimpressive, not really good enough for me to pay money for...but then again that was only the soft opening so there's potential. Apparently drinks are pretty good here so I would see myself coming back for happy hour or something.
We came here on a Friday night at 7 with a group of 25 or more. We had 3 picnic tables waiting for us and a really nice waitress, Rachel. It was 1/2 price bottles of wine night too! We had a limited menu choice and that was fine. Burgers were small but good served on a pretzel roll, good fries. The pizza was tasty but soggy- it needs some work. All in all a great place with great service good food and fun! Check it out!
(5)
Jackie B.
I wasn't sure what to expect based on the mixed reviews, but I'm happy to say my expectations were surpassed! The space is a bit industrial, but also very open and conducive to socializing. The menu has fun "prompts" written along the top in case you need a little help getting the conversation started. Or you could go with my preferred method of social lubrication, alcohol, and get yourself a drink from the fully stocked bar. Your choice. The menu is standard bar food, kicked up a notch and freshened up a bit. Instead of plain ol' nachos and cheese, they're serving up a delicious app of ahi tuna nachos, complete with guac, wasabi, and sriracha. Be aware: this dish comes pre-portion controlled, aka you get five nachos, individually topped with an appropriate amount of ahi tuna and guac. This is a good thing, because you'll have plenty of room to enjoy your main course. I went with a salad known as "The Beet", a lovely combo of arugula, goat cheese, walnuts, roasted beets, green apple, and orange walnut dressing. From looking back at the menu, I also noticed that this salad contained an item known as "roasted reds". I cannot recall what the "roasted reds" were, I may need to go back and investigate. But I digress. Mystery item or not, the salad was tasty. For all you picky salad eaters out there, Social offers a "Social Market" option, where you can use a little mini golf pencil and a checklist to create your own salad. Perfect for when you're feeling particularly persnickety. Finally, the drinks. I was sticking with plain old water on this trip, but I did stare longingly at at the pitcher of sangria across the bar. They've got a small but diverse wine list, some interesting cocktails, and a few "social mixers" that can be ordered by the pitcher. They also have a blackboard of seasonal drafts and a large selection of canned beers. Be sure to check out the daily specials, "Martini Monday", "2 for 1 Tuesday" etc. for deals.
(4)
Jason D.
I work near Bakery Square and was excited to hear a new restaurant was opening here. I came here for lunch one day. I ate outside on the patio. I had the shrimp Po'boy which was very good. The menu looks intriguing with lots of different items on the menu. Prices were fairly reasonably for a sit down restaurant. They also have a nice happy hour with very reasonably priced drinks.
(4)
Alyson G.
This food is amazing. It's always so fresh. The turkey burger has so much flavor. The staff is so friendly, the genuine friendliness not fake. I have now been here four times and it keeps getting better. I highly recommend coming to try their food.
(5)
Dan S.
Very fresh salad, great coffee, but NOT good gluten-free pizza crust. Unchewable, kinda like industrial cardboard.
(2)
Samantha G.
Was the turkey burger good? Yes. Pretty good. Was my friend's hamburger good? Eh. Nothing to write home about. Was the pitcher of Social Cocktail we purchased worth it for $30? Definitely not. Was the staff attentive and friendly? Yes. I really wanted to like Social. I live two blocks away and I'm in desperate need of a reliably delicious restaurant alternative to Point Brugge or what's on South Highland. Social has a lot going for it, but sadly, the food is just not up to snuff. The only reason I would go back is to have a beer and watch a hockey game, but it's just not a viable food restaurant for me.
(2)
Maria E.
We tried this restaurant on a beautiful day, and the outside area was a wonderful place to enjoy a meal. Unfortunately, it was marred by some unpleasant guests around us- a very unruly table (which we certainly can't blame the restaurant for), and a table with a dog that was barking and intruding on the space of every table around. I think the restaurant could have done a better job of controlling these issues and creating a pleasant dining experience for everyone. We both ordered "build your own" salads, which is a bit copy-cat from Bites and Brews, but is a nice option for those of us with food intolerances. The salads were good, but nothing to write home about. If you're looking for a nice outdoor space to eat, this place is great, but I wouldn't make the trip for the food or drinks otherwise.
(3)
Andy L.
Awesome food. I love the atmosphere. Wasn't sure what to expect when they announced it was going in, but they've exceeded my expectations. My favorites so far are the cauliflower bites and the meatball sliders. They also have some sweet high tech additions to the bar including charging ports below the bar for your phone, a jukebox you can control from your phone, and dartboards that allow you to play against someone across the world. Cool place. The owners are cool too, very friendly and awesome. I work across the street and it's great to have the smell of a burger cooking outside once and a while!
(5)
Dio K.
The food is good, definitely a decent menu. Standard American bar food, but a notch higher. The salads can be rather disappointing FYI, so bet on the phenomenal pizzas. My biggest complaint is the poor service. We came in on a Monday for dinner, which apparently is their trivia night. The music and announcer's microphone were so ungodly loud, we could barely place our orders with the waitress, let alone have dinner conversation. We asked if they could lower the volume, and were told that the trivia emcee doesn't like to go lower. Seriously? So, your emcee trumps your paying customers? If I were going to a rowdy bar, I might understand, but not at a casual restaurant. They did offer to reseat us at a farther away table but the speakers were still so loud it made no difference. Sure, the food is decent and it's nearby, but the insolent customer service is enough of a turnoff to make this a "if it's the apocalypse and this is the only place to eat" kind of restaurant.
(2)
Joshua G.
Great staff, good atmosphere, the food has room for improvement. Aioli was bland, the grilled cheese was essentially cheese-less, and there was cheese in my fiancee's wrap, despite specifying (lactose allergy). The staff was genuinely concerned, though, and the pizza and guacamole were pretty good. The wrap was great the second time around.
(3)
Mike C.
Never order the Wings ! Tiny, tiny tiny Wings. Small order for $6 for 6 of the smallest restaurant wings I have ever had. Came in basket without even a couple of pieces of celery or carrots for Presentation/Color. Didn't add any dipping sauce. Not sure how much extra. Dry Rub was OK, but a little salty.
(2)
Kostas P.
I have been to social a couple of times. All the times I get the same feeling. This place has real potentials, especially due to its location and atmosphere, to become a popular joint with locals, but I think there are a few things that need to be improved here. I understand that the place is fairly new (I think right now it is not even 2 months old) but the service stuff, even though polite and helpful seem to not be aware of the menu and some basic processes (e.g., remembering orders, splitting bills, leaving straws for drinks etc.). Coming to the food part I have mixed feelings. Whatever I have tried tasted ok, however many times most of the people in my company are not really satisfied with their plates. All in all, I think I will give it a try again but maybe a couple of months later so as people to have some time to improve.
(3)
Mary S.
Not too impressed with the food here. I had the peanut thai pizza, which was alright, a bit on the dry side. My boyfriend got the shrimp salad, which was a little better. I would probably give this place another try though since their menu seemed to have a lot of interesting options. Maybe they were just having an off night. The waitress was really nice and helpful.
(3)
conor m.
I'm going to give social a 3 and heres why. the food here was good, actually everything we ordered was good, so no issue there. However, the space itself is pretty jenky for being brand new, the entrance is in the way of the waiter traffic, the layout make you feel like you may never see your server again, and to top it all off they have exposed refrigerator, with a slight bit more care, or through hiring a decent design organization this place could be awesome, but much like the rest of bakery square this place seems not quite done
(3)
Susan S.
Went for dinner and drinks. Great patio, really good drinks, and we all really enjoyed our meals. The crowd and vibe were fun. We will definitely be back. Check out the house made turkey burger and nightly drink specials.
(5)
Catherine G.
socials concept is nice. i like the well designed menus and at a glance, there were lots of things to choose from... however... the lighting in there is very bright. awkwardly bright. and something about how its painted made me feel like i was in a cafeteria. i'm a young 20-something that eats at modern restaurants all the time but this place didn't execute to it right. it feels stark, like i'm sitting in a garage almost. tables were too close together (guy behind me and my head were basically touching), host and waitress were both passively nice in a weird way, and there was not a young crowd here. actually surprised because it was a lot of families and older folks - totally fine - just not what i expected at all. food was not good. i had a salad that i almost sent back. too much dressing, butter lettuce on a caesar (so weird), and the dressing didn't taste "truffled" as the menu suggested, it actually tasted really generic and not very caesar at all. my friend got a sandwhich that did not have much meat. we were disappointed. honestly, i think things could be improved here and i'd try it again. they have the typical daily specials like sister-restaurant shady grove, but at this point, i'll stick with the original.
(2)
NT H.
I've been wanting to try this place since I saw it go in, so I went for happy hour with a friend. I got there quite early and sat at the bar; figured I would just have a drink until she got there. I ordered a lemon drop martini--a favorite drink, and something that most bars can handle. I have no idea what the bartender put in this. I think it was sour mix and a very small amount of vodka, based on how incredibly sweet it was. The bartender asked if it was ok; I said it tasted awfully sweet so he kindly offered to add more lemon juice. He added quite a bit more "juice" from a container behind the bar and the drink tasted exactly the same--which is why I think it was sour mix. Oh well, I thought, I can stand to drink this and I'll switch to wine afterwards. The bartender apologetically explained that he "is not a martini person" and left. Fine, I get that...but this isn't a complicated drink and *you are a bartender*. I finished that drink and waited about ten minutes for the bartender to notice (again, at about 5pm on a Tuesday, when the bar was perhaps 1/4 full). He finally came over. I ordered a glass of wine. My friend texted to say she was finally on her way. Five minutes later, still no glass of wine in sight. I told her it wasn't worth coming and we met at Casbah instead. I finally flagged down the bartender ten minutes after this. He seemed to have no recollection of my wine order so I paid and left. Definitely won't be back! The specials were...nothing special, and certainly didn't rival the many better happy hours in the Shadyside area.
(1)
Casey L.
Cam here a few days ago with a friend and we sat at the bar. I'm origianlly from the East End but no longer live in Pittsburgh. This restaurant is in the new Bakery Square shopping center. The bartender that waited on us was very sweet and was a winker...cute. I ordered the beet salad and we split the truffle mushroom pizza. Both were very good. The beer list is also pretty extensive; I got a few IPAs. My only peeve with the place was that it was VERY bright. I didn't think it should be dark- but I felt like I was hanging out drinking in a department store/grocery store with the intense overhead lighting. Overall I think it was good but I prefer my restaurants a little moodier :)
(4)
Jonny B.
Decent food - pizza is good & decent bar selection. BUT the service kinda sucks. It was fairly slow, and I had to wait a very long time whenever I needed something. Maybe I just had a bad bar tender... Other than that I suppose it's ok. But if anything else was closer, I would rather have gone elsewhere. The value isn't worth the price.
(2)
Jenna I.
Went here for dinner last night. Great special of $1.87 for a can if beer or cider. I ordered the woodchuck can to drink. Appetizer choices were different but we decided to be safe and order Luis' spicy chicken dip with half pita bread and half tortilla chips. It was just like a buffalo chicken dip but with a lot more cream cheese. We both created our own salads which were delicious and I was pleasantly surprised that my fried chicken was actually buffalo fried chicken. I would go back again and try something se. Salads are ok and can get boring
(4)
Suzanne K.
Mediocre food, cold cavernous room, loud, way too expensive for what you get (quality and taste of the food is a notch below Eat N' Park, for example). It's a shame because the location is great and their staff is wonderful.
