i want to love apteka so bad, but after 3 negative experiences in a row here, i don’t know if i’ll be going back.
on one occasion, i was quoted an hour wait, and i put my name down. after an hour and a half we stopped back in to see how much longer, and turns out the host threw away the paper he wrote the names down on. again, last night the same host seemingly forgot about putting me on the waitlist. i was told—word for word—“it should be 45 minutes. could be sooner, could be later.” ok??? after an hour my boyfriend went in to see the status and *conveniently* our table was ready at that moment. after ordering at the front (which is an insane system, but i’ve overlooked it because the food is usually good) we weren’t shown to our table and had to search for the host. turned around and he was standing besides our table, waving us over without a word, looking extremely inconvenienced.
if they fixed their whole “notebook and pencil” system of taking names down, and actually let people order at their tables, things would probably run more smoothly. There’s simply a whole lot of inconveniences that shouldn’t be happening at a restaurant like this.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
Ed Ma
I’ve always avoided vegan food because I LOVE meat. Eye popping, amazing food. So flavorful and unctuous that I didn’t missed the lack of meat. Reasonably priced. Friendly service. The food was worth the 40 min wait even though we arrived at the 5pm opening time.By 6:30 pm on a Saturday there were 2 open tables. So wait at 4:30 pm at door or wait till 2 nd seating at around 6:15pm.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Veronica Kennedy
From people raised in rich Polish and Armenian/Russian heritage, Apteka is absolutely outstanding. Incredible ingredients bursting with so much flavor - We're floating. We are from out of town, and we would return to visit Pitt again just for the chance to dine here. Mic Drop.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
redeats
One of the best meals of my life. The restaurant’s setting is beautiful, loved, and warm. We got a bunch of things to split, both the pierogi dishes, the potato dumplings, sunflowers, roasted pepper toast situation. Phenomenal ❤️❤️❤️ everything.
Absolutely delightful experience! Got the Knedle and lentil soup for appetizers, and the Kotlet and Smázone Pierogi for the mains, and each dish had a unique flavor profile with carefully curated ingredients.
Highly recommend it to everyone living in or visiting Pittsburgh.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
thebasementbeauty
all vegan, Eastern European inspired. Cool concept. Tangy, earthy, and hearty. They’re known for taking classic Polish/Slavic comfort food and giving it that funky, plant-based twist Both service and food were great
Ron Thalanki
The best restaurant in Pittsburgh
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Anoushka V
08/29/2025 - 8:15pm I really thought I could avoid writing this, but even a few days later I can’t shake the experience I had at Apteka.
The front-of-house service was absolutely terrible. Why greet customers if you’re going to be rude a few minutes later? I expected the place to be crowded, but after a 40-minute wait we finally got a table—only to be told to order at the front (basically low-key self-service).
We were then seated outside where it was loud and completely dark. On top of that, the front-of-house staff didn’t help us find our table while we juggled glasses and a carafe of water (yes, we had to carry those ourselves too). Thankfully, at least the cutlery was already at the table.
The food itself was just okay, but the poor service overshadowed everything. I won’t be heading back.
Cafe style on a busy Sunday night made for over an hour and half before food. Thankfully the food was worth it. Sunflower, fried pierogies were great
Nicholas Rowland
Busy, but well operated Polish vegan place with an excellent wine list and good cocktails and spirits (esp. Slivovitz, which is not always easy to find). We had the open-faced buckwheat sandwich (the fresh dill sets that up nice, the sunflower seed head (roasted, genius), and fried perogies (every bit as good as anything in, say, Gdańsk). Service is efficient and a couple are even nice in a, well, stand-offish way. We had four wines, all good — actually hard to make a mistake on that list if you like low alcohol, food friendly, lighter, racy wines. Place felt packed right up until close (10pm).
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ethan Hale
Got Fasolka po Bretónsku and the Kotlet Selerowy. Both were amazing the soup was nice and smoky with the onion bread complementing it very well, only wish they gave you more loaves of it. The celeriac cutlet was great nice amount of salt and pepper plus the texture was kinda fish like but firm enough that it could pass as meat if you fed it to me blindfolded. The sides that came with the cutlet were beets which were just ok though I'm not a beet guy, coleslaw which definitely helped cutting the fat of the cutlet could definitely stand on its own, and potatoes with dill were pretty solid but nothing stand out.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
On Off
The highest possible rating for plant based clean food all made from scratch, excellent drink, and liquor, selection, and many Polish options.
The food at Apteka was to die for!!! Some of the best if not -the- best vegan food I’ve ever had. Service and ordering system was a bit chaotic but I’m more than willing to overlook it given the quality and uniqueness of all the dishes we tried.
