Monterey Bay Fish Grotto - Mt. Washington

The calamari was absolutely delicious-light & flavorful. Crab cakes are the best we ever have anywhere else, as always. Our server was great ,except she forgot to bring my coffee ever .When she brought our bill , I asked for it again, & she brought it . I thought it was a shame as I had really enjoyed my Birthday celebration until that point. We thought she was brewing a fresh pot when she left dessert without coffee , but she never came back.

Great place. Excellent food and service. We got the best seat in the house with the best views. I highly recommend this restaurant.

Been there several times, always great! This this was during Pittsburgh's restaurant week, great value! Will go again next year for sure (if not sooner) Waitress was excellent--very observant, personal and polite!

Really enjoyed the view and the food. The service was prompt and professional... not overly friendly!

Took my kids for their birthday and they really enjoyed it!

This was our first time dining at the restaurant. The views were amazing and the service impeccable. The She Crab soup was by far the best thing we had. The salad was blah and the entrees were just OK. Neither my husband or I were very impressed with our actual dinners. They serve 2 kinds of crab cakes and the menu does not give you a good explanation of that. I had the "Lobster Deux" - supposed to be chilled crab claws. The claws were actually lukewarm and not chilled and actually not that good. The crab cake was shaped like a hockey puck with a bread coating on the outside - the kind you generally do not see on a fine dining plate. My husband had the scallops and crab cake. His crab cake had very little breading with ample lump crab - the kind I expected as well. He was impressed with the scallops. I would have loved to have written a better review but I should have been a bit more impressed for the $300 we spent.

Great restaurant week experience

My wife and I tried this out to see if it would be a good place to bring her relatives and our grown kids when they are in town. The view is spectacular, the service was excellent and the selection of fish and its quality was quite good. I had oysters on the half shell, which were good, and I had Chilean Sea Bass chimichurri, which was very good. My wife had monkfish, which was overcooked and not very good. Overall, this is a very nice restaurant, especially for its fish selection. However, at prices for the fish entrees mostly in $32 - $42 range a la carte, expectations are very high. With cocktails, a glass of wine and sharing a desert, our check came to nearly $200. We probably won't consider it worth $800 for an extended family of 8, but we will come as a couple for special occasions again.

Absolutely the best food and service in the area. The menu was amazing. The food was very flavorful. So many different flavor varieties in their different dishes. Beautiful view. Outstanding service. The manager even made am appearance to make sure we were accommodated appropriately. Best crab cakes we have ever tasted! We definitely recommend this restaurant!

We went there for restaurant week. The food and selections were very good. Our server was wonderful and of course, you can't ask for a better view.

I made an reservation for 9pm on a Friday night. That was the earliest available reservation for 2. When we arrived the hostess said they were running behind schedule and we would be seated at 9:20. We weren’t seated until 9:40. We were there for a special restaurant week menu. One of the two dessert options was unavailable which was extremely disappointing. Otherwise the bread with the meal did not come out until we were have way through our main entrees. However, the service was excellent and the view is unbeatable.

Restaurant Week offers opportunities that I wouldn’t normally experience, without an occasion. This was a wonderful treat and memorable evening!

We dined here during Restaurant Week, a party of 6. The standard menu is a bit pricey unless it's a special occasion . We had an excellent table to appreciate the view overlooking the city. The reasonable and efficient valet parking was appreciated. Service was quite good from all staff. We chose from the limited menu for Restaurant Week, and all 6 of us were satisfied with our selections, although my filet, ordered rare, was overcooked. Fortunately, it was replaced with another appropriately rare. The general atmosphere of the restaurant was very pleasant, including the background music, which was unobtrusive and did not interfere with easy conversation. We all had a lovely evening.

We were celebrating a special anniversary, the MBF Grotto was a perfect choice to enjoy and indulge at one of the cities finest. The restaurant over looks beautiful downtown Pittsburgh, the night glittered like diamonds on the river. Our waiter Anthony was exceptional, suggesting chef inspired creations that would surely captivate your taste buds. The signature crab cakes are a must and the "grilled" angel food cheese cake was a perfect closer for the evening. Thank you MBFG for perfect evening : )

My husband and I had a great dinner here. We went for restaurant week and had the seafood sampler. It was delicious. The view is great and the service was good. We love all kinds of seafood and in my opinion this is the best place for seafood in the Pittsburgh area. We have never been disappointed when we eat here.