(2)
Danielle W.
I always ride past Social it usually has a large crowd .I read some good reviews and decided to try it . I was with a group of 8 people . They have a Groups of 6 or more gratuities are included policy . Which was very apparent because our waitress was awful . It was a Sunday afternoon not at all crowded she was just prancing around the room she would show up then leave and not come back for what seems like forever she wouldn't even look our way .. We had 2 kids under 4 yrs old she never acknowledged them. at one point someone in our group had to get up and go get her . Other times we had to yell and wave across the restaurant for her attention . Before we knew her tip was included everyone was talking about this horrible service . Then it all made since she already had her tip included in the bill and she wasn't willing to work or put in effort for more . I work in the service industry . I actually work in a first class setting and she is everything a waitress shouldn't be . I let her know on my way out the door how her service was and she said Oh sorry you can fill out a comment card . Now to the food . One person in the group said it doesn't smell like any food is cooking and when we got our food it didn't taste like it either . I ordered the jerk wings . The jerk wings are not JERK . They were beyond crispy that chicken was over by about 5 min. The jerk wings are hook n fish wing dings with a chili dipping sauce on the side . Jerk requires a marinade of unbelievable spices I really want then to change the name some of my Jamaican friends would be appalled . The pizza was tasteless though it had a nice thin crust which I like but still no flavor . The Thai Shrimp tacos looked great but were ice cold and had no flavor . My sister had a $12 glass of Pinot Grigio which is a complete rip off ..she didn't look at price before ordering she said oops .my drink Sangria with fresh fruit taste like raspberry lemonade no trace of alcohol.. The buffalo chicken pizza had to be sent back because of the huge globs of bleu cheese that overwhelmed the pizza ..Like I said I'm a foodie also a cook with a excellent palate I won't be back . Nor would I recommend this to anyone ..Ugh
Takes Reservations : No Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Brunch, Dinner Parking : Garage Bike Parking : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : Yes Wi-Fi : Free Has TV : Yes Waiter Service : Yes Caters : No
Courtney T.
Where do I begin? 4 starters....the atmosphere was lively. Uptempo, bubbly, and fun. It's located at the forefront of Bakery Square on the Eastside (East Liberty) of Pittsburgh. The staff was friendly and accommodating...I was seated and serviced quickly by Caitlyn, who by the way was super friendly and helpful. I had my taste buds set and fixed on the "Steak" burger, unfortunately it was so good that it was sold out. I then shifted and ordered the "Social" burger...at first bite I was sold. It was seasoned and cooked to sheer perfection. The fries it was served with will quickly remind your of the potato patch fries from Kennywood. (you know what I mean if your from the Burgh) only they were much better....so that says ALOT! Social also has a bar with ample seating and tv viewing from all angles. The outdoor seating is great too. Because I couldn't get the burger I originally wanted I gave a rating of 4 stars vs 5, however it was a 5 star experience all the way and a nice setup for me to return! Great job Social! I'll certainly be back!
(4)Lana L.
Had to make a trip to Target, so we stopped by Social for lunch first. They have outdoor seating but it was drizzling out, so we opted for indoors. We were brought to a table by the window and got to reap the benefit of natural lighting. Boyfriend chose the Eggs in Hell from the brunch menu and liked it (but wished it came with more than one small stainless steel sauce cup of tots). I got the Social burger (rare, minus tomatoes) from the normal menu. This was the rarest burger I've ever consumed (see photo; so much red if the picture does it justice), which is not a bad thing at all! I enjoyed the rareness quite a bit. It was so rare that it didn't taste much like meat--more like cheese or mashed potatoes? I don't know if they always make their rare burgers like that, but that's how mine was. Yum. The Social sauce was a nice finishing touch too. The main problem I had with the burger was that it was too salty, but luckily it didn't ruin the whole experience. The fries that it came with were good. They have multiple TV screens in the dining area, so that's a distraction for you if you're with boring company (not that I was :P). With great prices, friendly staff, and a casual atmosphere, this place is good for a brunch or lunch with friends. Taste | 3.5 Atmosphere | 3 Presentation | 3.5 Service | 3.5 OVERALL | 3.5
(3)Amanda B.
absolutely loved social! we made reservations for a group of 8 and when we arrived our table was all ready and we were sat immediately. the staff, atmosphere, food, and drinks were all wonderful. I think of Social as more of a place to visit with friends for drinks and appetizers or even for lunch, than a place to visits for dinner. it has such a modern, fun vibe that makes you want to keep drinking and being social. the only downside was the service was a bit slow. our server was so nice and attentive when she was with us, but it took her a while to come to our table. I'm not sure if it was because we were a larger group and she wanted to let us talk or what, but that was really the only minor complaint I had. everything else was great! some of the things we tried were: jacked Arnold Palmer: not very sweet. has a strong whiskey flavor. I just expected something totally different social punch: dangerous. this stuff is so good! black bean quesadilla: everyone loved it social sticks: so addicting. the cheese is mixed perfectly on these and the dough is so so good Luis' spicy chicken dip: this is very cheesy, but it's so good. it's very smooth and has the right amount of spice to be appealing to all fried chicken and waffle sandwich: this was ridiculously yummy! it has a maple aioli which I think was overpowered by the fried chicken, but was really good on it's own. when ordered again I'll get a side of maple syrup for it too BBQ chicken pizza: my husband said it was "unreal" so many things I want to try... various grilled cheese, pizzas, build your own salad.. I can't wait to go back!!
(4)Jason D.
They have the best beer special in town! Wednesday night is Shit Can Wednesday with select cans for only $2. They have a good selection of microbrews in cans. You can't beat it! The kitchen is only open until 11 though. Most of the food is pretty good. I haven't had a bad pizza yet and the mahi sandwich is great.
(4)Bernadette U.
My husband and I came here for impromptu brunch a few Sundays ago. It was later in the day around 1ish so it wasn't very crowded, however we got to sit next a meeting of the backwards hat club. Sorry, a personal pet peeve I HATE IT when men wear baseball hats in restaurants. Sure, yeah it was a Sunday brunch and I'm sure they partied hard the night before and it's not like Social is a "fancy schmany" place, but come one guys, take a freakin shower and comb your hair. Okay, personal rant over. Anyway, my husband(who was NOT wearing a hat) ordered the corned beef hash and eggs and we were both impressed with that dish. I was lame and got a salad, but it was a well-sized portion and came with pickled eggs(!!!) which I love and was very pleasantly surprised by. I also ordered a virgin bloodie as I am currently expectin g and unfortunately we got charged the full price for a Bloody Mary and alcohol tax even though it didn't have any vodka and my husband just got coffee. We didn't make a big deal about it at the time, tax was only 28 cents. But, in future will definitely ask/follow-up on being charged for booze here and at other locations. Lesson learned. I'm only giving this 3 starts for now, am interested in coming back for dinner and taking advantage of their on-tap beer selection once I have this baby.
(3)Veronica C.
Food: On point and HUGE serving! I ordered a build-your-own salad. My boyfriend enjoyed his sandwich. So we definitely got this place on a good day. Hmm for others it could be a hit or miss. Ya never know. Drinks: There are several mimosa choices. I ended up with grapefruit mimosa. Yummy! Service: Not too shabby. Our party sat outside. Our server seemed busy and did forget couple basic things but it happens. Although, later throughout the night it was odd. They have a "bouncer" who is poorly dressed and checks ids by the entrance. To make the place more welcoming, give him some kind of uniform...like a black polo shirt or something. Then the guest became a little too drunk, a little too quick...which became humorous. All in all, the place isn't too bad and I wouldn't mind coming back for the food and drinks.
(4)Chi E.
A friend and I came here since she had a $10 gift certificate. We shared the Argentinian steak salad and chicken & waffles sandwich. The salad itself was ok but the steak was very tough and chewy. Some pieces were so tough that I had to spit it out. The chicken on the chicken & waffle sandwich was pretty good but the waffles were so oily and hard. Do they fry the waffles? Not sure but definitely felt like they do! I just took out the chicken and ate it by itself. I couldn't even finish my half of the sandwich. Neither did my friend.
(3)Brittney S.
This is my favorite restaurant in Shadyside and I go all the time! Love the $2 cans of beer and the food is delicious. Although a bit pricy, I don't mind going here because I know I'll always have a good time. The atmosphere is super fun - indoor or outdoor seating, bar, big TVs, corn hole, ping pong tables, people bring dogs - it's great. (also kid friendly) As far as food, my regular is the grilled cheese with orzo as a side - really good! I've also had the cauliflower patties, pizza, and brunch. All great!
(5)Laura M.
I visited last night at around 6:45. Because I was meeting CM here at 7, I decided to sit at the bar and take advantage of happy hour. I was impressed by the long list of $2 beers, which included Woodchuck Amber hard cider, which I ordered. Happy hour here seems quite popular--the bar was almost full at the time that I arrived, and was completely full by the time CM arrived--and given the selection and discount, I can certainly understand the attraction! Once CM arrived, we got a table. Having heard good things about the fried cauliflower patties, we decided to get an order of them to share. (This worked out nicely, since one order comprises 4 patties.) They were quite nice, esp. with the lemon aioli sauce drizzled on them, tasting similar to potato patties. Cauliflower patties aren't an item that would normally hold a huge appeal to me, but I'd definitely recommend them! For my entree, I ordered the turkey burger, since I'd also heard good things about it, and CM ordered the Social (beef) burger. Based on other reviews, I was expecting a mind-blowingly delicious turkey burger. Alas, this was not the case. Paradoxically, the turkey patty and bun were extremely dry, whereas the toppings were overly moist. As I ate the burger, the far end became soggier and soggier, to the point that I found it inedible, only finishing 2/3 of it. The burger wasn't nearly as flavorful as I was hoping, either--I could barely taste the gouda cheese, and the lettuce and tomatoes didn't add much to it in terms of flavor, either. In general, the ingredients struck me as low quality. I ordered the cheesy tomato soup as a side, and it wasn't bad--it was thicker and creamier than Campbell's, though it wasn't quite as cheesy as I would have hoped, and I'm not sure how I feel about the toasted bready thing floating in it. The burgers came with fresh cut fries, which was a nice touch, but they were nothing too special. Aside from the food, service was pretty lackluster, with our waitress making minimal conversation, etc.--although she did keep our water glasses filled, which we appreciated. As for the ambiance, I'd describe it as rather loud and somewhat boisterous--which I suppose is to be expected for a place called Social. People were engaging in some fun activities, such as ping pong and darts, which was cool to watch. Overall, with the exception of the cauliflower patties, I wasn't very impressed with the food at Social. (I found out later that Social is owned by the same group that owns Shady Grove, for which I have similar feelings.) If you want a solid turkey burger, I'd recommend checking out BRGR nearby. I'd consider returning for happy hour, but would definitely go elsewhere for dinner.
(3)Matt P.
The three-star average is about right. Social is decent but certainly a long way from great. The highlight is that there is a good beer selection, including several Pennsylvania microbrews. The food is decent, the setting is decent--you get the picture. I will say that my initial reaction to three stars was to stay clear--but it was fine. Three stars does mean that this is a bad restaurant. So if you're looking for something easy and convenient, Social is a good choice. If you're looking for something special, keep looking...
(3)Britney C.
