Restaurants in Monroeville

Inspired by both local and international influences, the chefs of Cornerstone Restaurant & Bar prepare a menu of American cuisine that delights in seasonal ingredients and changes. Housed within a building that was originally a bank—complete with original vault doors—the restaurant has offered tastes of pan-seared scallops, served alongside barley risotto, pancetta, blood oranges and roasted brussels sprouts.

While they sit next to exposed-brick walls, diners can feast on risotto with wild mushrooms, duck confit, pomegranate seeds, and crispy parsnips. Lamb burgers are bedecked with goat cheese, arugula, and a balsamic-truffle vinaigrette, and roasted beets are thin sliced and served with fennel and arugula to make up a salad.

Accompanying these meals are a selection of beers, cocktails, and spirits. Domestic and imported beers reveal microbrew and seasonal tastes, and cocktails deliver everything from fruit-flavored vodkas to straight bourbons.

When you step into Middle Road Inn, you can feel a homey, welcoming atmosphere lingering in the air from its history as both a family home and hotel. The 19th-century building was originally Andre's Silver Star Hotel, a place where people traveling by coach or steam-powered Segway to Pittsburgh would stop for a pub meal and lodging. Wilbert Blazek purchased the site from the Andre family in the mid 1970s, running the restaurant and bar and raising his children in what was previously the hotel area. The Ferragonio family then bought and renovated the space a decade later, adding a new dining room, a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace, a deck for alfresco dining, and a game room. The current restaurant also owes its famous hand-breaded fish sandwich recipe to this era.

Photographs of the inn's early days hang on the walls, joining the hardwood ceilings in creating a nostalgic and inviting atmosphere. The food is no less comforting: a handmade pizza or a shredded-pot-roast sandwich covered in homemade gravy pair well with occasional live music. After the meal, guests can head to the game room for video games, pool, or darts and practice their Victorian quadrille moves on the dance floor.

The chefs at Taipei bridge the gap between two of Asia’s superpowers, plating Chinese favorites from Taipei duck to general tso’s chicken alongside delicately rolled Japanese sushi specialties. Although their menu is built upon a pair of thousand-year-old culinary traditions, they also understand the value of a speedy bite; each day, they arrange a selection of favorites such as the moo goo gai pan into fast, tasty lunches paired rice, egg rolls, soup, and your own personal fast-forward button.

Inside a building that once sat vacant for several years, Barcelona at Rivers Edge transformed the empty space into a modern European restaurant that fuses flavors and styles of Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy. The revamped establishment merges international bites with views of the Allegheny River, which are especially impressive from Barcelona’s top-floor lounge and summertime rooftop deck. In addition to its extensive food spread and riverside vistas, Barcelona offers a wide range of wines and cocktails, including house-made sangria.

Not many people get the chance to dine in a restaurant's wine cellar, but at Vallozzi's, diners can book the underground space for a private dinner or dine in one of four other elegant areas. While enjoying award-winning wines, guests can feast on upscale Italian cuisine in Vallozzi's Classic dining room, which awards the eyes with hand-painted murals and romantic lighting. Alfresco dining options include Casa Elena and the patio, where guests can bask in the breeze without picnicking on an airport runway. Rounding out the quintet of rooms and boasting a handmade maple and olive wood bar, Rosso Bianco blends casual and chic with light-strewn tables, wine racks, and flat-screen TVs.

Savoy's executive chef, Kevin Watson, a People's Choice winner at Savor Pittsburgh in 2011, draws from 25 years of culinary experience to put a modern spin on American dishes, from barbecue ribs and burgers to seafood. Chef Watson’s eclectic mélange of upscale entrees and comfort fare has been featured on Pittsburgh Today, in the New Pittsburgh Courier, and in the recurring dreams of the restaurant’s regulars. Watson recommends his chicken and waffles with Pennsylvania maple syrup, saying "For this one I paired one of my personal favorite dishes, corn pudding, with a classic West Coast entrée and added a dash of Pittsburgh."

Meanwhile, the space's ritzy décor has enticed celebrities that include Tyson Beckford, Cedric the Entertainer, and Mya. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review marveled: "Pittsburgh designer Luca Paganico transformed an old, three-story building…in the Strip District into a posh, swanky, 74-seat establishment with imported Italian leather couches and chairs, fiber-optic bar tops, walls with lighting that changes color as customers dine, and different music playing in each room and hallway."