User Reviews for Pistachio Bar & Grille

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Feb 3, 2009 by Jason from Emmaus
Overall Rating: 5
Food:[1] • Service:[6] • Atmosphere:[6]

• Decent service, no bread though.
• Bad food, lacked flavor. Sub par value.

“Good service, bad food. Duck egg rolls: the duck was horribly over cooked, hard as a rock. And there was a very doughy, undercooked piece of the wonton wrapper in the egg roll, very unappealing. Jambalaya risotto: lacked flavor, was expecting more of a spicy, Cajun type dish. This dish was very underwhelming. I have been to Pistachio 3 times now and have had sub par experiences every time. The food and experience is just not worth the money. Go to TGI Fridays in the same parking lot, you will know what your going to get.”

Jul 28, 2008 by Pat from Allentown
Overall Rating: 1
Food:[2] • Service:[1] • Atmosphere:[2]

• Plenty of parking?
• Poor service, overpriced menu and ala carte everything.

“Our party of 10 visited your establishment for a business lunch recently and unfortunately we were all quite disappointed not only with our meals but the overall restaurant's experience. First issue, our lunches took a very long time to be prepared and served. While other tables around us were offered different varieties of freshly baked multi grain breads and rolls, our large table, on the other hand, was only given a few tiny, (and rock hard), crustini croutons with a tad of hummus, one of which almost damaged my colleague's dental work. The overall quality of the meals were also lacking given the high priced selections offered. We also felt the menu lacked a reasonable amount of more appropriate lunch type portion selections. And finally right next to our table, either a waiter or manager was yelling at one of the cooks about some other order. Highly unprofessional conduct given it happened on the restaurant floor, and not to mention, right next to our table! It was extremely embarrassing to all of us. I have been to Pistachio's many times in the past and have never had this sort of inexcusably poor experience for any meal before in the past. So you can imagine my complete and utter disappointment and embarrassment as I had actually highly recommended your restaurant to all my business associates. Even after contacting the owner directly, he was basically non apologetic and offered me nothing in return for my poor treatment. Such a shame the management has ruined this once quality restaurant.”

Jan 16, 2008 by Marie from Mertztown
Overall Rating: 4
Food:[3] • Service:[5] • Atmosphere:[3]

• The concept of the restaurant: creating a "hip" mood in an otherwise unhip city.
• Quality of food, cleanliness of restroom, dishes.

“The menu at Pistachio's is huge, so choices are difficult to make. But usually that's a good problem to have as a diner. But it's also a clue that most of their stuff is at least partially microwave or boiling bagged, so I looked for something I thought couldn't be ruined. I saw a Kobe hamburger on their special's menu and checked to be sure the burger could be done to medium rare. My burger arrived beyond well done, so charred; in fact that it almost has a medicinal taste. When the coffee was served at our table, both the pitcher of creamer and milk had to be sent back because there was unidentifiable "stuff" hanging from the inside walls of the pitchers. The new pitchers came back clean, but the new cup of coffee that one of the diners asked for (she had put the milk into the coffee before the filthy pitcher was discovered) came back with a ton of coffee grounds floating on top. Then I went to the Ladies Room. The sinks looked like they are 50 years old-huge calcium deposits on the fixtures, paint chipped off the sinks. In a word, yuck! I might have accepted this level of poor maintenance and grunge from a McDonalds, but from a place that's positions it selves as more upscale.”

Jan 4, 2008 by beth from Allentown
Overall Rating: 1
Food:[5] • Service:[1] • Atmosphere:[8]

• Ambience.
• Owner.

“Awful service- obnoxious and Slowed!! Repeatedly requested drinks, bread and water while waiting for our entree salads which took forever (when we asked our waiter -his reply was that the pastas are handmade-too bad we didn't order pastas-he was dumber than we thought.) Worst of all was the owner Sid who not only didn't help but also condescending- Food was good - but not worth the price or wait or aggravation. Our doggie bags were never received either. Every time we go we swear we won't return - but this is absolutely it!”

Jun 25, 2007 by Valerie from Allentown
Overall Rating: 2
Food:[7] • Service:[3] • Atmosphere:[8]

• Food was good, cooked to specs.
• Service, timeliness, temperament.