Had a great night at social yesterday. I was leaving east end food co-op in east lib and I was looking for a very good salad. I had only been here once almost two years ago after a yelp event but never ate their food. We were seated right away and ordered out drinks. I was driving so I ordered a virgin margarita. It was so delicious and somehow carbonated but extremely tasty, not overly sweet with a sugar rim. For our entrees we ordered two salads and a turkey burger with the tomato soup. My salad was the grilled shrimp one with a hard boiled egg. It came with the lime vinaigrette but their southwest dressing was way better. My hubby ordered the southwest salad complete with black beans, corn, warm chicken and avocado. First off even without dressing my salad was great! The feta cheese alone was so flavorful that each bite tasted greAt!! The shrimp had that great grilled flavor and was nice and juicy. Instead of tossing the salad in the dressing I decided to just dip it in the dressing to save on calories. This worked really well because I only needed half the dressing for the entire salad. My husband really enjoyed his salad as well, the warm chicken tasted so good with the cold lettuce cheese and onions. Onions always make a salad taste great!! We split a turkey burger and tomato soup which I was surprised how well it tasted. The turkey burger was plump and juicy not dry, accompanied with sweet mango salsa and Gouda cheese. Very simple burger yet very delicious. The tomato soup is probably the second best I've ever had which will definitely make me come back for more. I was never a huge tomato soup person but this place hit the nail on the head for me. It had some nice texture to it unlike the Campbell's that's basically red water in a can. Food, drinks, atmosphere where all great. The noise level was acceptable, music was good but the lights were a little too low, even for me and I have good eyes. I will definitely be back soon!
(4)Stacy M.
Pros: Delicious pizza and Bloody Marys. Cons: Noise level and slow-ish service We rode our bikes to Social (Yay!) and were able to sit outside on a beautiful day. Parking can be rough in this area, so it was pleasant to deal with bike parking instead of car. I started off with, what I would call, a "rustic" Bloody Mary that was awesome. Ordered fries for appetizer but they couldn't be awesome with awesome sauce because that is not vegetarian (Boo!). Fries alone were only ok, but then again, I don't share the same fry taste buds as most Burgher's because I don't like Kennywood fries! The 2 small pizzas came and they were so filling that we were eating the leftovers for several days. The mushroom Bianca and the Roasted Cauliflower were so tasty! All of the service was friendly but a bit slow. We've visited another time and it was the same. The acoustics were not the best. What I found odd was that the outside enclosure was pretty loud as well. But this doesn't out-weigh the positives so we will go back.
(4)Cary S.
We live around the corner and had heard mixed reviews and decided to judge for ourselves. The setup is appealing to my inner southern tendencies/roots (christmas light canopy/rustic cheque ). Ordered the pizza and was underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong - I ate some of it- but factored in having had to skip lunch due to work obligations. I was at the point were stale bread would have tasted like truffle butter. Service was very pleasant and attentive without being obnoxious (unlike the hipsters two deep...*sigh* to be young and blissfully ignorant)
(3)Ana G.
So I really like this place, mainly because of the close proximity to my place, the good drink specials, as well as the trivia that takes place on most Mondays at 7pm. I have tried a few of their appetizers, the tuna wrap appetizer is pretty awesome as well as hummus is pretty standard, the veggie dip, which was good, as well as the coli-flower patties which in my opinion are pretty excellent - love that sauce they use!! In terms of their main dishes I love the Argentinian salad. This is really my go to dish when I am here. They use field greens, sauteed portobello mushrooms, I opt for medium rare steak, blue cheese, onions, and tomatoes all topped by a fried egg with some chimichurri dressing on the side, which is pretty spot on. I have had a slice of their buffalo chicken pizza and their BBQ chicken pizza, which was pretty tasty as well. I especially like the fact that their crust is fairly thin. In terms of service it is pretty good and have had no real complaints. Overall, this place is pretty solid and as long as their trivia and drink specials exist and they don't tweak their Argentinian salad, I will be coming back.
(4)David B.
The pizzas are excellent and the beer selection is very good. I mostly come here for drinks, so I have not tried anything other than the pizza, but they make really good pizza. I did see that they have a $40 bottle of wine that the restaurant pays less than $10, so I can't recommend the wine at Social.
(3)Beth G.
Came here with friends. The inside was loud, which makes conversation difficult we ate outside on a beautiful afternoon instead. I had the social burger and it was well cooked. They talk about their social sauce, but it really didn't add anything to the burger. You could barely taste the sauce. A friend of mine had a Philly cheese steak type sandwich, and it was overcooked and greasy. The fries were yummy. The beers were interesting. I would eat here again. But it's not one that I would make a special trip to search out. The staff t shirts are fun and we had great service. I do think they need one that says social butterfly.
(3)Jayme S.
To begin, I had high hopes... Wrong We got there, weren't greeted by anyone so we sat ourselves down. Then we weren't noticed or given menus for another 5 mins. The host guy came out put all the menus/silverware in the center of the table, didn't look at any of us. I said thank you, got no response and he walked away with not a care at all.... Food: So so. We got the nachos, supreme pizza, banana peppers. It was alright. I wasn't thrilled when I ordered the cookies. They were cold and not worth $3. On a good note, our waitress was a sweet heart and my social mojito was so so good! The outdoor seating is really great too! I'll come here for drinks again. Probably not for food.
(2)Sarah M.
I was here for their soft opening and a couple months after. Giving this place another try today. I arrived at 2:58pm to meet friends who had already grabbed a table and had been there for a couple minutes. It is now 3:30 and we are still waiting for the three beers we ordered. I could not find a server but I told the bartender we had been waiting. He was very nice and said he would find somebody. Still waiting....
(2)Simone H.
This is a revised review. I continue to have a love/hate relationship with this Bar, so I will attempt to be objective with this review. The Ups: 1. It's the closest and only bar within walking distance of my house 2. I run into nice random people here all the time. 3. They rotate their drafts regularly 4. Free Wi-fi so I can watch my movie homework at the Bar 5. Roomie event space for groups 6. Outdoor seating The Downs: 1. Overpriced Canned Beers 2. The original opening menu has been revised and they took off my favorite Caesar Salad [it came with awesome strips of anchovies] 3. There is an imbalance in staffing [more about this later] 4. You are oft forgotten by the Bartending staff because they know you come to hang out 5. Will give another try but the mixed drinks are awful 6. The food is hit or miss even if you continue to order the same thing [the attempt to substitute Kale for Spinach was a fail, the jerk wings vary in spicing and the meatball sliders have an overly intense seasoning] The improved: 1. The Bartending skills and attentiveness has improved since they opened [between replacing the bar or training them to be better] The latest: The reason I knocked the rating down to 2 stars rather than a more appropriate three or 4 is and remains the service. Personally, I am an efficiency freak [duh - CMU ops]. So I cannot help but comment on last Sunday's experience: I visited on a Sunday at around 4:30pm so it must have been right when shifts were switching. The place was fairly empty as there were no sports games on TV and it was pretty cold outside, but that did not stop them from having 2 bartenders, the regular hostess and not 1, 2 but 4 waitresses on staff. Of these 4, only 1 of them was actually hustling and working. The remainder were BS-ing at the Bar with what I presumed to be the owner [recalling from memory once being introduced at the beginning of Social's existence] and it was almost unidentifiable whether their shifts were over or not. If they were on, you gained a sense of abandonment as a customer, who would routinely look around for refills on beers, if you were off shift, take off your aprons! Now I understand about giving your boss attention but still. Same with the Bartenders, my regularly seen bartender would drift back and forth between the kitchen and within the Bar, however ignored my need to refill by Beer. It took a while to catch the attention of the second one, who stared at my 15% full glass and never bothered to ask if I wanted a refill. Now, I was doing homework, however I would have enjoyed my black and white movie more with an additional dark beer or two. Naturally, will continue to come back from the given "Ups" listing above. But I seriously hope they smooth out their regular experiences.
(2)Elizabeth M.
Womp womp. First time here was good. Second time here not so much. We came here as a group of 4 on a Saturday evening. Our waiter took our orders and disappeared for what seemed like forever. A few times we asked him for things like sugar or napkins, and he wouldn't deliver. We had to ask again. I ordered a build your own salad, and they forgot the fries! Which I wouldn't of said anything about, except for the fact that it was a significant up-charge. At the end of the dinner, we decided we wanted to try their dessert so we asked for the dessert menu. 20 minutes passed. a literal and real 20 minutes. Then he finally showed up with the menus and we declined. Just give us our bill please and let us get out of here!
(2)Mara K.
I anxiously awaited the opening of Social a year ago or so and I've been here probably a dozen times since. I can't say I have had a consistent experience, some menu items I love, some I hate. Let's start with the love: The Buffalo Chicken and Spicy Chipotle Sausage pizzas. Both are incredibly tasty and made with a thin crust. Fresh ingredients with a good ratio of cheese to ingredient. Hate: the Mushroom Bianca pizza. It appears that a mushroom "paste" is slathered on this pizza. Just not my thang. Alcohol - specials are good here! For example, Sundays they have $5 Bloody Mary's. Not Pittsburgh's best Bloody, but certainly not the worst, and the price is reasonable. They also have $2 beer specials and a nice array to choose from. The service here isn't awful. In the summer it gets busy and you can sit outside and enjoy the weather. Actually, in the cooler months they have this patio area covered with heated lamps. I dig it. Although, with busy Penn Avenue just a couple feet away it is a little noisy. I'm just glad there is a decent bar/restaurant, like Social, within walking distance from my house. Because parking at Bakery Square just aint fun.
(4)Amanda M.
I always have great experiences here. The patio us fantastic, even in cold days they have it heated! The soups and salads her are creative and delish!
(5)Whitley S.
My only gripe is the fries... Nothing special. I could have made better at home. I had the tuna nachos, and their Cosmo in addition. I love their Cosmo, very appropriate for Spring sipping. If you like tuna tartare and heat you will like the nachos. Next time I will probably get these with the wasabi sauce on the side. The service was good, food was ok, and the atmosphere was ok. I'll have to give this one another shot!
(3)C L.
Social is a hip, informal restaurant located in a newly revitalized area. Food is good for the price, but the service leaves much to be desired. Every time I go to this establishment, I order a pizza but ask that one half contain no cheese. However, the staff is often confused by this request, and I end up having to send the pizza back and wait for them to fix their mistakes. During my last visit, we had two different waiters that didn't know the other was taking care of us already. We had to point this out to them, and the restaurant was not busy at all. Not sure how this confusion occurs so often. I keep coming back because the food is incredibly delicious and the drink specials are great. I just wish that they could get the staff trained properly.
(3)Yeta M.
Stopped by here on my way back from Trader Joes. The service was great. We didn't have to wait too long for our food which is a plus. It was as little too dark for me, I could barely read the menu and so did the family next to me, we had to use the flashlight on our iPhones. The food was cooked perfectly and served piping hot which I loved. But the burger (social burger) and fries were very salty, I couldn't finish my meal because my body was complaining. Don't order the Social burger if you suffer from high blood pressure aka hypertension because you might have a heart attack. Overall a good place to go with reasonable prices.
(3)Sarah W.
