text: After a theatre matinee at the Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre my best friend and I needed to find a place that was within a quick walking distance for dinner and having heard about Porch and seeing that we only needed to cross the street to get to it we decided to give it a try I had heard that this was Eat N Parks attempt at upscale which was kind of frightening to think about I do not exactly equate Eat N Park with fine dining In fact I barely equate it with dining at all The only reason I ever go to an Eat N Park is for the breakfast buffet and only because it is all you can eat It is generally crap Powdered eggs Really But for filling up at the start of the day it will donnWell Porch does prove its chops as far as the food goes The prices however for a restaurant plopped right down in the middle of what used to be a parkparking lot for a college centro seem a bit out of place With plenty of affordable college priced options blocks away these prices seem more than slightly off the chart nnWe were lead to a small table WAY in the back and our waiter was with us almost right away At first he kind of seemed like he could not be bothered with an old guy and a blind lady but he seemed a little friendlier after we started ordering I guess since she ordered the prime rib entree at he thought maybe we were oknnWe both ordered iced tea since they only offer Pepsi products and it came in a nice carafe so we could refill at will nnShe ordered the prime rib which came with a bunch of veggies and they were even kind enough to cut up the prime rib for her on request which made things less awkward when it arrived nnI ordered the pan lasagna which the waiter promptly returned to tell me they had run out ofnnSo I ordered the burger which came with crispy taters and a pickled veggie medley They claim that the beef is ground on the premises and it came with cheese and a couple of strips of thick bacon lettuce tomato and a HEAP of sliced red onion I ordered it medium rare but it arrived a bit more medium than rare After it arrived I had to request condiments as there was no sauce on the burger and no condiments other than salt and pepper on the table I asked for some mayo and dark mustard and was sent some kind of odd runny mayo and what looked like very yellow honey mustard So I just used the mayonnThe crispy taters were very tiny whole potatoes fried to a very nice crispness and lightly seasoned Actually pretty yummy The burger was ok Nothing spectacular Wingharts and Burgatory still reign supreme in the burger department The pickled veggies were interesting green beans maybe turnips Tasty nnThe prime rib though expensive was for the small portion was quite delicious Almost buttery tender with some kind of brown sauce dripped decoratively around the plate that was very good and some vegetables that were roasted I think including small halved onions nnAfter we finished out entrees we decided to try dessert The waiter read off the list of what was available for the day and my friend chose something that I cannot recall and I went out on a limb and opted to try their Tiramisu Tiramisu is my favorite dessert of all but I find it to be extremely hit or miss on menus The best Tiramisu is made by little Italian grandmas by hand and with the real ingredients I always take a chance when ordering it in a restaurant that it will be and times out of it IS more of a miss than a hitnnThe waiter returned to tell my friend that whatever she would ordered they were out of so she ordered the fresh made donutsnnNow I have to mention that as we were eating our entrees a couple of college boys sat next to us and they seemed to be eating what looked like two pan lasagnas HmmmmnnThe donuts were indeed home made served warm and came with a very nice strawberry sauce for dippingnnAnd voila the Tiramisu was a definite hit A very large portion and it tasted exactly like Tiramisu is supposed to taste Creamy coffee chocolatey yumnnThe atmosphere was rather pleasant with a lot of college eye candy strolling around as well as a hell of a lot of family types Mommies and daddies and a bucket of their little spawn Personally I cannot imagine taking little kids to such a pricey establishment but hey someone out there has to have the moneynnThey do offer wine and beer the wine being some local wine made for the Culinary Institute which this restaurant is apparently a training ground fornnBecause of the price I cannot say this would be a regular haunt We plan to try it for brunch one day BEFORE the next theatre excursion or perhaps for lunch both of which have totally different menusnnThe total bill came to around which really was not too terribly bad for two entrees and two desserts I opted for the cheaper burger at since it was not my wallet doing the paying with two iced teas