Siba

After a disappointing visit last fall, we have avoided our once "regular" dining spot like that plague. Six months later, BJ was willing to give them another chance. I went along for the ride.....

The bf had made a reservation via Open Table requesting our favorite cozy booth. Check. We were greeted right away by our uber charming and super cool server Jose. He was prompt in the delivery our beverages. Check. I got a wedge salad and Spicy Shrimp, BJ launched into a complaint concerning his pork and our last visit. Jose assured him that his meat would be perfectly cooked also acknowledging that they now have a new sous chef. Our meals turned out to be fantastic. BJ's pork did not have to make additional trips to the kitchen, so he was very happy.

For dessert, we asked for our server's opinion. He highly recommended the white chocolate raspberry bread pudding. It was delicious. We will more than likely be re adding Siba back into our restaurant rotation.

I live within walking distance of Siba and unless a friend says meet us there for drinks or the girls do a lunch get together, I avoid it. Why? Overpriced and underwhelmed. It's really a pretty restaurant but the food needs to step it up! Every now and then I'll get something that I really like then the next time I order it, the quality is subpar.

Servers are consistently inattentive and distracted. We used to meet people at the bar after work and all of us remarked about that. The last 2 times I met the girls for lunch there, nothing had changed. Diners actually care about service and food!

When it becomes a 50/50 flip of a coin on whether you'll have a good or a bad time in a restaurant, especially one where we'll be paying $100 for dinner and drinks, I will go elsewhere.

Despite my best intentions, we've been back to Siba a couple times (at the request of friends) since my last review and my stated pledge never to set foot in here again. Alas, I should have stuck to my guns. This is just an awful place. We went to meet friends here last night at the bar for a birthday celebration and things haven't gotten any better. The bar layout is a disaster and its impossible to move around if you get more than 5-6 people there. And the waitresses trying to serve the two misplaced dining tables near the bar have an impossible task. Ridiculous. What a sad, sad place. I was honestly tempted to ask the people who were there why exactly they came. What could they possibly see in this place? I mean, the food is on its best day just mediocre. It's not a bargain, it's not tasty nor does it offer anything special. The service is not good either. So WHY???

And to top it off, I ordered a draft beer for my wife and I. Total $15 before tip. Not a premium beer and not even served in a pint glass. $15? Are you kidding me? Must be the atmosphere I'm paying for.....Right....

I WON'T BE BACK!!!!

I've always been a big fan of Siba, but tonight's dinner was a little disappointing. My parents and I started with the Crispy Calamari, and although it was a decent appetizer, the breading was a bit soggy and the dish was greasy. I was kind of bummed, but I remained hopeful for my main course!

I ordered the Sea Scallops - it came with asparagus risotto and haricots verts - for my entree. The scallops were absolutely delicious - perfect sear on the outside with a yummy truffled-honey-lavender glaze. Definitely the highlight of the meal! The haricots verts were fine; seasoned and cooked well. The risotto, however, was baaaaad. I was pissed because I was really looking forward to it. The risotto was sad, dry, and clumpy - it looked and tasted like old oatmeal. Blah!

Honestly, tonight's meal was more of a 3-3.5, but since this was my first "semi-bad" experience here I still gave it 4 stars! Hopefully tonight was just an inconsistent night~

I love the ambience and food here esp. the chocolate chip cookie sundae dessert! I think they have sinful sundays when desserts are half off. My fave entree is the spicy shrimp penne. My fiance loves their garlic mashed potatoes, and his fave here is the lamb lollipops, which is part of their tapas only served at the bar area. I haven't had an appetizer here that I didn't like. I recently tried the shrimp bruschetta and that would've been an entree portion. It was delish esp. with the bread soaked in the sauce.

They have a pretty good drink menu, but I would stick to the wine or drinks you know you already like compared to trying out their cocktails. My fiance had the sidecar, which was too sour. You can't tell whether they actually put any crown royal in it. I tried their seasonal cupid's cloud martini, which tasted ok but had an after taste of cough syrup/robitission. ugh. It was a cute presentation though with the meringue.

