Jump to: Details | Reviews

Welcome to Groupon Pittsburgh! For our inaugural deal, $20 gets you $50 worth of fine cuisine and wine at The Carlton Restaurant, located in the BYN Mellon Center at 500 Grant St.

You're probably thinking, "That sounds great, but I've never bought a car or a computer without first reading the Wikipedia definitions for car and computer—I'm not about to buy a Groupon either without a briefing." Well neither would we, and since this is everyone's first Groupon, allow us to briefly explain how it works.

How Groupon Works

Groupon is a combination of the words group and coupon. Each day, we offer an unbeatable deal on the best of Pittsburgh: restaurants, spas, sporting events, theater, and more. By promising businesses a minimum number of customers, we get discounts you won't find anywhere else. We call it "collective buying power."

If you want to get the deal, just click BUY before the offer ends at midnight. If the minimum number of people (15 for today's deal) sign up by the end of the day, you'll get a printable gift certificate in your inbox the next morning that you can use whenever you want (well, at least until the deal expires—today's expires in one year). If not enough people join, no one gets the deal (and you won't be charged), so invite your friends to make sure you get the discount!

It's nice to wake up to something new every day. Some people get their daily fix from desk calendars with a cute puppy and a funny caption every morning. Groupon is like a desk calendar, except the puppy is an unbeatable discount and the funny caption is a profound reflection on the flowers and needles growing from life's cactus. We selflessly share our deep insights, hoping that you will join our mob of consumers, thus strengthening our collective buying power and commanding even better deals.

Details

Be well fed and fed well with today's impeccably prepared and presented deal: for $20, you get $50 worth of the fine land meats, sea meats, meatless meats, and drinks. Head to the mezzanine level of the BNY Mellon Center to strike culinary, uncursed gold at The Carlton Restaurant. Critically acclaimed by both professional and amateur opinionators, this exquisite restaurant is known for its ever-changing cast of menu masterpieces, affordable but exceptional wine list, and cordial crew of waiters, waitresses, and horse whisperers.

Proprietor Kevin Joyce and executive chef Mark Swomley head up a team of cooks through dense forests of refinement, using years of experience as his compass. The menu hardly ever stays the same, making each visit to the restaurant a step into an alternate dimension where taste buds are impatient and bears play hockey. A sample lunch menu contains dishes such as a prime-rib sandwich (thin sliced, served open faced on grilled sourdough with onions, peppers, dijon demi-glace and fontina cheese, $14.95) or the Carlton burger, which is cooked to order and topped with pepperjack, bacon, barbecue mayo, and all the fixin's ($10.95). Salad lovers can find a variety of greens, including the portabella salad (with bibb lettuce, mixed greens, pine nuts, artichokes, Roquefort, and sun-dried-tomato vinaigrette, $11.95).

A sample dinner menu reveals heartier options such as elk rib-eye ($30.95), parmesan-crusted grouper served with lobster pierogies and spring veggies ($30.95), and prime rib with baby carrots and buttermilk-whipped potatoes ($35.95). Accentuate your meal with a glass or bottle of wine. Your server will help navigate the extensive lineup if you don't have a favorite already picked out.

The atmosphere is classy, but retains casual undertones. The dress code is “whatever you are comfortable with is fine with us," but be sure to wear your appetite (and a shirt and shoes), as there are plenty of hunger-quelling options to comb through during both lunch and dinner.

Reviews

10Best.com lists The Carlton as one of Pittsburgh's Best American Continental Restaurants. Pittsburgh City Paper, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Gayot have all featured the upscale eatery, saying:

• This is a restaurant that delivers all the hallmarks of fine dining in an atmosphere refreshingly free of attitude or affectation. The result is a winning formula for an exceptional meal: polished, but brimming with personal touches worthy of a family-run neighborhood café. – Angelique Bamberg and Jason Roth, Pittsburgh City Paper
• I particularly enjoyed Wild King Salmon ($32.95), which is mercifully left in an almost natural state with only a simple glaze of honey and mustard. The fish is grilled on a hardwood fire, which sears the exterior while also imparting flavor. – Elizabeth Downer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Citysearchers give The Carlton a near-perfect 4.5 stars, and a 10Best.com reviewer raves about the superb service:

• I have never been served so graciously. Very impressive wine. One of Pittsburgh's finest… – Brian63203, 10Best.com
• Favorites include a sauted salmon dish and the ahi tuna wrap. The menu is adventurous without being daunting. – duqalum, Citysearch