Good food
i want to love apteka so bad, but after 3 negative experiences in a row here, i don’t know if i’ll be going back.
on one occasion, i was quoted an hour wait, and i put my name down. after an hour and a half we stopped back in to see how much longer, and turns out the host threw away the paper he wrote the names down on. again, last night the same host seemingly forgot about putting me on the waitlist. i was told—word for word—“it should be 45 minutes. could be sooner, could be later.” ok??? after an hour my boyfriend went in to see the status and *conveniently* our table was ready at that moment. after ordering at the front (which is an insane system, but i’ve overlooked it because the food is usually good) we weren’t shown to our table and had to search for the host. turned around and he was standing besides our table, waving us over without a word, looking extremely inconvenienced.
if they fixed their whole “notebook and pencil” system of taking names down, and actually let people order at their tables, things would probably run more smoothly. There’s simply a whole lot of inconveniences that shouldn’t be happening at a restaurant like this.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
I’ve always avoided vegan food because I LOVE meat. Eye popping, amazing food. So flavorful and unctuous that I didn’t missed the lack of meat. Reasonably priced. Friendly service. The food was worth the 40 min wait even though we arrived at the 5pm opening time.By 6:30 pm on a Saturday there were 2 open tables. So wait at 4:30 pm at door or wait till 2 nd seating at around 6:15pm.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
From people raised in rich Polish and Armenian/Russian heritage, Apteka is absolutely outstanding. Incredible ingredients bursting with so much flavor - We're floating. We are from out of town, and we would return to visit Pitt again just for the chance to dine here. Mic Drop.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
One of the best meals of my life. The restaurant’s setting is beautiful, loved, and warm. We got a bunch of things to split, both the pierogi dishes, the potato dumplings, sunflowers, roasted pepper toast situation. Phenomenal ❤️❤️❤️ everything.
I wish I could live here 10/10
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Vegan, Kotlet Seterowy, Dumplings, Kluski Śląskie, Celeriac Schnitzel, Fried Pierogi, Pierogi Z Ziemniakami, Salads
Absolutely delightful experience! Got the Knedle and lentil soup for appetizers, and the Kotlet and Smázone Pierogi for the mains, and each dish had a unique flavor profile with carefully curated ingredients.
Highly recommend it to everyone living in or visiting Pittsburgh.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
all vegan, Eastern European inspired. Cool concept. Tangy, earthy, and hearty. They’re known for taking classic Polish/Slavic comfort food and giving it that funky, plant-based twist
Both service and food were great
The best restaurant in Pittsburgh
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
08/29/2025 - 8:15pm
I really thought I could avoid writing this, but even a few days later I can’t shake the experience I had at Apteka.
The front-of-house service was absolutely terrible. Why greet customers if you’re going to be rude a few minutes later? I expected the place to be crowded, but after a 40-minute wait we finally got a table—only to be told to order at the front (basically low-key self-service).
We were then seated outside where it was loud and completely dark. On top of that, the front-of-house staff didn’t help us find our table while we juggled glasses and a carafe of water (yes, we had to carry those ourselves too). Thankfully, at least the cutlery was already at the table.
The food itself was just okay, but the poor service overshadowed everything. I won’t be heading back.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 1
Restaurantji Recommends
Cafe style on a busy Sunday night made for over an hour and half before food. Thankfully the food was worth it. Sunflower, fried pierogies were great
Busy, but well operated Polish vegan place with an excellent wine list and good cocktails and spirits (esp. Slivovitz, which is not always easy to find). We had the open-faced buckwheat sandwich (the fresh dill sets that up nice, the sunflower seed head (roasted, genius), and fried perogies (every bit as good as anything in, say, Gdańsk). Service is efficient and a couple are even nice in a, well, stand-offish way. We had four wines, all good — actually hard to make a mistake on that list if you like low alcohol, food friendly, lighter, racy wines. Place felt packed right up until close (10pm).
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Got Fasolka po Bretónsku and the Kotlet Selerowy. Both were amazing the soup was nice and smoky with the onion bread complementing it very well, only wish they gave you more loaves of it. The celeriac cutlet was great nice amount of salt and pepper plus the texture was kinda fish like but firm enough that it could pass as meat if you fed it to me blindfolded. The sides that came with the cutlet were beets which were just ok though I'm not a beet guy, coleslaw which definitely helped cutting the fat of the cutlet could definitely stand on its own, and potatoes with dill were pretty solid but nothing stand out.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The highest possible rating for plant based clean food all made from scratch, excellent drink, and liquor, selection, and many Polish options.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Vegan, Dumplings, Celeriac Schnitzel, Pierogi Z Ziemniakami, Zupa Grzybowa
The food at Apteka was to die for!!! Some of the best if not -the- best vegan food I’ve ever had. Service and ordering system was a bit chaotic but I’m more than willing to overlook it given the quality and uniqueness of all the dishes we tried.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 2
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