Penn City Grill - Pittsburgh

Staying at the Westin for the week. Asked the front desk for a local restaurant to have breakfast. They suggested we stay at the hotel and try the Penn City Grill. My first reaction was way is this place empty at 8 am did we miss the breakfast rush. We were two of 10 guests having breakfast. The waiter was very animated I assumed was an aspiring actor. He offered us coffee and juices. The coffee was Starbucks. $4.50 and they leave the pot, about 4 cups. The juice was also $4.50 and they do refill. Breakfast choices were non traditional. There is plenty of healthy choices for those that are healthier then most. However if your looking for a traditional breakfast you will need to go elsewhere. We ordered the ham and eggs. Poached eggs that were hardly poached. $15.00 for two eggs with ham and toast with a small portion of home fries. Tomorrow we go in town looking for a diner

I have mixed feelings about Penn City Grill. I came in for breakfast expecting speedy service given the low volume of customers. While service was initially fast, it quickly deteriorated. After placing my order, my waitress then forgot my order and had to walk back to my table to ask for my order again. Additionally, it took quite a while for them to get my check to me after I had finished eating. The food, though, was pretty good. I had the BLT Benedict and was pleasantly surprised by the sweetened English muffin; the sweet taste contrasted nicely with the bacon and gave a refreshing twist to the traditional Benedict recipe.

The service and people were very nice at the Penn City Grill. However, we were disappointed with the food and pricing. I got a small sandwich, a little portion of hash browns, and coffee for $19.50. My wife got a bagel, hash browns, and coffee for $13.50. The BLT sandwich was okay at best. We think they should incorporate a buffet style breakfast for hotel guest instead of a small pricy breakfast menu.

This place is ok. Food is ok. Atmosphere is ok. Location and convenience to your hotel is amazing. Don't expect amazing food but a semi-quick bite where you can almost always get a table with no wait. If you have time run across the street to the Taco place or Meatball place down the road. If you have extra time go to Gauchos.

So I have a theory. The architects at the Westin really wanted to build an obstacle course as part of the hotel. And so they did. But then they couldn't figure out how to market it. So they decided to turn that obstacle course into a restaurant instead, and they called it the Penn City Grill. Now, the food isn't too bad, and the sushi is decent. But the service is so slow and so inefficient at the Penn City Grill, that it's almost comical to watch the waitstaff run back and forth, without any rhyme or reason, because anything you ask for menu, silverware, napkins, check requires at minimum two laps around the obstacle course. So eventually, I stopped expecting the waitstaff to come around, and just enjoyed the show. Never mind that the restaurant is at most 25% full. Stuff just takes that long. Bravo, Penn City Grill! If that's the goal you were aiming for, you certainly succeeded.