A Pittsburgh favorite for over 20 years. Recipient of the Wine Spectator of Excellence 1995-2006 and The Dirona Award 2000 - 2006 (Distinguished Restaurants of North American).
The Carlton has a spectacular cuisine, complimented with an extensive wine list served by polished waiters in a beautiful atmosphere. Pittsburghers know the value of the Carlton making it the spot for business meetings to celebrations.
Private Dining
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Popular dishes
Chilean Sea Bass
fresh panko crusted bass oven roasted and served with citrus tossed napa slaw, bok choy, chilled lo mein noodles, daikon, sesame peanut vinaigrette and wontons.
15 reviews
Grilled Salmon Salad
fresh grilled salmon served over spinach with mixed berries, cucumber, feta, cajun roasted pine nuts and poached apple cider vinaigrette.
1 reviews
Lobster & Crab Gnocchi
fresh tender jumbo lump crab & lobster served over homemade gnocchi with spinach, caramelized onions and tomato-ketel one cream.
5 reviews
Every time we come here we ask ourselves Why don't we come here more often? The food is always exceptional and Enzo our server was outstanding! Everyone thanked us for dining with them during the trying time and a young lady came around and gave all the women a green carnation! Kevin Joyce is a master restaurateur!
Food is consistently good, servers are nice and knowledgeable and wine prices and selection make it an easy choice for us. The limo to the shows and parking validation make it a home run...
Never fails to disappoint. Always fantastic food, libations, and service.
The food was and has always been consistent. The limo to the theater is an added plus
Always an excellent restaurant in Pittsburgh. We had the steak/shrimp and prime rib dinners. Both excellent. A great wine list, both in price range and depth. Table was excellent.
Start to finish, an excellent meal. The service was exceptional, the wine list was extensive, the meal was exquisite.
Mu go-to restaurant when I'm in town. Free parking and a ride to a show is an added bonus!
The staff is wonderful from the time you arrive, through the service and when you leave. Great value with the free parking and limo to the cultural district and service there is top notch also
Had a great time, wonderful food, and fabulous service as we have come to expect!
Wonderful service and food! Great place for dinner before any event!
Gabby was an excellent server. She made fabulous recommendations for each part of our meal. We enjoyed a relaxing dinner along with a complementary limo ride to the Benedum Center.
Excellent food!
Russell was a great waiter and all 3 of our fish dinners were excellent!
Our server was very sweet, and we could tell that she was nervous. Super nice girl! She knew a lot about the menu, which is great. However, for a restaurant that has over 600 bottles of wine to choose from, all servers should be more than familiar on how to open a bottle of wine. Practice using the wine key (easiest way to open a bottle when used properly) so that the cork doesn’t break, practice pouring so that it doesn’t spill all over the white table cloth. Both the short ribs and filet were decent, not great.
First time I tried the lamb chops. The meal was outstanding, which is the highest rating I give food.
Dined at the Carlton. Food here is always really good. We had the prime rib and swordfish, and we also got a couple apps that were really good. Unfortunately tonight, service wasn’t really that good as it usually is. We never got our salads and weren’t really attended to that well which usually never happens here. Whenever we come back, I hope the service is a little bit better.
The Carlton is one of the classic restaurants in the city. Always terrific! Especially recommend the pork chop, halibut cheeks and sea bass. The restaurant deserves diners’ appreciation for holding the margins on the excellent wine choices too!
The menu and food are always great. The staff is friendly and attentive. Loved taking the limo to and from our show. That is a fabulous feature to offer.
Our meal was excellent! The waiter suggested a wonderful salad and an exquisite Chardonnay! Had a wonderful experience.
Fantastic food and impeccable service !
Fabulous food and great staff
The Carlton is my favorite restaurant in Pittsburgh. It never disappoints!
We enjoyed the shuttle to Heinz Hall for the Speakers Series, too.
So, when the 4 of us entered the restaurant for a 5 o'clock reservation, it obviously was not very busy. (Trust me, it filled up real fast). So, the hostess says to the young lady who is to seat us, "Put them in the back." I'm thinking, "What?!?!? IN THE BACK!!!" We were casually dressed for a hockey game that night, just like a lot of other people when it is a "hockey night in Pittsburgh." To my surprise, the back isn't really a hidden table or out of the way for people who might have forgotten their deodorant that morning. It was a great table with a nice view of the lobby of the skyscraper. The service and the food were extraordinary as usual.