From the initial greeting through the meal everything was excellent. This has now become our place to go with friends and special guests.

Our server was not the friendliest and didn’t seem to be around as often as should have been. Drinks were not refilled timely.

Welcoming, well-organized, attentive staff. Literally breath-taking view and gorgeous interior. Delicious fish dishes. Thomas the wine manager, John the General Manager and Ann our server were all friendly, charming, professional. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, from the hostess - it was her 27th anniversary at MBFG! - to the staff to all of the diners. Tables ranged from 2 to large groups. A truly exceptional experience in every respect.

We took business associates from out of town to dinner so they could get a good view of the city. Food and service were excellent as usually. I have never had a bad experience here.

Took FOREVER - 2.5 hours. Steak was way over cooked but it took so long we couldn't wait any longer to have it remade. Dessert we ordered at the beginning of the meal was "all gone" by the time we were ready for dessert. Waitress was great and rolled with it. She comped a drink which was nice but overall it wasn't an enjoyable experience.

Great overall experience. Would recommend to everyone. Excellent food. Excellent view

For our first time visiting we celebrated our anniversary. All of our expections of fine dining were met, as the atmosphere, cuisine, music (perfect volume), and spectacular view begged us not to leave! We will be sure to visit again.

THe view is second to none. Add great food and drinks and spectacular service and Monterey Bay has it all. It’s pricey, too pricey for everyday, but it is our go-to celebration place.

Pricey, not much ambiance. Food was good but not served with sauce ordered. Had to wait while food cooled.

One of my favorite places to eat in Pittsburgh. The service is always outstanding as is the food. Definitely upscale dining with gorgeous views of the city.

Everything was perfect! (minus the blizzard outside that kept us from seeing the views we heard so much about). But our server was excellent. The manager came around to check on our experience and was very kind and welcoming. The food was amazing!! We’ll be back when hopefully we can see the view too!

Need better beer selection. Otherwise, everything was spectacular!

Another awesome experience at Monterey Bay! Crab cakes always excellent!

Seated immediately upon arriving for our reservation. Every member of the staff was so attentive. Every detail was excellent from drinks, to soups, to meals & dessert. Without a doubt I will be back.

Our server, James, was outstanding! The Parmesan swordfish was one of the best pieces of fish I have ever eaten.

It’s a beautiful location, and they don’t rely on the location to sell the food, it’s actually quite good. The greeting we received from the maitre’d and the waitstaff was actually quite cool, as if they were doing us a favor. There are plenty of great restaurants in the world that have good food, a beautiful location, and are welcoming at the same time. I guess that’s what sets them apart from this restaurant.

Special birthday celebration and Anthony made it perfect. Excellent service and food was perfect. Views are beautiful..
We will return again !!

One of our favorite restaurants for celebrating a special occasion.

We ate at Monterey Bay in November and were disappointed in the food and the service. This contrasted with our earlier quite favorable experiences there, and we decided to give the restaurant a second chance. The service on this occasion was very, very good. The quality of the food, however, has slipped from the restaurant's formerly high level.

I have dined at Monterey Bay Fish Grotto several time. Always had a great experience. This time it was missing the same quality.
The trio appetizer was delicious.
The Parmesan crusted halibut entree was very good. The black striped bass was prepared wonderfully Caribbean style..,but had an odd flavor...it was the first time I had had black striped bass so I didn’t get it much thought. The lobster Mac and cheese was very dry. Did not complain at the time...but maybe should have. My date and I shared all the dishes.
Within 1 hr of finishing dinner, 20 minutes after leaving we both started experiencing abdominal cramping, and were very sick the rest of the night. Not sure what was the culprit, but first thought was the bass...

Will not stop me from coming back, but disappointed non the less.

David Shroades

The food was awesome as usual but our server was unprofessional & ignored us the majority of the time

Our waiter Bradley was wonderful! He helped us make selections, made sure we were well taken care of and was just fun part of our New Year's Eve!

Couldn’t have asked for a better dinner/ evening out.
NYE feature appetizer was a sampler platter which was great for two and nicely priced. Oh and bonus- a full crab cake. We opted for Mediterranean style fish for entrees which was a good choice for Chilean sea bass and snapper.

Wonderful all around. Best place to dine in the city of Pittsburgh!

Thanks for making my brother’s 50th Birthday so special!