text: Tender is a gorgeous space that is welldecorated with wellmeaning waitstaff However the rest of the experience is a disaster Where to start with the issues at this barrestaurantwhatevernn The bizarre rules Tender is seated mainly by reservations yet people who place them routinely still wait for tables And you cannot have a drink at the bar because there is no standing at the bar I cannot think of a better way to encourage people to leave a place The main space is beautiful but the back rooms are small cramped and it is unclear what purpose the equally dungeonesque downstairs rooms could serve nn The waitstaffbartenders All of them are wellmeaning if a bit pretentious but that is fine What is hard to accept is that no one seems to know what is going on Simply asking what beers are on draft produces a flurry of activity that still does not result in a simple list This is probably in part due to the aesthetic decision to have silver tap handles without the descriptive beer handles this is fine if the staff is briefed on what beers are on tap but not so good when they are not Different waitresses and hostesses are constantly coming up asking different questions the whole thing is not what you would expect from a fine dining restaurantnn The cocktails they range from okay to great Again this is fine but not what you would expect from a restaurant priding itself on its cocktails Also an attempt to order off the menu can end badly I tried to order a Brooklyn cocktail only to have the waitress check say it was okay take my order and then come back and say that they did not have the ingredients A prohibitionera bar does not have Rye Vermouth Bitters Maraschino and some kind of digestifnn The food When I first ate at Tender right after they opened I would say that based on the price vs quantity of food Tender is by far the most expensive restaurant in Pittsburgh Portions were shockingly small and shockingly expensive Plus there was nothing of great expense or difficulty to prepare on the plates To be fair I know they have revamped their menu so maybe they have addressed this issuennIn short Tender feels like a bar run by someone who likes restaurants not a restauranteur Everything is flash and sizzle but no substance