Sangria is awesome- please try it! Outside seating is also a nice touch. Recently I came in for lunch. They have GF pizzas, so I wanted to see what other GF items they had on the menu. Unfortunately, it's just the pizzas, salads, and some soups and apps. They don't have GF bread or buns for the sandwiches and burgers, which was disappointing. I started with the tomato soup, which was good but a little tart. The soup was slopped into the bowl and there was dried soup all over the sides, and it was served with crackers in plastic wrap (tacky). The margherita GF pizza was lackluster. They used sliced heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil, I just wished for more toppings and I wished the toppings went all the way to the crust. It's in a great location. I went one night for drinks and it was filled with 30 and 40 somethings and very bright. It is just ok.
(3)Chris G.
Good dinner at the bar. Food was good, 2 dollar can beers, awesome! Service was fare.
(3)Nancy S.
Heard through the grapevine on Twitter that the burgers were exceptional here. Stopped in for a late lunch. Love outside seating and FREE parking in garage for 3 hours. Service was service... A slightly shy server kinda just went through the motions. "Menza-menza," (so-so) as my italian mother would have said. Server introduced me to the "build your own salad" that will most likely be my selection on my next visit. But, since I came for the burger, a burger I ordered. When it came, I asked for Ketchup (one of the reasons I order a burger; a good excuse to dip something in my periodic native craving for heinz ketchup) so the server says, "it comes with Social sauce on it so you may not want ketchup." Poor kid! Must not be from Pittsburgh. The burger was good. Very, very juicy; borderline too sloppy. Tasty, but the texture bothered me a little. It reminded me of a time I put way too much Adolphs meat tenderizer in my burgers at home. So, nice taste, a little small for $11 quite honestly. Nice size for lunch. I'd go back but I would try something else.
(3)Meghan S.
Dogs are permitted on the patio and they even get their own water bowl. Enough said.
(5)Michelle C.
Food is not good. Drinks and drink specials are worth going for. $2 can beer Wednesdays!
(4)Bridgett W.
Delicious cocktails. They have great Sangria and an excellent whiskey drink called Brooklyn Bridge. We had a large group party there and overall service was excellent but they turn up the music super loud later in the evening. So loud that I couldn't even talk to my guests without shouting. I lost my voice for 6 days after that, so I would never have a party there again. We even asked them multiple times to turn it down and they turned it up instead. Not very speedy with service. I love the Asian salad. And their pizza is pretty good, too. Overall I would come here for good drinks. They have great craft beers for all you beer enthusiasts out there, and delicious high-end cocktails. And the location in Bakery Square is perfect since there is 3hr free 3 parking in the garage.
(4)Erin N.
I've been to Social only twice, even though it is within walking distance of home, easy, and is on the No Wait app. That definitely says something. I've even been putting off this review because of how unmentionable our 2nd visit here was. The first time coming here, +1 and I were feeling adventurous. We're not big eaters, so the "dirty bird" (a Thai skewer type starter) and Margherita pizza sounded great to share. The skewers were small, but done well; paired with rice, I ate most of this, glaring at the poor man when he went to reach for another. The pizza was mostly basil, but we still ate half. It was better as leftovers the next morning, for sure, but nothing incredible. I think the saddest part was how boring our bevvies were. Delicious, but too simple. The wolfhound is my kind of sweet + vodka (with elderflower, of course) dream, but at the crafty cocktail price, no. Overall, the service this night was great, and we decided overall we could come here again. It would work well for groups with pissy, picky eaters (me!). Unfortunately, the next time I was here, not so lucky. A girlfriend and I were out for drinks and wanted a little munchies. Upon arriving, we were carded at the door by some random, unmarked man just hanging out. There weren't any servers or hosts, so we figured bar only, fine. The crowd was horrific. Kids that looked not old enough to be there seated around the packed bar with rowdy older couples .. The whole thing was not my style. We were finally given drink menus without a word. Kitchen must be closed? Fine again. We ordered our drinks about ten minutes later when she chose to acknowledge us, two prosecco cosmos. They arrived, frothy and low in the glass. There is no nice way to say it, but they were soapy, almost a pear shampoo (use your imagination). We laid our $25 on the counter in cash and got out of there. Silver lining, we had our lyft driver drop us off at Aiello's to make up for the horrific time at Social. It was necessary. Looking for creepy patrons and horrible, boring, overpriced drinks? This is your spot. Get excited for nonverbal bartenders too. If you're desperate during the kitchen hours, it's okay. I wouldn't suggest it, but I'd grudgingly tag along.
(2)Traci T.
I come to social often because it's a short walk from home. I mainly come for apps and drinks which have been good. On two occasions I've had issues with my meal. My philosophy is that we will all make mistakes or we all have bad days, but what's important is how those mistakes are dealt with. On those two occasions, the staff was apologetic and went above and beyond to make the situation right. I've appreciated this about Social and it's why I return.
(4)Maria L.
I loved this place! I heard my cousin rave about the Thai Chicken pizza so I just had to try it. We meet up for lunch there but unfortunately they took the thai chicken pizza off the menu. Boo!!! Bring it back!!!!! We ordered the BBQ chicken pizza and it was delicious! Social is in the up and coming Bakery Square so parking was a little hard to find. I cant wait to go back to try more.
(5)Kerri M.
This is a place to come to drink, especially for their great daily drink specials and happy hour specials. The cocktails are made with fresh fruit, and Social offers a nice variety of craft beers in the can and on draft. My fav drink so far is the margarita, and my fav special is BOGO cocktails on Tuesdays (you can mix and match). The food is OK - for me, it's there to soak up all the alcohol I enjoy at Social. It's not bad, it's just....average. They offer the option to build your own salad, with a notepad on your table to do just that. Be careful, all those extras...they are going to add up and you may have one pricey salad! When the weather agrees, enjoy the large seating area outside. You can park in the spots in front of Social, but it can be difficult to find a spot - you are better off parking in the free garage. Social filled a void in Bakery Square, as there was not a full-service restaurant located there for years. I've read some complaints about the sparse, industrial decor, but I kind of like it. The large bar is the feature of Social, and the drinks are their best asset.
(3)Sam P.
We came in during happy hour for a meal, some drinks, and to watch the beginning of the NFL draft. The happy hour was great, half off cans and had some specials on pitchers as well. The beer list wasn't huge, but big enough that you can find something you like. The spicy chicken dip was great. Definitely one of the best I've had! For my meal, I had the chicken sausage sandwich. Again, it was very good. Smoked gouda, artichoke pesto, and fresh spinach. We sat at the bar and the bartender checked in often with us. We also spoke with some servers that came and went and everyone was very friendly. It was a beautiful night in Pittsburgh with the doors open and the patio was a happening place. It seems like a great place to hang out in Bakery Square. It seemed like they have some nice specials throughout the week. I would love to come back!
(4)Aire B.
We really didn't have plans to eat here, but I'm sure glad we did! The bf wanted to watch a game that was on so we sat at the bar and were waited on by the nicest bartender. He let the bf try a few beers he was not sure about. I got their chicken sandwich with asparagus pesto, I never knew I could love a pesto so much. It was so light and refreshing! The tater tots on the side were also a good choice! After 2 bites the bf declared their burger one of the best he's ever had! I personally can't wait to go back!
(4)Mike O.
The atmosphere is really nice and I really liked the beer selection. I just feel that it was really unprofessional for the bartenders to drink while working. If your not sober while working then how can you expect to look after your customers?
(4)Jonathan D.
While I'm not a huge fan of Social's food, this is the place to head on Saturday's and Sunday's when mimosas (Saturday) and bloody Mary's (Sunday) are half off their regular price. In addition to the traditional orange juice mimosa, they offer cranberry and apple. Bloody Mary's, although traditional, are not weak by any means and are served with a couple garnishments. Give them a try on an upcoming weekend.
(3)Jennifer D.
Horrible service. I came in and sat at the bar for 15 minutes being completely ignored before I finally just walked out. I will not be coming back here.
(1)Matt C.
The drink specials are great, the servers are friendly, and the prices are reasonable. I really want to like this place. But I'm 0-for-4 on enjoying my food. The first time I tried a sandwich which was basically all bread. The second time I had a BBQ chicken pizza which was overcooked and not well designed to begin with (I could write an entire separate review on what was wrong with it and how to fix it). The third time, I tried just eating snacks and desserts, both of which were bland. And last night I had some decent meatball sliders with over-fried and over-salted wings that came with a sickeningly sweet and hard to apply dipping sauce (though to be fair, my excellent waitress did recommend the other sauce, but I wasn't in the mood for it). Maybe I've just been unlucky. But the next time my friends want to do dinner and drinks at Social, I'll probably eat somewhere else first and just join them for the drinks part.
(2)Alison L.
This was our first visit. We liked the atmosphere and rustic accents. The service wasn't great (especially for a place named social) but not a total deal breaker. Nacho app had great flavor but a little soggier than preferred. Loved the 'build your own salad' concept, but I wasn't impressed with the mahi. I'd try it again with chicken though. My husband's meatloaf sandwich with smashed egg was by far the best thing ordered at our table. We'd try this place again; the pizza at a neighboring table looked goooood.
(3)Rachel C.
I keep thinking about the delicious turkey burger I had here. That's when you know you had a good meal! All I want to do is go back and get another. And another. And another! My friends, it's the best turkey burger I've ever had! But the thing is, it was good on all levels. The smoked gouda, lettuce, tomato and mango ketchup made it a dream. And let me tell you, I usually have to douse my burgers with condiments, but everything was the perfect amount. And the bun was awesome. I believe it was a potato bun, but whatever it was, it was a really good bun:) I also ordered tots, which were good and crispy... but that burger just shined! Oh yeah, there was also some good ahi tuna nachos too. They were really good actually, but... you know what I'm gonna say... the burger was the best! But just so you know, the nachos are not necessarily nachos, but one singular chip with ahi tuna and gauc on top. They're a small portion, but a good starter. I also like the fun atmosphere. It's really just all about being social. I like the wide open feel. So even though I was there for lunch, I'm definitely going back for a happy hour or late night with friends. Definitely a very strong start for this new joint!
(4)Morgan D.
I'm glad I came back to Social because they really impressed me this time. A large group of singers from Renaissance City Choir (check us out!) went to Social after a recent performance to celebrate. Our server didn't bat an eye at our group of 15 or so, kept our drinks coming, food came out in a timely fashion, checks were split with no hesitation, all with a smile and a friendly demeanor. Wow! Color me impressed. On top of that, the food was great. I had Thai shrimp tacos which were so good, and a slice of a friend's buffalo chicken pizza, which had such good crust and nicely charred chicken on top. My husband was raving about his pierogi pizza too.
(5)Alex D.
Wow. Another 5 star review. Can I help it that PGH has some awesome places to go out and eat? Went here for lunch with my wife today - we had it on our list since the Yelp Geeks Out party, where we enjoyed a sampling of some of their appetizers. Rachel had also written a lot of great things about the place, so we decided to check it out - so glad we did! It's great to see a new place packed... PACKED for lunch. We were politely told by the hostess that we would have to wait for a table, but could sit at the bar and order if we wanted to. Once again, glad we did! The bartender was friendly, efficient, and attentive. He certainly was skilled at making a whole variety of interesting drinks for the patrons while we were deciding on our order. We decided to try their shrimp 'tacos' (the taco shell is actually a rather tasty wonton, much like their tuna 'nachos') and a beet salad and shrimp salad. Awesome. The grilled shrimp were pretty much the tastiest shrimp I've ever had. Anywhere. The goat cheese and beet salad was tasty and filling, and the nice part was that both salads came with the dressing on the side, so you can dial it in or out as you see fit. Prices are reasonable, and overall, this looks like a great place to have lunch or meet up with friends to watch a game or two. Will definitely be back!!!
