Walter's BBQ Southern Kitchen, Pittsburgh PA

I was walking down Butler Street and what drew my attention to this place is the lovely positive quote about women hand painted on a wooden board. I knew I had to check it out. The atmosphere is cool, it almost looks like you’re walking through a greenhouse. The women’s bathroom has an old picture about the women’s suffrage movement, the decor overall was very intentional and much appreciated. The outdoor seating is unique, our bartender was so nice. They have good spicy bloody Mary’s, horseradish heavy (which I love). It was a good choice to watch the Steeler’s game and grab a bite to eat. I got collard greens, Mac n cheese, and cornbread. I can’t give a super accurate review because I didn’t order any meat. My only complaint and honest opinion is the Mac n cheese was a little dry and lacked some flavor, I would come back though.

Despite the negative reviews and the hostile response to those reviews from the company, I was hungry for some BBQ. The food is fine, not great, but fine. Overpriced, but for the location that is what you expect. I had the pulled pork sandwich with mac and cheese. Everything was pre-made and warmed up, since it came out in less than 3 minutes after ordering. They only ahad few customers. The main issue was the price. I had a drink that was watered down, so I asked for an extra shot of Kettle One. The $11 cost of the initial drink, though on the high end, I could live with that, it was when I got the bill and the drink was $22 for the extra shot.aka $11 for one shot of vodka. $22 is about the cost of of an entire bottle of Kettle One. In short, the entire experience was overpriced for the quality provided. When looking at Joel's profile on the website he states that he is interested in profit margins. Well it shows, congrats on that. I am sure I will receive a defensive comment from the company as other critics of the establishment have received. I know we do not have many BBQ choices in the city, but if you want good food at a decent price find another place.

Honestly, enthusiastically good service. Our waitress preemptively warned us of garnishes like breadcrumbs on the mac and cheese that would have frustrated our picky children. The outdoor seating is spacious enough that we could actually take advantage of their yard games without waiting in a line. All of the meat was great. I loved my brisket with their spicy BBQ. And even though everyone offers Brussels sprouts sides these days, their fried version with balsamic is the best.

First of all the place looked gorgeous and smelled good. Sat down and got out menus. The first thing I looked at on the menu was how expensive things were. Way too much for what you got. They told us they were out of a few things. That wasn't a biggy
Got an order of the nachos. Which came out real fast which was cool but then not even 5 minutes later our food came out. Chips were ok. Queso sucked. Was way too quick with our food after an appetizer. I love greens but the greens here were way way too vinegary. I went to the south many times and this didn't taste southern at all. Most people in the south will ask for vinegar. Fries, Mac and cheese were ok. Not enough meat for the pork ribs you buy. Coleslaw was bad. The only thing I can write home to my mother about at this place is the cornbread. Overall I won't be coming back and this place wasn't good/way too expensive.

It's a serviceable BBQ place. Food is pretty decent, not the best BBQ around thou, and the outdoor vibe is cool when it's not packed. Not a fan of the bar inside. Have been completely forgotten about a few times with service, too. At night on the weekends it's pretty awful with crowds of loud drunk people, so avoid those times unless you like Mario's and that sort of vibe, in which case enjoy!

Addition to address the reply: Sorry if you took offense to the review, I was just trying to be honest and had no intention of upsetting. I did say the vibe was cool in the day. If you'd like more detail, I've been there on two occasions where our orders just never came and were lost in the shuffle and we waited an hour. It happens, I get it, but it did happen twice. I didn't even mention that in the original review, but hopefully that provides additional context. Also, it seems as though people in the evenings may be over-intoxicated, which is the context for the "awful" adjective because I personally do not care for the South Side-like vibe of loud drunk people. That's a personal opinion, I realize, and it seems a lot of people are enjoying themselves which is great. It's less of a criticism and more of an opinion, and I'm glad business seems to be booming for a local restaurant. I hope they stick around, because a mostly-outdoor spot is really needed and cool, and I do go here during the day sometimes!

As far as BBQ is concerned, the restaurant's reply asked what places I'd prefer. In the city, idk to be honest, I've had a few and none are amazing. Porky's in Sharpsburg was actually pretty good BBQ in a dive bar (not sure if they're open still). Yinzburg was good but they closed. I've had some food truck BBQ that was pretty good too. No shade intended, Pittsburgh ain't Austin and we have a limited number of options.

Had the chicken and waffles as a meal with a blueberry bees knees drink and ordered ribs as a to-go item, the chicken and waffles came out about five minutes after I ordered them.and the drink was made in front of me. Bartender was amazing and very nice.

Best restaurant in Pittsburgh. Amazing and quick service paired with amazing food. Definitely check it out! Cant say enough good things

Food was terrible and cold. And took a long time to arrive.

My husband got the ribs with the lunch special for $20 and got a grand total of 4 ribs, which were cold, dry, and mostly fat.
He also got the pulled pork which was lots of fat and had too much pepper.

I got biscuits and gravy. Cold when it arrived, doused in too much gravy so everything was soggy. Eggs that came with it only tasted like pepper.

Never been to BBQ with such tiny portions and cold food. Won’t be coming back again.

Funky little BBQ place that we decided to try while in Pittsburgh. Food was great. A little pricey.

Great food. Trendy new bar/restaurant. There is not a lot of service. You order from your phone. Someone brings you your food. If you need anything, you are sort of on your own. I would go back, but at a less busy time. Maybe try lunch. Nights are packed and hard to get a table. The pulled pork and wings are delicious. You might have to park a few blocks away, but worth the walk.

I typically do not write reviews (positive or negative), but feel it’s necessary after my family’s experience today. We ordered the kid’s chicken tenders and french fries for our 1.5 year old. Upon receiving the meal, I cut into the chicken and noticed it was pink and visibly underdone. I personally ordered chicken and waffles and the chicken that I received was cooked thoroughly, not pink, and slightly dry - so clearly they are capable of cooking chicken properly.

We kindly and privately showed the server the chicken and she agreed that it was pink, apologized, and said she’d take it back and ask for the kitchen to fire up a new batch.

She returned a minute later and said (verbatim) “he said to just take it off your ticket because if he makes it again, it’ll be the exact same”.

We chose to just say okay — instead of engaging in what sounded like a defensive chef’s response.

As a result, our child didn’t have a meal - as they also did not offer for us to order something else.

My husband had a brisket sandwich that tasted good - however he received 6 measly pieces of brisket, half of which were 100% fat.

All of this to say… we wish we would’ve received a better response/resolution to our toddler’s chicken being undercooked. The vibe in general felt like the staff was hungover and couldn’t care less. However, our specific server was lovely!

Sadly will not return.

Walter's has tasty food, pretty cool atmosphere, and pretty good service. But I feel like everything could be one notch better for some reason. Recommended, but won't be the best place you've ever been.

We had my brothers birthday party here over the weekend. Communication was great the whole way through. They reserved us tables and let us use the freezer for our cake. Service was super fast. You order everything after scanning the QR code, so waiters aren’t using all their time taking orders. Food and drinks came out really fast and were all delicious. They did run out of Brussels sprouts which was the only negative.

The wings are great! However the brownie in a skillet isn't available although it was advertised/added in the pictures. A little disappointed, wish they had it.