For the most part, the service is good, but I did come here one time and the service was slow.

Stopped in to try the wine bar and get a munchie or two with my sweetie.

Was told this is a great place for a date. Love the atmosphere of the wine bar area. Great romantic ambiance with the gas fire pit. It is a great place for a date.

The wine list is long and has selections from all over the world. There are about 3 dozen wines you can select by the glass. Since in a Tuscan Grill, chose an Italian wine that was good, however the wine by the glass prices are a little steep. My glass was almost as much as the bottle at the local state store.

Enjoyed a Mediterranean flatbread that was very good and little larger than expected.

The bartender was busy but did a good job taking care of us.

My husband and I had big plans to eat downtown for our first anniversary, but my parents requested that we stay closer to home in case the baby needed me... which took us to Siba. The food is good, just nothing special. Their method of making food taste good seems to be adding a whole lot of cheese (and don't get me wrong, I LOVE cheese) to make the food really RICH. I personally like food to be well seasoned with spices and herbs, not loaded with cheese. The stuffed mushrooms tasted like nothing but goat cheese, and although goat cheese IS delicious, I can buy a log of it at the grocery store for half the price of the appetizer.

And having hummus on your menu doesn't make you "Mediterranean." The menu is mostly Italian, but there are also some Asian (cashew chicken salad with ginger soy dressing) and Spanish (gazpacho) influences.

Mmmm... warm, crusty fresh bread with the garlic and herb butter..... I could eat just that and be totally satisfied!

Our group of 10 experienced fantastic service, as we all arrived at different times. Each time a new person joined our table, our waiter promptly brought over water and took their drink order. Great selection of apps, salads (small and large), wood fired pizzas, pasta dishes as well as larger seafood and steak entrees. The angel hair pasta with arribiata sauce, shrimp and lobster was delicious! Perfectly portioned with plenty of seafood for the $18 price tag. The wine was pricy per glass ($11 for Sauv Blanc?), but the wine glasses were on the larger size.

If we didn't have an agenda after dinner, I would have loved to hang around for some of the live music....great song selection and cute guy singing!!

The prices here put it out of the everyday dinner category, so you want to plan an evening to come here. We stopped in without reservations on a Friday night and were seated promptly. I have the feeling that if we arrived later there would have been a wait. The restaurant filled up quickly as the evening progressed. Our waitress was very friendly and personable. We didn't feel rushed or pressured.

Our dinner choices included:
Zucchini Fritti
Chicken Funghi e Pomodoro
Dungeness Crab Cakes
Baked Cookie

The Zucchini Fritti appetizer was very good, although we were unsure of how to actually eat it. It was very much like fried curly zucchini straws - too difficult to eat with a fork, too upscale to eat with your fingers. The taste was right on the money.

The meals were both very good. I don't normally eat seafood, but I enjoyed the crab cakes very much. You can tell they put attention into the presentation of the food as well as the taste. Portion sizes left us satisfied, but not so full that we couldn't enjoy a baked cookie and ice cream for dessert.

I like the atmosphere here. Live music began at 8pm and the artists fit the ambiance well. They were set up by the bar but we could enjoy the music at a comfortable level from across the room.

Only downsides: we weren't offered refills on our drinks and prices are high.

Big, warm, friendly and delicious. I was surprised to see such a nice restaurant outside of the Pittsburgh city limits. This seems like a place where the focus is on the food.

I went in for lunch and the menu is only 1 page but the items were all spectacular. They were also very accommodating to my girlfriend's vegan needs without any hesitation. The service was perfect and the decor was spot on.

If you want to get a little "escape" for the usual all-too-causual restaurant scene then I would recommend this place. Reminded me of a place I would see in Newport Beach. My only complaint is that it's not closer to where I live!

P.S. Definitely get the hummus appetizer. Everywhere in Pittsburgh offers hummus but this appetizer stands out.