Location: 375 North Shore Drive, North Side. 412-242-6287
Hours: Sun.-Thu. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-midnight
Prices: Appetizers $5-9; sandwiches $6-9; entrees $10-23
Fare: Schizophrenic: game munchies & high falutin’
Atmosphere: Corporate luxury box
Liquor: Full bar
Smoking: None permitted

Like movie-star governors of California, restaurants run by retired sports figures are a long and venerable tradition. But where once those restaurants were neighborhood joints that didn’t promise much except the occasional drop-in by the hero himself, recent years have seen corporations commodify the fan experience, hitching root-for-the-home-team passion to precalculated dining scenarios. The formula seems to be this: The star consults with the chef and suggests a few personal favorites; then the hometown is harvested for local staples, a few corporate home-runs are thrown in, and voila! A restaurant named after a person, yet curiously lacking in personality.

Was this the case with Jerome Bettis’ Grille 36? Before we even stepped inside, we could see through the windows that the Bus’ new dining venture surpassed every other local restaurant in at least one regard: ratio of flat-screen TVs to customers. It appeared to be at least one-to-one, especially in the sleek, spacious wood-and-chrome bar that suggests nothing so much as an upscale office lobby (perhaps that of ESPN). Once we were seated in one of the flanking dining rooms, only five televisions were in our immediate vision. Unfortunately, it was too cool and rainy to sit outside; Grille 36 is surrounded by broad, attractive decks with river views more stunning than any TV broadcast.

The menu seemed designed to please, simultaneously, patrons who hoped to dine in a sports bar and those who would rather be seated before a white tablecloth. World Champion nachos, piled high like a pyramid, or Pacific Rim tuna rolls? Should we have spicy sausage — presumably from an original tailgater’s recipe — or chipotle shrimp with our rigatoni? We appreciated our waitress’ frank guidance. She didn’t warn us away from anything, but she also spared us the anodyne “it’s all good.”

Firecracker popcorn shrimp were neither as hot nor as small as their name suggested, but we found them tasty in their lightly battered and fried state, minus any unctuous glaze. Instead, a subtly sweet dressing provided the foil for the shrimp’s slightly spicy savor. Shredded cabbage and ringlets of shaved carrot spilled out of a Chinese takeout container for an attractive and witty presentation.

The Grille’s quesadilla, though listed as an appetizer, was as big as a dinner plate. We chose a filling of skirt steak, which was tender and pliant, packed with beefy flavor and well complemented by a melty mix of Spanish cheeses and crispy, roasted-tomato flour tortilla.

In the normal course of events, Jason would have ordered a burger and Angelique a plate of pasta, but at Grille 36 we mixed it up. Angelique likes burgers when they’re really, really good, and she figured it was a safe bet that Jerome Bettis’ venue could deliver. Unfortunately, she lost. Though the Spicy Spinach Burger had a big, fat patty, the meat itself had a mediocre flavor, as though it were a not-fatty-enough cut of meat. The bleu cheese was not melted, and the buffalo sauce was not spicy enough to live up to the sandwich’s name. Happily, the French fries were excellent, crispy on the outside and fluffy within.

Jason tried black-and-gold lobster ravioli, the idea of which was disconcerting on several levels, but the menu description won him with a promise of sherry and lemon cream sauce with basil oil, plus fried leeks and red peppers. Sure enough, the ravioli were striped black and gold, but the visual gimmick mattered a lot less than the sweet cheese and succulent lobster filling, and the sauce — two sauces, really, with basil and cream on top — was sophisticated and successful. The only caveat was that Jason found the whole dish a bit on the sweet side and wished for a better balance of flavors.

Finally, Ultimate Mac and Cheese was just that. A blend of four cheeses lent a nutty, tangy, grown-up flavor to the cavatappi, corkscrew-shaped pasta with a more interesting texture than ordinary elbow macaroni. Diced tomato and bacon added smoky, sweet, salty notes to the otherwise uniformly creamy dish.

One of the things Steelers fans love about Bettis was the way he wore down defenses. The first half might feature a lot of two-yard slogs ending well short of a first down, but by the end of the third quarter, the other team was tired of getting knocked down by the Bus. Those runs up the middle blossomed into 5, 10, 20 yards, until the game was over. Jerome Bettis’ Grille 36 may not share his personality, but it understands his game: Despite a patchy start, the restaurant won us over in the end.

JR:

AB:

This article appears in Nov 8-14, 2007.

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10 replies on “Jerome Bettis’ Grille 36”

  1. Thank you for another interesting resturant review. Unfortunately since my wife and I are both smokers, we won’t be visiting Grille 36. Most of your reviews are for places that don’t allow smoking. Do you do this on purpose?

  2. I was under the impression that almost all Pittsburgh establishments were going non-smoking based on city ordinances – might be why most say that.

  3. I didn’t like the grille when i went there, but it was about 2 weeks after the opening. Service was slow, and the “cinamon mashed potatoes” were gross and cold. What a weird dish.

