Emporio: A Meatball Joint
942 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh
(412) 281-2810
Recent Reviews
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Enjoyed our brunch. Pumpkin spice waffle & goat cheese frittata were both yummy. The mimosa tower is the bomb! Get it! The Bloody Mary was also mixed well. Our server was lovely. Would return for Sunday brunch.
The vibe is nice. However, I ordered a $13 arugula salad and it was the smallest salad I've ever had. I honestly cannot believe they felt comfortable serving that.
Atmosphere & Ambiance The decor and atmosphere were fun and enjoyable. The noise level was elevated, which is to be expected during a dinner rush, but it was not overly disruptive. The Food Overall, the food was disappointing, lacking flavor and depth. Focaccia: The bread served was not a traditional focaccia. It consisted of slices of Italian bread that were extremely crunchy and difficult to use with our burrata appetizer. Vodka Pasta: The pasta was bland and tasted predominantly of a simple tomato sauce. It lacked the distinct flavor and creamy features that differentiate a good vodka sauce from a marinara. Service & Billing Issues The service was slow to medium-paced. We would recommend allowing a full two hours for drinks, appetizers, and dinner if you choose to dine here. The most frustrating part of the evening was the disorganized billing process: We initially noticed two extra items incorrectly added to our bill. After waiting over 10 minutes for our waitress to return, we went to the bar to get the check corrected due to being in a rush for an event. We waited an additional 15 minutes at the bar for the manager to correct the bill. When the corrected bill was finally returned, there was no itemized copy, and the new total was an incorrect whole number. Due to the rush, we paid the incorrect, though close, amount rather than fighting it further, but the process was unnecessarily frustrating and time-consuming. A manager even approached us while we were waiting at the bar, and after we mentioned the check issue, they acted as though they were unaware of the situation. Summary The lackluster food quality combined with a highly disorganized and frustrating billing experience means we will not be returning. A total of $80 for one appetizer, one dinner, and two drinks felt very expensive for the quality of the food and the level of service we received.
My husband and I went to Sienna Mercato in May, 2025 for dinner before a show. Though it was a Friday evening, it wasn't busy at all. Once we were seated, we waited nearly 25 minutes but nobody approached our table. So I went to the bar to order drinks and ask if we actually had a server assigned to our table. A few minutes later, the server came to apologize and said she was in the back and wasn't told she had a table. After that, the drinks and food came out fairly quickly. However, because we waited so long, we had to rush to finish dinner prior to the show we saw. Last night, October 28, 2025, prior to seeing a concert at Heinz Hall, we took friends to Sienna Mercato for dinner. They had never been there before. I will say that it was much busier than it was a few months ago. However, we had the same exact experience that we had a few months ago. After 25 minutes, my husband went to the hostess to ask if someone would be coming to our table. Our server came to us quickly after that...but just to greet us and say that she'd be back. It was another ten minutes before someone different came to us (now 35 minutes after we were seated). She said she'd be taking over our table. She asked for our drink orders. We told her that, because we were seeing a concert at Heinz Hall, we needed to place the drink and food order immediately. She seemed put off by that, but took our orders. It took a while for our food and drinks to arrive, but that wasn't surprising because it was busy. What was frustrating is that most people had cleared out because, I assume, they were going to the concert also. And yet, our table STILL seemed to be ignored. The concert started at 8:00pm. We asked for our check at 7:45pm. She brought it at 7:53pm. We quickly paid and ran to get to the theater. The food was (as it always is) very good. But the service has been terrible the past two times we've gone there. Third time's a charm? Hopefully!
Are dining experience at Mezzo was excellent from start to finish! Our server Brooke was so kind and a real pro. She was friendly and attentive and timed our service perfectly knowing that we had a show to attend. We didn't feel rushed, but she made sure that everything was completed on time, including settling our bill.  it was relaxed, and each one of our courses was so good. The wine, the focaccia, our Caesar salad, and our pasta dishes. We look forward to going back! 