(5)Erin S.
Mixed feelings: if you are going here to drink you are okay. .nice open bar, outdoor seating, trendy area..the food on the other hand is probably only good if you are drunk. Very bland, poor quality, cheap meat, can mushrooms, watery chili, flavorless cheese. Black bean quesadilla is just a can of black beans with no seasoning inside a chared tortilla..beans were cold. Not served with salsa or sour cream....plus I think they stole the layout and theme of Burgatory. You can customize a salad, however it will cost you about $20 for toppings on it. on the plus or minus side, depending on preference you can bring your dog. we were sat at an outdoor table next to three dogs, we asked to move, kind of annoying. overall if you want a fun place to drink this is ok, but don't go for the food.
(3)Jonathan F.
Food is decent, not great but not bad. Service is ALL OVER THE PLACE. They seem overwhelmed by the usual crowds of young folks who like to hang out there after work and drink. Brought my family there last weekend and ordered a bunch of appetizers and each ordered an entree. They brought nothing for a long time, forgot to bring one of our drinks, and never asked about refilling our drinks... Finally they brought the entrees, closely followed by the appetizers. I spoke to the manager about that one. Honestly, you'd think this was run by high school students. The wait staff all seemed to be about 16 years old, perhaps 20 at most, and they seemed... confused.... OK, as for the food: we ordered wings, which were dry (not coated with a sauce like every other wing place I have been to). Their pizzas are decent and served on little platforms that take up so much room that we ran out of room at the table. I ordered tacos, which were really unimpressive and kind of dry. Overall not a good experience. Probably a good place to go after work and have a beer if you work at Google. Not a place to bring a family. Too noisy and badly run.
(2)Jessica D.
I went in there with plans for a salad. While the salads are awesome - they give you a paper menu and you pick out what you want thrown in, I didn't want to end up with a $40 salad. And trust me, with toppings like grilled shrimp, steak cooked to order, artichokes, asparagus, cheeses galore - it would have definitely been 40 bucks. So the hubby and I started with the ahi nachos. I think it's a bit of a misnomer to call them nachoes since it was just single chips with tuna and guac on them, they were awesome no matter what they were called. The tuna was very fresh and had a nice sauce on it. The guac was the perfect amount. The chip was super crispy and nicely seasoned. We then decided to split the pierogie pizza and damn, are we glad we did. It was gigantic, seriously huge. The crust was cooked to a buttery golden brown and very crispy. Very unique type crust. It was covered with carmelized onions, bacon, sliced fingerlings and a garlic aoili. Absolutely fantastic! We will be back, oh yes, we will be back.
(4)Mary D.
Food was OK; might go back for food although I can't say it was the best veggie burger I ever had. However, waiter did not tell me there would be a surcharge for giving me a small salad instead of fries. Other local restaurants either do not charge extra or at least say they are going to do so. And altho I put the bill and my credit card right next to me, she returned it to my husband--which never impresses me.
(2)Suzanne R.
Stopped in Thurs on my way through town. Food and atmosphere great. Server sweet girl named Maggie couldn't have been more helpful. Will definitely stop back here when in the Burgh.
(5)Allison F.
I have always liked social. It's great to have a local place for good food and drinks aside from shadyside, which tends to drawl a young crowd. The food is very consistent. It always seems fresh and I think the price is fitting (maybe a tad over). The cauliflower patties and kale and shrimp salad are my favorites. I think the main downfall of this place is the decor. They could do a lot to make it look less drab.
(4)Bill M.
Fantastic location and great hours. Food is very good and the beer list is excellent. They also do takeout, with that I recommend the Thai Chicken pizza.
(4)julia l.
Decent ambiance. Not a super foodie place. However, the gluten free pizza was really quite good, so we will likely return, especially for the great outdoor seating and happy hour specials.
(2)Jess C.
Casual place to get some cocktails, beer or grub. Reminds me alot of Jack's Urban Eats in Sacramento.
(3)Rob L.
Disappointing experience. Ordering a dinner salad provides you with about 2 TB of dressing. Any extra dressing is an extra 50 cents, poor management decision for not empowering employees to provide this to customers who have ordered salads. Last three trips here have been less than satisfactory for the cost and service provided other options by the parent chain would be suggested over this establishment.
(1)Rebecca M.
I was really excited when this place opened, but my excitement quickly faded once I dined there. The portion sizes are the size you would expect for a "small plates" dish and while the food was not bad, it was not good enough to command the price of tapas. My old fashioned was equally miniature. After we finished our food and first drinks, I was tempted to order another round of EVERYTHING (both food and drink) but decided that was quite socially acceptable since the dishes were not supposed to be small plates. We ended up just getting more drinks and leaving hungry. Our waitress was overly nice, almost to the point of annoyance, but I guess that is better than the opposite. The patio is Social's one redeeming factor, but since it is almost winter I will have no reason to go back any time soon.
(2)Kaitlyn D.
Great place for drinks if you're staying at Bakery Square. We went on Friday, which was half price bottles of wine night. It was excellent. The hot chicken dip was a decent app.
(4)Darae C.
I came here a few months ago during the summer months after driving by several times and seeing the patio always packed with people. I loved the open and airy look to the place and was thrilled that Bakery Square actually landed a restaurant. I'm not sure if this is my fault for going during lunch during the playoffs for the Pirates or if the place is always so damn loud, but the volume of the television was laughably loud. It became a running joke the entire meal how my friend and I couldn't hear each other across the table because the game was so loud. The place is all metal and wood too, so the acoustics made it even worse. It was very very busy and there seemed to be tons of later 20 somethings/early 30 somethings there to watch the game. Our server was upbeat and friendly, and the artichoke dip we had to start with was fantastic. I had the shrimp po boy and it was messy and forgettable. My friend got the steak sandwich and instead of coming shaved it came with huge chunks of chewy meat. He said the flavor was good, but the texture was ridiculous. Overall I'd try this place again on a non-game day because I actually like to enjoy the company I'm with. The branding of this place is so cool and I really really would like it to become a regular spot.
(3)Michelle C.
I cannot stop thinking about the banana pepper appetizer from Social. It was a crock of melted mozzarella, sausage, marinara and peppers. It reminded me of all the best parts of a lasagna. So so good! Our server was great and kept our drinks refreshed. I ordered a design-your-own salad and didn't really like the looks of the chicken when it arrived. Their manager swooped the salad away, no questions asked, and switched out the chicken with shrimp. I returned for drinks later that evening and discovered that the kitchen closes as 11. It was 11:10 - sadness! A little while later, we ordered our last call drinks though I ended up leaving some behind when the lights were turned on and we felt like it was time to head out. Next time I'm in town visiting Rachel C I'm going to request a visit to Social so I can be reunited with that pepper appetizer!
(4)Matthew U.
Wow, people were right about the smell outside. I really hope that if you do come here, you take a seat inside. I hope that they figure a way to overcome the storm drain right next to the patio area, it's unsettling. Asides from the smell, the atmosphere is, um, how do I put this, uppity. I felt like I was looked down upon by the other patrons. Really, you're in East Liberty, a block away from Larimer and Homewood. So what, you're in the same building as Google, that doesn't make you any better than me. Now, to the food. The most amazing part of this place. My favorite was the kale and artichoke dip. The chunks of artichoke were so big, so tasty, that it made me forget the other things. The service here too was well above average. Very nice, and very happy. Knowledgeable about the menu and able to answer all my questions. A return visit here would definite have to be one where I sit inside and go at a different time in the day.
(3)Amanda W.
Atmosphere: We tried the new addition to the booming Bakery Square area on a beautiful night so the breeze from the open windows made the restaurant light and airy and a little rustic. We would have preferred an outdoor table, but there aren't very many. There are lots of TVs, and they were all baseball that night--which was exactly what we wanted. Go Bucs! Food: Bottom line = The prices are ridiculous!!! I was just expecting better for the prices and the location. It's just so basic and boring. There is very little to eat for gluten allergies... even the fries are not gluten-free so I settled on a salad. For my market (read: DIY) salad, I paid $16. NOT WORTH IT. -The portion was small relative to the price. Yes, "supposedly fresh ingredients", but they're not being flown in from where they're grown to make them worth these prices. -The 4 grilled shrimp were nice but did not wow me. -Definitely do not go with the regular lettuce/romaine base. Tastes like bagged salad. -There were "stray" ingredients in my salad, e.g., few pieces of green peppers and a type of cheese other than the moz that I ordered -Some really good salad ingredients are missing, e.g., olives Mr. W had a meatball sub and fries. He liked it, but again, there are better ones at better prices at a whole list of places in Squirrel Hill and Shadyside. Why pay these prices? Redeeming Factor: The beer list is impressive, and the $2 can special on Wednesday did make Mr. W quite happy.
(3)Beth K.
During happy hours, great deals on good beer. I had the Thai Steak Salad and was very pleased. This was a dinner sized salad with lovely bits of edamame, carrot, and crunchy wonton strips. The steak was perfectly cooked and paired nicely with a spicy peanut dressing. The service was a little rushed and scattered, but all in all, good. At the end of our meal we were encouraged to stick around and drink more at the table, which I love (although I understand kicking people out to sit at the bar, I still hate it!). Get your drinks while you can during happy hour, though, because the prices sure do get high afterwards! I'd definitely be back and I'd be excited to take people here in the future.
(4)Nikolaus S.
Came here on a bustling evening after an event at Google. The place was busy, but not packed. It was loud, but not obnoxious to the point we couldn't have a conversation. It's obviously designed to accommodate large groups of diners and bar patrons and engineered to feel 'active.' The canned beer selection was interesting and I found a style of Anderson Valley that I hadn't seen in Pgh before. Bonus! Pizza was fantastic. I'd rate it up there w/ some of the best I've had in Pittsburgh. My wife had the grilled cheese and enjoyed it. It wasn't mind-blowing, but classic and it hit the spot. Our friend had the cauliflower patties, which we'd tried -- and loved -- at an event earlier. She wasn't disappointed. She happens to be gluten free as well so the availability of a hard cider option was welcome. The build your own salad options looked cool too and I'm looking forward to trying that out. Overall, this is a great space. The patio looked cool and possibly a great lunch spot. The noise/distraction level may be a turnoff to some and is the only reason I couldn't go full 5 stars.
(4)Anthony C.
Social is an excellent choice for a place to grab a drink or bite to eat after work. Stopping by is convenient since parking in the garage is free for 3 hours. There is plenty of space both inside and out on the patio hangout and relax after work. I personally like the beer selection which has a variety of craft beers including a local selection with a few of my favorites. They carry Fat Heads and East End regularly. They also have a variety of specialty pizzas, of which I recommend the Green Eggs and Ham. They also host a corn hole league night through the Pittsburgh Sports League during the summer. It's a great atmosphere and a good time. The location is convienent for those in the east and northern parts of city. Additionally, my girlfriend has done company happy hours here and the service has always been great. The owner and the staff are friendly and helpful!
(5)Ryan P.
