Jan 13 2009
Lunch Review: Bigelow Grille, PIT
Located in the downtown Pittsburgh Doubletree hotel, this unassuming American style restaurant proved capable of exceeding the norm for a quick convenient lunch.
I swung in to the small, modern spot for lunch because of its convenient location, comfortable menu, and a promised serving of famous Pierogies Plus. The soup du jour was the Bigelow’s chili, which was very flavorful and nicely presented. There was a bit of spice, but not so much that it was going to come back to haunt me at my afternoon meeting.
I followed up the chili with a glazed chicken sandwich that was equally abundant in both tender chicken and sweet glaze, the latter to a fault. The 
sandwich was topped with fresh greens and a healthy slab of bacon, but much was overpowered by the thick glaze that would’ve been better served in lighter proportion. It also made for sloppy eats, and a thankfully obscure stain on my shirt. So much for that afternoon meeting.
And yes, that is a nicely sized serving of those famous Pittsburgh pierogies. If you remember only one thing from my review, it should be ditch the fries, get the pierogies. The whole deal set me back $18.19, not terrible for a sitdown meal.
The exterior of the Bigelow Grille was decidedly unexciting on this snowy Pittsburgh afternoon, but the interior was clean and bright, and the service very capable. The early lunch traffic was light and there was plenty of space to spread out my meeting prep. Wi-fi via Wayport was available. Overall the Bigelow Grille made for a pleasant lunch, and the conveient location was unbeatable. Just remember, fries no, pierogies yes.