Christian James Restaurant

Kicked off Pittsburgh restaurant week lastnight and chose Christian James at the joinery , curio Hotel by Hilton in Downtown Pittsburgh.
My two friends had beat me there for our 7:30 pm reservation and I saw they hadn’t been greeted or given water yet.
I was about 15 min late to our reservation.
Another 15 mins go by without being seen or waited on.
(Mind you I used to work in the food industry so I’m usually very forgiving and patient when it comes to dining out) Finally the manager walked over and asked if we had been seen yet, we told him no.
He frantically grabs our waitress in the middle of her conversing with another table telling her to wait on us (which I thought was pretty rude and unnecessary.
He could have had this conversation with her in private) this set the mood for the rest of our night and we should have seen what was coming our way after this.
She was embarrassed and very apologetic the whole time she was waiting on us.
We were reassuring her the whole time that we all used to work in food and to pay it no mind.
The manger came over with 3 free glasses of Prosecco to apologize for the wait.
My friend and myself ordered from the pittsburgh restaurant week menu and her husband ordered off the regular menu.
First it took a very long time for our drinks to arrive .
Finally our appetizers came and they were VERY good.
Another 30-35 min go by and my friend and I were served(by the manager) our main course.
We sat there for a bit because our third friend still hadn’t received his food.
Another 15 min go by we finally are able to grab our waitress and tell her that our friend hasn’t received his food and there were parts of my friend and i’s dinner that were missing from our plate (fried plantains).
Our waitress then tells us they had forgotten to make my friends food and it would be out in just a couple more minutes.
My friend and I decide to dig into our main course and AGAIN food was excellent .
I got lamb and it was cooked and seasoned to perfection.
Our plaintains arrive and UNFORTUNATELY my friends plaintains just were not edible.
My third friend STILL has not received his food .
We decided to tell the waitress that he would rather just not eat anymore and to tell the kitchen to not bother making it .
They boxed up his dinner and comped his whole dinner.
The manager again came over and gave us another free round of Prosecco.
We were seeing other people complain left and right.
A table next to us actually got up and left because of how fustrated they were. We were there for a total of almost 3 hrs ….. All in all food was very good.
Some mistakes were made.
In the end this restaurant needs more structure and to keep the chaos behind closed doors .
I would give it a 1.5 out of 5 stars.
I hope this restaurant can get it together because they do have a lot of potential.

Tried their restaurant week menu over the weekend.
I have to say the food was exceptional.
Got the Brazilian Flank Steak Tacos as a starter.
Lamb chops with Jollof Rice and Bread Pudding.
I'm originally from Ghana and I have to admit the Jollof rice was very close to the authentic flavors. Drinks were also exceptional, their Master Mixologist introduced me to a few drinks that I have never tried before.
Overall great experience.
Will go back for the next restaurant week for sure.

Owner response

Wish I could rate this place even higher! My department hosted an event here earlier this month and CJ was extremely accommodating.
We rented the entire bottom floor and it was a hit! From the way the staff served us to the communication between myself and the owner of the catering company to the ambience of the restaurant to the seating to their willingness to let us customize the space to our liking with decor, everything was above and beyond. Ahead of time, we ordered a spread of apps and allocated two drink tickets a person.
The venue worked with us to pay everything ahead of time so we didn’t have to worry about it the day of the event.
They also worked with our budget. So many of the folks in my dept offered up praise following the event.
The especially enjoyed the option to head up to the rooftop when the party ended where there was live music (plus the weather was perfect). Would 10/10 do business with CJ again.

Owner response