On a beautiful summer evening, I was excited to try sitting in the porch. It's pushed up against Penn Ave., and hence is wonderful every five minutes or so when the stop lights line up just right to quell traffic. Otherwise, not so much. There was a strange intermittent smell of sewage as well. Bummer. The inside wasn't appealing as it was ice cold. On the plus side, the shrimp salad I ordered was made with fresh crisp ingredients and was quite tasty. I also sampled the Thai pizza which comes on an incredibly crispy crust. It was vaguely reminiscent of something you'd get at California Pizza Kitchen. There's also a decent beer list. Overall, I wasn't terribly impressed, but that wasn't really their fault. The sewage smells while eating don't exactly help a meal. I'll give them another chance in the future and probably sit inside (and bring a jacket).
(3)Karen M.
They have fantastic gluten free pizza, the best I've ever had eating out! It's thick and tastes like bread, or at least what I remember bread tasting like! Way to go! For all gluten free people in Pittsburgh, go here!!!! Very friendly wait staff as well! :-)
(5)Loukeisa E.
I have been to Social several times and I always get the same thing...so this review is about how great I think the Social environment is, but ALSO about how completely delicious I think the Grilled Shrimp Salad!! I wish that I could rave about all of the delightful menu items but I cant. This shrimp salad has spinach, peas, orzo, feta cheese, and kale (my fav). I always go with the lemon basil vinaigrette that the menu suggests because it is the BEST for this salad. The lemon in the dressing gives the salad a nice kick to an otherwise mild mannered albeit delicious salad. If you are a salad lover I suggest Social and the Grilled Shrimp Salad. Hopefully I will break from my comfort zone and try other salads on the menu. If I do, I will tell YELP first :) note* The staff at Social have always been kind and attentive which is a HUGE Plus in my book!
(4)Jason E.
Full disclosure: I am very critical of restaurant staff because I am a fifteen year industry veteran and have zero tolerance for phonies. This place is filled with them. We had a large party and a child. We ordered uncomplicated items and tried to make it as easy on the staff as possible. Our server, Christian, did a great job and was the ONLY one hustling during a fairly brisk pace of business. She deserves a pat on the back and recognition for basically carrying her team the entire time we were there. I watched her running around the entire restaurant as the rest of the staff slowly meandered around shooting the shit and basically doing nothing. I watched three times as our drinks sat at the service bar maybe 15 feet away from us while multiple staffers walked by, made conversation with the bartenders or by the computer station. I almost got up and told them to get our drinks multiple times but my girlfriend wouldn't let me as we were with her family. It was so annoying to see one person working so hard while everyone else had social hour... Maybe that's where they got their name, who knows. Two of our food items were wrong but we only mentioned one issue which took far too long to resolve. We asked for more cheese on our pizza and it took LITERALLY 12 minutes to get our pie back. The 'manager' brought it back to us and apologized but after watching her underperform for the entirety of our visit I was less than willing to accept her apathy as authentic. All in all it may be a good place to drink as their happy hour includes half off pitchers of shitty beer (they have good beer but its not included in happy hour, wtf) so there's that. The food wasn't bad but it wasn't good either, could be best described as concept-centric completely lacking in creativity. Christian was the only saving grace. She was really trying and is the only reason we stayed. She should look for work at a better restaurant where her abilities won't be squandered. We were given a gift card to return as a gesture from the same 'manager' but we passed it off to a neighbor who likes shitty beer as we will not be going back. Get your act together or get out and make room for something worthwhile.
(2)Miriam H.
Pros: service and environment (kinda) cons: food is pretty boring/bad. I wouldn't go back here unless I was in the area and starving.
(2)Rosalind C.
Underwhelming, if you're coming for the food. If you're just here for drinks, I'm sure this is a much better place. I came for lunch, and ordered the soup du jour and a side salad. Kind of hard to mess up, right? The salad was supposed to be a caesar salad, but had the barest essence of dressing, pretty much non existent cheese, and the lettuce was wilted. As in, floppy limp whythehellwouldyouservethis wilted. Whatever, it was a side salad, and I get it. Who cares about side salads. It's not like you're charging $4 for stuff you probably wouldn't feed your own kid. Oh, but there were a few giant croutons. Guess that's what made it a caesar salad. Maybe I was just disappointed because for a place that has a "build your own salad" option, I wouldn't have thought that a side salad would have been so disappointing. The soup was "baked potato" soup, which was really just creamy potato with some bacon and sour cream. I'm not sure what I was expecting, come to think of it, so I'm not going to give them a hard time about this one, but it wasn't anything I would come back for. My friend had the veggie burger, which came with a whole bunch of tater tots. Now, I haven't had tater tots since elementary school, so I actually give them props for appealing to my retro side. She said the burger was very good. The service was fine, and it's got a nice informal atmosphere that I am sure makes it the perfect place for happy hour. But as a person who doesn't much drink... this place is not impressive at all.
(2)Angela F.
I had been wanting to go to this place for a while, and finally got to go last weekend. I remeber when they first opened they had some Google (it's located in Bakery Square right below Google) shin-dig and the food looked really good. It has an outside seating area but the when we were there it was raining so they covered the outdoor area with an awning thingy. I rather enjoyed the sound of the rain pelting the plastic awning, but, I'm a weirdo, so... The menu is a lot of the norm- salads, sandwichs, pizzas- but with a kind of flare. For example, I got some sort of western salad with corn and black beans but it had mahi mahi on it. SO GOOD! The mahi mahi was delicious and cooked to perfection! Even was boyfriend who thinks everything is so-so declared it was fantastic! And they have delicious, unique dressings like bacon bistro and chipotle lime. Very good! A lot of the sandwiches have unique, unusal ingredients that shake things up as well. My BF and I ended up spliting a pizza and the salad. Like I said, the salad was amazing and the pizza was close behind. Because I picked the salad he picked the pizza and chose a buffalo chicken with blue cheese. Now, being a bread lover I always try the crust first. Having a good or bad crust strongly influences how I feel about a pizza. It was pretty good. Not too thin or thick with a nice wood fire oven taste even tough I don't think it actually is cooked that way. Now, like I said, it was buffalo chicken, which I like, but I'm not a huge fan of blue cheese and this cheese was, I was told, a strong, aged blue cheese. Way too strong for my weak palate. Other than that the pizza itself was good with a tasty buffalo sauce and lots of chicken. Overall I really liked it. Food is definitley about average for a casual joint and the atmosphere is pretty cool too.
(4)Laura H.
I heard Social had a nice patio space so what a perfect place to dine on a night like last night! We sat at one of the bar tops around the edge of the patio. We were quickly greeted by Aubrey (?) who started us off with 2 beers (a 21st amendment IPA for my boyfriend and a Slyfox 113 IPA for me) and waters. Just FYI, pretty sure they have only cans and a few draft selections-no bottles. Friday was half price bottles of wine but we both stuck to beers. The menu I'd classify as "new American"-pizzas,salads,sandwiches,etc. My boyfriend started off with the soup of the day-a chilled squash soup with basil and crème freche. I had only a spoonful but can report it was yummy. A great cold soup for a warm summer evening! For entrees, I ordered the cheesy bacon grilled cheese on white. It came with a side,of which I chose the side salad with jalepeno lime dressing. The grilled cheese was apple bacon and some gouda. It was tasty but the bread overwhelmed the ingredients. I felt there should have either been less bread or more ingredients. The salad was a standard salad but the dressing was excellent-had a spicy kick naturally, being jalepeno dressing. My boyfriend had the Cuban sandwich with fries. On the Cuban was swiss,pork,capicola,pickles,and Dijon. He said it was very tasty but did not resemble a "typical" Cuban. I noticed a lot of tables had pizzas and they smelled delicious so I'd love to go back and try a pizza. It was not too loud outside at all and our service was good so really no complaints on our dining experience!
(3)Swati J.
Awesome: Cauliflower Patties, Ahi Tuna Nachos ,grilled shrimp salad, Caprese, Margherita and the Mushroom Bianca Pizza. But I mostly go there for their great cocktails specially the Manhattan..
(4)Daniel K.
I'm usually a fan of social; however, tonight was the worst restaurant experience I've ever had. My girlfriend found what looked like a live caterpillar (possibly a maggot) crawling through her salad. The service was slow the whole night and I had to basically chase down the waiter to inform him of the live creature in my girlfriends food while my girlfriend tried not to puke in the bathroom. I will never visit this restaurant again and hope that others will read this before accidentally being fed live maggots by this disgusting excuse for a restaurant.
(1)Iliana C.
All I have to say about this place is get the veggie burger. It's so good! Order it without cheese and aioli and it's AMAZING and vegan. What? Yes! We were in such disbelief that the burger was vegan that we had the server ask the chef to verify that it was in fact vegan. This place is a little pricey but it's cute and new. I liked the decor which was open, airy, clean, and inviting. If I worked closer to here I would make this the place to go with coworkers for happy hour. Also like that this place is open late so I can get the veggie burger when I get a craving later in the night.
(4)Alexa P.
I love Social so much!! It's a great addition to the Bakery Square area. I would eat here every day if I could. The spinach and artichoke dip is delicious, and the fried chicken and waffle sandwich is so awesome. The waiters and waitresses were super friendly. All in all, it's a great place to eat.
(5)Melanie Z.
Social has become my new go-to bar. Why? 1. Really good drink specials, both happy hour (5-7 boasts a HUGE selection of $2 beers) and daily. Their drinks are on the pricy side when not on special, but unless there's only one thing you drink, you can find something very affordable. 2. FREE PARKING! It's super close to where I live, but I can convince friends to join me over in 'Sliberty because of the ample ample free parking--both surface and garage. 3. Tasty tasty pizza. The green eggs and ham...oh man. Rarely do I order the same thing twice, but I've had that delicious pizza on several occasions. The pizzas look pricy from the outset, but once you see their size, it makes some sense--2 can easily split a large with a couple of slices to take home. 4. Friendly service! I've sat at the bar most of the time, and have gotten great recommendations from them. They're generous with the pours (my companion had ordered a beer that came off the tap with a thick head of foam, and without any prompting from him, the bartender pulled him a fresh pour), and well-informed about the menu (allergies, etc). But for Pete's sake, DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE FLOOR. I realize they're going for something a little "industrial-chic" but the floor is a huge eyesore, especially in the bathrooms.
(4)Yas T.
I had brunch here and it was OK. The portion was a descent size and the taste was fine. I think it was a little salty for me which means for a normal person veryyyy salty.
(3)Brian K.
Undecorated, bare block walls and concrete floor, echoing, droning acoustics and basement of a frat house feel. The menu is sparse, boring, and the signature cocktails way over priced. For a prime development like Bakery Square I expected much more.
(1)Cara E.
The worst service I've ever experienced. Upon arrival, the manager acting as the host did not offer us the option to sit in their patio area and seated us at a high top table in the middle of the bar on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. Our server, Erin, introduced herself and brought us drinks and that was about all that she did during our meal. After waiting about 45 minutes for our breakfast pizza and mushroom spinach scramble, I asked the manager who was walking by if he could please check on our food. In the meantime, our server did not stop at our table once. Other couples seated in our section that arrived after us had their meals come out and Erin refilled their waters and checked in with them all the while walking past us and not even glancing in our direction. The manager came back to tell us there was a large party ahead of us and we were about 2 tickets away. He refilled our coffee and was apologetic for the wait. After another 15 minutes, our food arrived. The breakfast pizza was extremely hot. The scramble was a mess and clearly made in haste, the "toast" was soggy bread not even toasted, and the tots were cold. The server finally came by after the manager had already gotten us butter and Sriracha and mumbled an apology about the wait and asked if we needed anything for the first time in an hour. My meal was inedible and after waiting an hour we got a few apologies and $2.70 knocked off our bill. As an experienced server myself, this was completely unacceptable service and management. Will not return ever again. Steer clear!!