The Carlton never disappoints! From the moment you arrive, staff is welcoming, courteous, and focused on providing you with everything you request. Even though it was Valentine's weekend, the quality and service did not suffer. Yes, are table was not quite ready at our reservation time but the staff in the bar took excellent care of us while we waited. We will be back every chance we get!
We have been coming to the Carlton for many years and the food and service have always been and continue to be excellent. Every time we go we think “why don’t we come more often?”
They were late to seat us roughly 15 mins. Not a big deal. Once sat it took the waitress 10 mins to get us menus. They ran out of bread. Our meatball app was cold. The restaurant was very dirty with plates on empty tables throughout our dinner. Once the food arrived it was average at best. I would not recommend to another party.
The wait time was too long but the service and food were really good
The food was fantastic! My husband and I both loved the food. I had the sea bass and he had the scallops. I never had my fish cooked in such a different way.
Excellent food. Very friendly and accommodating staff.
Was very slow with service took way longer than normally does
Went to The Carlton for dinner before a Penguins game to celebrate a birthday. The food was absolutely amazing, the service staff was engaging and kept the table clear at all times, and we had an amazing experience at the restaurant. Definitely plan on coming back again in the future!
Spent a lovely Valentine's Day dinner with my girlfriend at the Carlton. Was immediately welcomed by the hostess and asked if we were attending a show later (an incredible service is the offering of limousine service to the theater district!). We declined, and then were shown to our reserved table, where our server introduced herself to us and made us feel welcome.
Upsides are the great ambiance, friendly service, and delicious entrees (she had the salmon, and I enjoyed the vegan lasagna), limo service if needed, and free parking in the BNY Mellon garage.
Downside was being seated for a quiet, romantic dinner next to a large table of 6 or 8, when there seemed to be many other tables available that would have provided a quieter environment. (My reservation was at 5pm, so not as yet crowded.)
We will likely return, especially when we have tickets to a Cultural District show, but will be more proactive in requesting a more romantic table.
Excellent menu with an old world vibe. Mike our professional waiter was awesome. Free parking in garage also a nice perk. Food was served at just the right pace and was delicious.
Our waiter was fantastic and it was some of the best food we’ve had.
Nice food selection .... excellent professional service.... value the parking....good location to Ppg paints
My husband and I happened upon this place and what a treat. Food was perfect, menu interesting and service excellent. Bobby took care of us and he was spot on. My husband is French and is trained in front of the house from a school there and he was impressed! Definitely come back
The restaurant was not crowded but the service was very poor. We had to flag down the waiter the each time to request service. The waiter took approximately 15 minutes after we were seated to take our initial drink order. We needed to remind him several times to bring things that we had ordered. The Carlton is just too expensive to be receiving service that you'd expect to receive in a greasy spoon diner.
We ordered a bottle of White Zinfandel, preferably Sutter's Home or Berringers. The waiter couldn't locate either, but provided us with another brand which was satisfactory. When we ordered a second bottle, we were given a different brand and he informed us that we had drank the only bottle of the first brand. For a restaurant that advertises its wine selection, we found the inventory to be lacking.
I have been to the Carlton many times over the years and it is my wife and my favorite restaurant. However, we noticed that most of the entrees included hot and spicy seasonings, e.g. cajan and southwestern. Perhaps this is what your customers are asking for, but if the menu continues to favor hot and spicy items, I won't be coming back.
I hope that this was just a bad night for the Carlton. I will be back but if I have a similar experience, I will write the restaurant off for lunch and dinner.
I hadn’t been to the Carlton in sometime. I was pleasantly surprised that all of our meals were very good.
I would recommend the Carlton
Atmosphere was great, if a bit dark. The food was delicious, and dessert even more delicious! I had the Chilean sea bass special, and I was very impressed. Husband had the pork chop, which was cooked beautifully. For dessert I had the banana cream pie - best crust I’ve ever tasted! Yum. Service was outstanding as well, very attentive staff. Would recommend and will visit again!
FAQs
The Carlton is rated 4.6 stars by 2047 OpenTable diners.
Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable. Due to local restrictions, this restaurant may not be accepting reservations at the moment.