“I recently went to hotel with a good friend of mine and his friends who were from out of town. We sat outside in the sun. As it was 90 degrees out, we moved our chairs and table into the shade a bit more. Our server showed up ten minutes after we sat down, was Very informal and took our drink order, we got our waters ten minutes later, without the lemon we'd requested, and she took our appetizer order. At this time, she informed us that her fat little manager was upset that we'd moved the table and that we would have to move it back. We complied. This was over lunchtime, mind you, when it was relatively calm- maybe 10 tables total in the restaurant, and we were the only table this girl had. Our food took another twenty minutes, she checked on us about ten minutes later. Basically, it took Forever for anything to get done around there. We waited five minutes for our check that she split. Waiting, she came out and told us that the credit machine was down because her manager had decided to mess with the system and informed us that it would be another few minutes. We said we'd already waited long enough, why not wait some more. To which she replied He has a bad temper, which offended the other couple- I wouldn't recommend this restaurant to an enemy.”

2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

May 15, 2007 by Jane G. from Whitehall, PA
Overall Rating: 5
Food:[5] • Service:[4] • Atmosphere:[8]

• Atmosphere was okay, though more appropriate to a drinking crowd.
• Bad food, bad service.

“I took a friend to Pistachio for her birthday, along with her 3 year old daughter, since it was recommended by a friend (in spite of the negative reviews). It was very disappointing from the first moment. An older man - possibly a manager - was trying to argue with the hostess as we waited (though to her credit she tried to put him off) - very inappropriate behavior that should have waited until no customers were present. Then a simple request for lemon with my water was ignored and had to be requested again, along with an extra small square of bread that came with the hummus/tomato dip - there where 3 of us, and we were given only two little squares of bread. Both things were a lack of attention to detail on the part of the waiter, who was chatty when at the table but did not give good service overall. The stuffed pork chops were over-priced, tough and had a little, tiny slit where I assume the stuffing was supposed to go, though nothing was in it - so much for "stuffed" pork chops. The sauce was thin and watery and lacked flavor, the broccoli was a good tender crisp, and the mashed potatoes were fine, though much too large a serving. I appreciate good food at whatever price, but at $19.95 for the entree only, no soup or salad included, this was a poor bargain for the money, as well as being tasteless. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone who likes good food and good service. I did not have a occasion to use the rest room, so can't speak to the cleanliness per a previous review.”

2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Oct 22, 2006 by Katie from Allentown
Overall Rating: 6
Food:[7] • Service:[5] • Atmosphere:[5]

• The flat bread and occasion with the olive oil were delicious, as was the California vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.
• I, as a middle-aged, single woman, am obviously not the clientele that Pistachio hopes to attract, since I was pretty much ignored.

“I was definitely not cool enough to be in this restaurant. I waited over 5 minutes to be seated, even though the restaurant was only 1/4 full. I waited another 10 minutes to be approached by a waitress. The waitress was pleasant. The meal, Bistro Steak Caprese, was flavorful. When it was delivered, my server said the steak knives were being washed and would be coming. The steak didn't really need the steak knives, thank goodness, since they never arrived. The steak was to have been served over asparagus, but what arrived was green beans, nice but cold. There was to have been basil with the tomato and mozzarella, but that also must have been out, since there was no basil to be seen. The steak had a very nice taste, but it, too, was cool.”

6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Mar 6, 2006 by Rob from Leesport, PA
Overall Rating: 7
Food:[9] • Service:[7] • Atmosphere:[6]

• Good food good prices.
• Poor housekeeping, ugly bathrooms (think turnpike).

“Pistachio was a great place to get a very good meal. The service was ok, nothing special. Sort of slow considering it was not really busy when we were there. We had a group of 7 people, and all the meals were delivered to the correct person, and the waitress kept a slow eye on our table. However, the staff seemed very unconcerned, standing around in groups gabbing about who knows what. They should have spent some time cleaning, as we noticed trash laying on the floor in the kitchen area (open to the public eye. No one seemed to care about that. The bathrooms also seemed like the New York subway, not in a trendy good way, but in a neglected way. The atmosphere was southwestern. Very cool and colorful. The main area and the bar area where both clean and well kept. I think the staff thought they could entice repeat business with exposed cleavage. not my business. I might go back again. The food was excellent and not too expensive. Average meal at our table was around 25 dollars including a drink or two. Recommended, but keep your back to the kitchen.”

7 of 7 people found this review helpful.