(1)Lauren P.
I could not wait for this place to open as I live within walking distance and Bakery Square has been in desperate need of a restaurant/bar. It is a great place for a large group for happy hour. Also great to go when it is nice outside and you can sit in their outdoor area which has picnic benches. The daily drink specials are awesome. Tuesdays are BOGO fancy drinks which includes their Sangria (not the best I have had) and margaritas which are so tasty. The pizzas are their specialty and large enough for two people to share. I have gotten salads both times which are delicious and they even have a create your own salad option. Top that off with the scrumptious ice cream cookie sandwich is a must. The only thing that disappoints is the decor-I just don't get it, kind of an arcade theme with plants that look like they are growing from the walls.
(3)Kathleen L.
Social is a nice looking establishment although I've never had the opportunity to eat there. The three times I stopped in, the staff was so busy talking to each other that I was never greeted. This made a very poor impression and didn't make me want to try and get someone's attention to show me to a table. :-(
(2)J D.
First of all, it is in East Liberty, Bakery Square--not Shadyside! Give credit where credit is due!! We had an hour to kill so we stopped in on a Friday night about 9:00. Hubby and I were able to sit at the bar, several open tables around. Nice crowd of people, mostly couples. Ordered the stuffed peppers--they were delish! Each of us had two drinks, I had a berry mojito for $9, and although I could not taste the alcohol, it was yummy. Hubby had two Guinesses. Overall, prices are comparable to what you pay in the rest of the city, bartenders were very friendly, I'm sure we will be back. I would not say this would be a destination for us (mostly because of the parking in Bakery Square), but it is a nice "lay-over."
(4)Lauren H.
Brand new, but lacking luster. The descriptions on the menu belie the actual appetizers and entrees. This "gastropub" was suggested to me for happy hour by a colleague. At first appearances the menu suggests interesting twists on standard pub fair, but don't be fooled. I ordered the "dewedged" salad that claims pancetta as an ingredient. What actually appeared on my plate was cold chewy bacon bits. The consensus at the table was that the food fell far short of what was touted by the waitress as being made predominantly in-house. There's a caveat to the $2 can Tuesday happy hour: It only applies to beers $4.50 and under. Sadly, the beer selection is limited generally. The beer selection priced at $4.50 and under forces you to choose from run-of-the-mill beers like Red Stripe, Blue Moon, and Yuengling. I had a better experience at Industry Public House in Lawrenceville.
(2)Cridick G.
This place is decent for a quick bite to eat and a drink. They have plenty of craft brews and cocktails to choose from. We ordered the cauliflower patties, southwest salad, and jerk wings. The wings were a little dry, but the taste made up for it. The mango jalapeño dipping sauce was pretty damn tasty. Everything on the salad was fresh and the cauliflower patties were nothing special, but they were good.
(3)Jason F.
I really wanted to like Social, I really did, yet while they have a great space, both the service and food was lacking. I stopped by here this past Tuesday evening with my fiance and two other dining companions. My fiance and I had been looking forward to coming here since we noticed that it opened. From the street it looked like a fun place and the same could be said whenever we walked up to it. Outside of the restaurant is some patio seating and a ping pong table while the inside has a dominating bar in the middle with seating around the outside. There is a lot of open space though and so it feels quite large. After looking at the menu I was having a hard time making a decision as to what I wanted for dinner. This night I was not in a mood for a sandwich which pretty much left me the options of having a salad or a pizza. They did have an interesting concept for the salad though where you could make your own. They had a pad of paper and you could pick the toppings that you wanted on the pad and give it to the server. I ended up passing on that as it seemed too pricey and ultimately went with a large Pierogie Pizza. Whenever it came out my first though was that the name was misleading as the pizza had cheese, some onions, scallions, some potato pieces that reminded me of home fries, only a bit larger, and pancetta. Granted I know that in its simplest form a pierogie is potato, dough and topped with onions but I still think they would be better off to call this a loaded baked potato pizza as that resemblance is much stronger. No matter what it was called, I can't say that I enjoyed it too much though. The crust was at least done right as it was a little crispy and had a good taste to it. The sauce was MIA and I honestly couldn't tell if there was any of the garlic oil that was mentioned on the menu on my pizza. Finally the toppings were good although not exactly what I had been expecting with the caramelized onions being my favorite part. Beyond the food I have two other things to note about our experience. The first is that our waitress was slooow. I understand that she had tables both inside and outside (poor decision by the manager?) but she went missing for long periods at times which made it difficult to order extra drinks. The second item is that one of our dining companions had a quite large and sharp piece of a walnut shell in her salad. She bit into it and hurt one of her teeth pretty good on it. We were not looking for a free meal or anything from it and pointed it out to the waitress who said something like "Ohh". Awesome, we just wanted you to let the kitchen know so that they could be more careful. The bottom line for me is that I might head back here again in the future but certainly not for food. Both the service and the food disappointed me and while I did not order any of their drinks, they have a nice list and I was eying them up and imagine that I could enjoy one in the environment that Social has.
(2)Bob J.
The cauliflower cakes are awesome. Crispy outside with a soft tasty inside. Served with an aioli sauce that compliments them very well. Also had some wings that were very crispy and seasoned to perfection. The sauce was served on the side which was a nice touch. The wings were spiced enough to stand alone on their own and the sauce was a nice compliment.
(3)Sarah R.
I want to give this place 4 stars... but something feels slightly lacking for me? I guess I just don't feel impressed. I was pretty hyped about this place opening up, and I think I was anticipating impressive food--but it's your basic bar food offerings: sandwiches, flatbread pizzas, salads, etc. Social is a really laid-back place, with a very open, industrial feel to it. My brain might be inventing this detail, but the outdoor seating was like picnic table-y. It seems like a sports-bar, basically, but with a somewhat hip feel to it. BUT WHO CARES ABOUT ANYTHING I JUST SAID. Food is what brings me out to a place, and we tried the Thai Chicken flatbread pizza and the steak sandwich. Can't say the pizza spoke amorously to me, but I definitely am going to hit the steak sandwich up again. That totally took me by surprise. I was expecting something like a philly steak sandwich, but it was actually was a 6-8oz hanger steak that was REALLY nicely marinated and topped with mushrooms, caramelized onions, and something cheesy. I am absolutely returning for that sandwich. I ordered an old-fashioned, but the server seemed really unfamiliar with what types of whiskey the bar had on hand. Not really a thing to be upset about, since she seemed very new at serving, but I would definitely recommend the restaurant do some type of training for their servers when it comes to what their bar offers. She was really sweet and friendly, however. No complaints there. What I didn't get to try--the Build-Your-Own salad option. The build-your-own salad order sheet had a LOT of things to offer, and I'm looking forward to checking that out... if I can will myself to choose a salad over that steak sandwich...
(3)Glenn M.
I really enjoyed their Reuben Sandwich and Fries. The dressing on it was fresh with a bit of a kick to balance some of that sweetness you normally get. The kraut has a great texture and flavor. It's grilled without being "smashed" like some places are known to do. I give the sandwich a FIVE but I'm rating the overall experience a four because it is a tad loud if you're seated next to the bar and the wait staff were assigned too many tables to really be attentive. They tried, though.
(4)R. P.
I usually like this place but our waitress was one of those people who shouldn't be in the business of pleasing others. .. She was unfortunately just rude to us about multiple things we inquired about. Otherwise decent beers (not a hugee selectiom) and the food is pretty good. They have a nice large outdoor seating area in the front, and trivia on Mondays.
(3)Heidi S.
This place is suffering from an identity crisis, but aren't we all these days? Natural wood and terrarium accents clash with bright lights and colors which compete with the multitude of TVs which interrupt the idea that this is a place where you would come to have conversations which questions the whole pro-new-media-we-are-located-in-the-same-building-Âas-google vibe. But I can kind-of get it; it is Pittsburgh's updated version of socializing (watching and talking about sports in a bright and airy post-industrial space while posting on Facebook and Instagram, or whatever, via smartphone). However, I don't think the atmosphere appeals to anybody in particular, certainly not to me, even though I love terrariums; and I've heard sports fans complain that they keep the volume off (or maybe it was too low) on the TVs (that's just what I heard, could be a rumor! But that's a natural consequence of Social contexts). I half expected Social to have more techy stuff, like iPads at the table with apps that allow for communication with other tables to play games of sorts or select the music, or something, I wouldn't know. So, I've tried the veggie burger and it was just OK, and I had some pizza at an event once which was also alright. Then, there's a couple of REALLY well crafted things about Social: The Brooklyn Bridge and The Bourbon Blast.
(3)Hillary C.
I want to like this place, I really do. I've been here a few times before but sat at the bar and never ordered food, today I tried something new. When we entered, the hostess station was cluttered with cell phones and the blonde hair hostess was texting. We were seated outside, waited about 10 minutes before anyone came to our table. When we finally got service, he was a little slow and spent more time talking with two girls sitting at a hightop table than actually "working." He forgot refills on drinks Never checked back once our food arrived. (His name is Chris). The Cuban sandwich was good but the fries were ice cold. Too bad Chris didn't come around so we could get new ones. Maybe we'll stick to the bar for service.
(2)Amy L.
Came for the soft opening so all the food was free. Food in general was unimpressive, not really good enough for me to pay money for...but then again that was only the soft opening so there's potential. Apparently drinks are pretty good here so I would see myself coming back for happy hour or something.
(3)Kailani K.
Everything on this menu is amazing- except the kale & artichoke dip.. The bruschetta is to die for. The beet salad is my favorite thing I've had in months. My fiancé loves their burger and sandwiches. I have been many times and everyone I've gone with has loved their meals! Absolutely no complaints!
(5)Joann J.
We came here on a Friday night at 7 with a group of 25 or more. We had 3 picnic tables waiting for us and a really nice waitress, Rachel. It was 1/2 price bottles of wine night too! We had a limited menu choice and that was fine. Burgers were small but good served on a pretzel roll, good fries. The pizza was tasty but soggy- it needs some work. All in all a great place with great service good food and fun! Check it out!
(5)Jackie B.
I wasn't sure what to expect based on the mixed reviews, but I'm happy to say my expectations were surpassed! The space is a bit industrial, but also very open and conducive to socializing. The menu has fun "prompts" written along the top in case you need a little help getting the conversation started. Or you could go with my preferred method of social lubrication, alcohol, and get yourself a drink from the fully stocked bar. Your choice. The menu is standard bar food, kicked up a notch and freshened up a bit. Instead of plain ol' nachos and cheese, they're serving up a delicious app of ahi tuna nachos, complete with guac, wasabi, and sriracha. Be aware: this dish comes pre-portion controlled, aka you get five nachos, individually topped with an appropriate amount of ahi tuna and guac. This is a good thing, because you'll have plenty of room to enjoy your main course. I went with a salad known as "The Beet", a lovely combo of arugula, goat cheese, walnuts, roasted beets, green apple, and orange walnut dressing. From looking back at the menu, I also noticed that this salad contained an item known as "roasted reds". I cannot recall what the "roasted reds" were, I may need to go back and investigate. But I digress. Mystery item or not, the salad was tasty. For all you picky salad eaters out there, Social offers a "Social Market" option, where you can use a little mini golf pencil and a checklist to create your own salad. Perfect for when you're feeling particularly persnickety. Finally, the drinks. I was sticking with plain old water on this trip, but I did stare longingly at at the pitcher of sangria across the bar. They've got a small but diverse wine list, some interesting cocktails, and a few "social mixers" that can be ordered by the pitcher. They also have a blackboard of seasonal drafts and a large selection of canned beers. Be sure to check out the daily specials, "Martini Monday", "2 for 1 Tuesday" etc. for deals.
