The 17th Street Café is located….well take a guess! It’s a half block off Carson Street on 17th Street in the Southside and serves lunch and dinner. Dinner can be classified as Italian American. The Café at one time was used to shoot a Levi’s commercial, and also was the backdrop form a scene in the movie, Tenth and Wolf. I had a chance to catch up with the owner Patrick Joyce who has operated the Cafe going on 10 years.

Q: What is the vision for 17th Street Café
A: Our mission is to have guests “Make our Restaurant their Restaurant”, but of course they aren’t doing the cooking, that is our job and we take pride in delivering the best we can.

Q: What do you believe your lunch menu is best known for?
A: It tends to be the burgers; we also get accolades for our fish sandwiches, which are served at lunch Monday through Friday 11am til 4pm.

Q: What do you believe is the dark horse of your lunch menu?
A: That would have to be the Turkey Devonshire.

Q: What is your dinner menu best known for?
A: I would say our Pillows, which is like gnocchi meets ravioli. For example our Pesto’s Pillows and Chicken which is a pesto cream sauce with peppercorns, asparagus, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, eggplant, zucchini.

Q: What is the dark horse of your dinner menu?
A: It is our Pork Chop Au Poivre. One pound T-bone chop coated with a rosemary peppercorn breading, pan seared and finished with a spinach and sherry demi glaze.

Q: What are your thoughts about having a restaurant in the Southside?
A: There has definitely been a revival in the Southside, I’m hopeful it will remain about food and not just bars or entertainment.

On a personal note, I found the 17th Street Café is an excellent date option. The setting is intimate quite, and the staff was on point as Pat discussed. Pat hinted a few local celebrities can be seen at the Cafe.

17th Street Cafe
Phone Number: (412) 381-4566 ‎
Directions & Reviews: link to a map
Address: 75 South 17th Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203-1753
Website: http://www.17thstreetcafe.com/