  4. well i tried to leave a comment on dish but that was full. i just wnt tosy that we indeed visted the grille, and had a great time there was this sever whowas great her name is toi.imtelling you ask for her we lovedher so much that we asked her to work for us in human resourse. we were entertained for hours and well be back. ask for toi when you visitand there will never be a bad review.

  5. How wonderful that this restaurant is non-smoking! That clinches it for my wife and me — we’ll be sure to visit this establishment. Having lived in New York, Santa Fe, and Chicago, it’s completely normal for us to have no smoking in restaurants. We’ve been disappointed too many times in Pittsburgh, walking out when we discovered that a restaurant allows smoking.

  6. We recently visited Grille 36 & it was absolutely terrible. The only thing worse than the food was the service. It was a very busy night in Pittsburgh. The Yankees were in town, however Grille 36 was not busy & to no surprise. Even the lack of patrons did not allow the dancing employees to tidy up the restrooms. We were ignored when we walked in due to the female employees dancing in the entrance. The rest room was atrocious, the waitress hardly spoke to us & the food was just awful. When we asked for a plate to eat our appetizers we were asked if we “both” wanted one. No one came back to fill drinks or ask if everything was ok or else they may have noticed that my food was untouched save the one bite I managed to take. The waitress layed the check on the table without a word.

    Jerome Bettis should be ashamed to put his name on such an establishment. The menu was ok, if the food was actually edible, & the atmosphere was nice if it would have been clean & the employees were not so rude. No wonder all of the other restaurants on the North Shore were packed that evening & Grille 36 was not.

  7. Lori’s comment is right on. I’ve NEVER posted a comment for a restaurant but feel compelled to for this establishment. My wife and I made our first trip during a slow time of the day (maybe 20% full). Our food, despite being simple orders (hers a burger and mine was nachos) took forever. Her food came out cold and mine came out wrong (and not very warm). Our waitress admitted that she hadn’t brought our food out or got us refills because she had been outside on her cell phone. When I complained to someone else about the fact that my food was wrong (we couldn’t find our waitress) they told me that it was indeed correct. I had to go to the front, get a menu, and point out what was supposed to be on the dish. The guy had actually argued over what came on the nachos despite a clear list of ingredients, a huuuuge picture on the menu and the fact that its one or their freakin’ signature dishes. Ultimately it came out ‘right’ but both dishes were still horrible. We vowed never to come back. My wife caught the manager’s eye on the way out and complained about the service and food and told him we were never coming back so he gave us his business card and wrote “2 free meals” on it and told us to come back and he’d make it right.

    Well, time passed and we decided to give it another try despite our best judgment. Of course, when we got there, that manager was on vacation and the manager on duty actually questioned the validity of the business card. I kid you not. He then agreed to do it but told us not to order the steaks! Are you kidding me? This is a freakin’ theme restaurant. If I wanted a steak, there’s Morton’s and Ruth’s Chris about half a mile away. Despite this insult, we sat down and ordered. What do you know! My wife’s fries were room temperature and my pasta sauce was wrong. They have a marinara and a meat sauce. I ordered marinara and got meat sauce. I questioned the waitress and she said that their marinara sauce has meat in it. Hmm. Odd. I asked the manager and he said they made a mistake. He also got my wife new fries. Needless to say, this food sucked too. He then had the gall to come over and, instead of asking how things were, he said “I’m glad I could show you how it was supposed to be done the first time you came.” Oh, so wrong orders, cold food and argumentative waitstaff is how its supposed to be done? I guess he’s right because they are 2 for 2. Needless to say, we are never going back. Ever. I’ll starve before I go there again. Argh, I’m getting upset all over again as I write this.

    For what its worth, I’m the easiest guy to please when I go out to eat. My parents owned a restaurant so I let a lot of things slide. I’ve also worked as a waiter so I know how customers can be. But this place sucks. Plain and simple. They’d do the city a favor by closing and letting someone else move in.

  8. Wheres the beef the one pound Bettis burger is more like a Mcdonald kids burger also came with 6 small fries, my wife and son stake was small and cold, service is poor all in all it sucked nice sport setting thats about it, its an over priced poor food joke

  9. There is a wonderful waiter there named “ADAM” He made our dining experience a pleasurable one. He had a wonderful personality, was very efficent and asked if we wanted to see the room where Jerome Bettis tapes his radio talk show on Friday nights? Once there, he insisted on taking our picture together in the “Bettis Room” Conversing with him was even better than the meal itself. People like him make a business work. Gigi

  10. My favorite bar during the football season! If you haven’t been, you have to go! Not to stuffy, but not your typical frat party football bar, Just the right mix of people and atmosphere! Try the Defensive line nachos, their great and can feed a whole football team! Perfect snack for a two hour football game!
    Service may be a little slow on a busy night, but the atmosphere is so nice with a drink and good conversation you will actually enjoy the wait. Especially if you sit outside with the view of the city! Heinz field or the river recreation goings on of all the burgher’s… roller blading, walking, boating, kayaking or just enjoying the day! A wonderful people watching site…Hope you enjoy as much as I always do!

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