(4)Jason D.
I work near Bakery Square and was excited to hear a new restaurant was opening here. I came here for lunch one day. I ate outside on the patio. I had the shrimp Po'boy which was very good. The menu looks intriguing with lots of different items on the menu. Prices were fairly reasonably for a sit down restaurant. They also have a nice happy hour with very reasonably priced drinks.
(4)Alyson G.
This food is amazing. It's always so fresh. The turkey burger has so much flavor. The staff is so friendly, the genuine friendliness not fake. I have now been here four times and it keeps getting better. I highly recommend coming to try their food.
(5)Dan S.
Very fresh salad, great coffee, but NOT good gluten-free pizza crust. Unchewable, kinda like industrial cardboard.
(2)Samantha G.
Was the turkey burger good? Yes. Pretty good. Was my friend's hamburger good? Eh. Nothing to write home about. Was the pitcher of Social Cocktail we purchased worth it for $30? Definitely not. Was the staff attentive and friendly? Yes. I really wanted to like Social. I live two blocks away and I'm in desperate need of a reliably delicious restaurant alternative to Point Brugge or what's on South Highland. Social has a lot going for it, but sadly, the food is just not up to snuff. The only reason I would go back is to have a beer and watch a hockey game, but it's just not a viable food restaurant for me.
(2)Maria E.
We tried this restaurant on a beautiful day, and the outside area was a wonderful place to enjoy a meal. Unfortunately, it was marred by some unpleasant guests around us- a very unruly table (which we certainly can't blame the restaurant for), and a table with a dog that was barking and intruding on the space of every table around. I think the restaurant could have done a better job of controlling these issues and creating a pleasant dining experience for everyone. We both ordered "build your own" salads, which is a bit copy-cat from Bites and Brews, but is a nice option for those of us with food intolerances. The salads were good, but nothing to write home about. If you're looking for a nice outdoor space to eat, this place is great, but I wouldn't make the trip for the food or drinks otherwise.
(3)Andy L.
Awesome food. I love the atmosphere. Wasn't sure what to expect when they announced it was going in, but they've exceeded my expectations. My favorites so far are the cauliflower bites and the meatball sliders. They also have some sweet high tech additions to the bar including charging ports below the bar for your phone, a jukebox you can control from your phone, and dartboards that allow you to play against someone across the world. Cool place. The owners are cool too, very friendly and awesome. I work across the street and it's great to have the smell of a burger cooking outside once and a while!
(5)Dio K.
The food is good, definitely a decent menu. Standard American bar food, but a notch higher. The salads can be rather disappointing FYI, so bet on the phenomenal pizzas. My biggest complaint is the poor service. We came in on a Monday for dinner, which apparently is their trivia night. The music and announcer's microphone were so ungodly loud, we could barely place our orders with the waitress, let alone have dinner conversation. We asked if they could lower the volume, and were told that the trivia emcee doesn't like to go lower. Seriously? So, your emcee trumps your paying customers? If I were going to a rowdy bar, I might understand, but not at a casual restaurant. They did offer to reseat us at a farther away table but the speakers were still so loud it made no difference. Sure, the food is decent and it's nearby, but the insolent customer service is enough of a turnoff to make this a "if it's the apocalypse and this is the only place to eat" kind of restaurant.
(2)Joshua G.
Great staff, good atmosphere, the food has room for improvement. Aioli was bland, the grilled cheese was essentially cheese-less, and there was cheese in my fiancee's wrap, despite specifying (lactose allergy). The staff was genuinely concerned, though, and the pizza and guacamole were pretty good. The wrap was great the second time around.
(3)Mike C.
Never order the Wings ! Tiny, tiny tiny Wings. Small order for $6 for 6 of the smallest restaurant wings I have ever had. Came in basket without even a couple of pieces of celery or carrots for Presentation/Color. Didn't add any dipping sauce. Not sure how much extra. Dry Rub was OK, but a little salty.
(2)Kostas P.
I have been to social a couple of times. All the times I get the same feeling. This place has real potentials, especially due to its location and atmosphere, to become a popular joint with locals, but I think there are a few things that need to be improved here. I understand that the place is fairly new (I think right now it is not even 2 months old) but the service stuff, even though polite and helpful seem to not be aware of the menu and some basic processes (e.g., remembering orders, splitting bills, leaving straws for drinks etc.). Coming to the food part I have mixed feelings. Whatever I have tried tasted ok, however many times most of the people in my company are not really satisfied with their plates. All in all, I think I will give it a try again but maybe a couple of months later so as people to have some time to improve.
(3)Mary S.
Not too impressed with the food here. I had the peanut thai pizza, which was alright, a bit on the dry side. My boyfriend got the shrimp salad, which was a little better. I would probably give this place another try though since their menu seemed to have a lot of interesting options. Maybe they were just having an off night. The waitress was really nice and helpful.
(3)conor m.
I'm going to give social a 3 and heres why. the food here was good, actually everything we ordered was good, so no issue there. However, the space itself is pretty jenky for being brand new, the entrance is in the way of the waiter traffic, the layout make you feel like you may never see your server again, and to top it all off they have exposed refrigerator, with a slight bit more care, or through hiring a decent design organization this place could be awesome, but much like the rest of bakery square this place seems not quite done
(3)Susan S.
Went for dinner and drinks. Great patio, really good drinks, and we all really enjoyed our meals. The crowd and vibe were fun. We will definitely be back. Check out the house made turkey burger and nightly drink specials.
(5)Catherine G.
socials concept is nice. i like the well designed menus and at a glance, there were lots of things to choose from... however... the lighting in there is very bright. awkwardly bright. and something about how its painted made me feel like i was in a cafeteria. i'm a young 20-something that eats at modern restaurants all the time but this place didn't execute to it right. it feels stark, like i'm sitting in a garage almost. tables were too close together (guy behind me and my head were basically touching), host and waitress were both passively nice in a weird way, and there was not a young crowd here. actually surprised because it was a lot of families and older folks - totally fine - just not what i expected at all. food was not good. i had a salad that i almost sent back. too much dressing, butter lettuce on a caesar (so weird), and the dressing didn't taste "truffled" as the menu suggested, it actually tasted really generic and not very caesar at all. my friend got a sandwhich that did not have much meat. we were disappointed. honestly, i think things could be improved here and i'd try it again. they have the typical daily specials like sister-restaurant shady grove, but at this point, i'll stick with the original.
(2)NT H.
I've been wanting to try this place since I saw it go in, so I went for happy hour with a friend. I got there quite early and sat at the bar; figured I would just have a drink until she got there. I ordered a lemon drop martini--a favorite drink, and something that most bars can handle. I have no idea what the bartender put in this. I think it was sour mix and a very small amount of vodka, based on how incredibly sweet it was. The bartender asked if it was ok; I said it tasted awfully sweet so he kindly offered to add more lemon juice. He added quite a bit more "juice" from a container behind the bar and the drink tasted exactly the same--which is why I think it was sour mix. Oh well, I thought, I can stand to drink this and I'll switch to wine afterwards. The bartender apologetically explained that he "is not a martini person" and left. Fine, I get that...but this isn't a complicated drink and *you are a bartender*. I finished that drink and waited about ten minutes for the bartender to notice (again, at about 5pm on a Tuesday, when the bar was perhaps 1/4 full). He finally came over. I ordered a glass of wine. My friend texted to say she was finally on her way. Five minutes later, still no glass of wine in sight. I told her it wasn't worth coming and we met at Casbah instead. I finally flagged down the bartender ten minutes after this. He seemed to have no recollection of my wine order so I paid and left. Definitely won't be back! The specials were...nothing special, and certainly didn't rival the many better happy hours in the Shadyside area.
(1)Casey L.
Cam here a few days ago with a friend and we sat at the bar. I'm origianlly from the East End but no longer live in Pittsburgh. This restaurant is in the new Bakery Square shopping center. The bartender that waited on us was very sweet and was a winker...cute. I ordered the beet salad and we split the truffle mushroom pizza. Both were very good. The beer list is also pretty extensive; I got a few IPAs. My only peeve with the place was that it was VERY bright. I didn't think it should be dark- but I felt like I was hanging out drinking in a department store/grocery store with the intense overhead lighting. Overall I think it was good but I prefer my restaurants a little moodier :)
(4)Jonny B.
Decent food - pizza is good & decent bar selection. BUT the service kinda sucks. It was fairly slow, and I had to wait a very long time whenever I needed something. Maybe I just had a bad bar tender... Other than that I suppose it's ok. But if anything else was closer, I would rather have gone elsewhere. The value isn't worth the price.
(2)Jenna I.
Went here for dinner last night. Great special of $1.87 for a can if beer or cider. I ordered the woodchuck can to drink. Appetizer choices were different but we decided to be safe and order Luis' spicy chicken dip with half pita bread and half tortilla chips. It was just like a buffalo chicken dip but with a lot more cream cheese. We both created our own salads which were delicious and I was pleasantly surprised that my fried chicken was actually buffalo fried chicken. I would go back again and try something se. Salads are ok and can get boring
(4)Suzanne K.
Mediocre food, cold cavernous room, loud, way too expensive for what you get (quality and taste of the food is a notch below Eat N' Park, for example). It's a shame because the location is great and their staff is wonderful.
(2)Danielle W.
I always ride past Social it usually has a large crowd .I read some good reviews and decided to try it . I was with a group of 8 people . They have a Groups of 6 or more gratuities are included policy . Which was very apparent because our waitress was awful . It was a Sunday afternoon not at all crowded she was just prancing around the room she would show up then leave and not come back for what seems like forever she wouldn't even look our way .. We had 2 kids under 4 yrs old she never acknowledged them. at one point someone in our group had to get up and go get her . Other times we had to yell and wave across the restaurant for her attention . Before we knew her tip was included everyone was talking about this horrible service . Then it all made since she already had her tip included in the bill and she wasn't willing to work or put in effort for more . I work in the service industry . I actually work in a first class setting and she is everything a waitress shouldn't be . I let her know on my way out the door how her service was and she said Oh sorry you can fill out a comment card . Now to the food . One person in the group said it doesn't smell like any food is cooking and when we got our food it didn't taste like it either . I ordered the jerk wings . The jerk wings are not JERK . They were beyond crispy that chicken was over by about 5 min. The jerk wings are hook n fish wing dings with a chili dipping sauce on the side . Jerk requires a marinade of unbelievable spices I really want then to change the name some of my Jamaican friends would be appalled . The pizza was tasteless though it had a nice thin crust which I like but still no flavor . The Thai Shrimp tacos looked great but were ice cold and had no flavor . My sister had a $12 glass of Pinot Grigio which is a complete rip off ..she didn't look at price before ordering she said oops .my drink Sangria with fresh fruit taste like raspberry lemonade no trace of alcohol.. The buffalo chicken pizza had to be sent back because of the huge globs of bleu cheese that overwhelmed the pizza ..Like I said I'm a foodie also a cook with a excellent palate I won't be back . Nor would I recommend this to anyone ..Ugh
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