We had a group of 7 for brunch and we had a great server, however our service was poor. We ordered drinks and they took about 30 minutes to arrive and everyone's but mine came. We ordered our entrees and my brother ordered 2, received 1 while the rest of the table waited. He was finished with his 1st entree when they brought everyone else's food with them exception of guess who...me as well as my brother's second entree. The rest of the party was almost finished with their food and we still hadn't gotten ours. We asked for the manager and my brother canceled his other entree. Right as the manager came to the table they brought my food. This was totally unacceptable and we said so to the manager. She was nice enough to remove my meal from the bill and sent over 3 desserts for 7 people to share. Doubt I'll ever return.
Absolutely loved the meatballs! Our group of 5 had a wide assortment of meatball sliders and I had the Italian meatball bowl. It was all fabulous and our service was spot on. Wish we had this by my home in South Carolina.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I ordered an espresso martini that unfortunately tasted more like watered-down coffee than anything resembling the real cocktail—and it was $15. Service was equally disappointing. Our server was training a new server-we had two people waiting on us yet with only two other tables in the entire restaurant, you’d expect they could efficiently handle a table of four. Instead, we didn’t see our waitress again until halfway through the meal, and no one returned to ask about additional drinks or refills.
As for the food: the cheesy bread had decent cheese but lackluster bread, and the Parmesan fries were enjoyed by the kids, though I found them bland and under-seasoned. The entrées were edible, but nothing memorable or worth recommending.
Overall, the service was lacking to say the least, food was subpar, and the drinks were poor. I won’t be returning—and won’t be trying the other locations tied to this establishment either.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
We went for dinner on a Thursday evening so it was nice and quiet. Even though it wasn't busy, it seemed to take a while to get drinks. Food came out right away. I ordered Cacio e Pepe, which was delicious but not a large portion for the price. My husband ordered the Chicken Marsala which was also delicious and a huge portion perfectly matching the price. The staff were very pleasant and welcoming.
Salad was mediocre but the entrees were adequate. Our server was not around to take the check so we ended up waiting for what felt like half an hour just to pay our bill when we wanted to leave. The place itself is great but it was very hot when we went. Seemed like an off night for them, so I'm sure they do better on other days. Our experience was not great.
Restaurantji Recommends
We should have turned around and left when we realized the a/c was out of service. Unfortunately things didn't improve from there. Ordered warm burrata with fresh basil and roasted tomatoes. Received cold burrata with chopped parsley, and 3 cherry tomatoes cut in half raw. Dissatisfied with the whole appetizer experience. Then the service. Our waitress was horrible. Disappearing for long periods of time. At one point we were left sitting with no drink, water or food in a sweltering prison for 20 minutes. We she finally came. Back to the table we realized she forgot to enter our entree order. When was finally served, Luke warm, we were starving. Guess that at least made the “eh” food seem better. Couldn't wait to get out of there, if only we could find the waitress to get the check........
The food was under seasoned. Our entrees came out 1 minute after our appetizers despite placing the order for the appetizers about 10 minutes before the entrees. We got tiramisu to go that we tried as soon as we got home (about 20 minutes later). It tasted rancid and had to be thrown out. The food on the first floor is much better. Service and ambiance were both good though.
The space is absolutely beautiful and comfortable. It was cozy for a dinner for two, exactly what we wanted. The staff was very friendly and efficient. We ordered the calamari as an appetizer and it was fantastic and perfect. My wife's Spaghetti Carbonara was amazing and my Soppressata and Hot Honey Pizza was phenomenal. The restaurant gifted us Godfather Cannolis for dessert to celebrate our anniversary, which was unexpected and very kind of them. We had excellent drinks too, Prosecco and a "Heatwave." Both were perfect. Cannot say enough nice things about this place and our experience last night! I HIGHLY recommend you not miss out and that you pay them a visit soon!
The burrata and short rib pasta were excellent. We shared both and were full! Excellent service.
Food was really great....slightly warm on a hot humid day but the quality of the food was so great we loved it.
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