My spouse and I visited Social House Seven for dinner on a
Friday evening in late November 2016. We booked our table using the online Open
Table reservation system. Social House Seven is open daily for lunch and dinner.
Pittsburgh restaurant group AMPD
manages Social House, in addition to Downtown’s Ten Penny and Penn
Society, North Shore’s Local
Brewhouse, South Side’s Local Bar + Kitchen, Diesel Club Lounge, Skybar, and Delanie's Coffee, and Steel Cactus (on the South
Side, Shadyside, and at PNC Park).
Social House Seven is located in downtown Pittsburgh’s
Cultural District on Seventh Street in the Aria Lofts building. The restaurant
opened in late October 2016 in the space previously occupied by Bossa Nova. The
restaurant offers 7,300 square feet of dining and entertainment space that
seats about 225 patrons. Upon entering the restaurant, guests walk across a
glass floor that covers a koi fishpond below. The venue offers several
different dining areas, including two drinks bars (one of which is octagonal-shaped,
with seating all around), a charcoal robatayaki (barbecue) grill/sushi bar, and
two large dining areas. The main dining area includes Asian accents, table
seating on the floor, and booth/dining nooks a step above the main floor that
are made of reclaimed wood from an Asian ship. The secondary dining area is
located one step higher than the main room, offering space for large groups,
special events, and small-group dining at tables, semi-booths (with a shared
banquette), and half-circular booths. A giant hand-carved Buddha serves as a
showpiece in the second dining space. Resident DJs provide music throughout the night to create a bustling
social scene. The music volume was appropriate during dinner service, even
though our table was located right next to the DJ.
The restaurant features Asian cuisine, including offerings
from Japan, Korea, and Thailand. The restaurant describes itself as “izakaya”, a Japanese neighborhood
eating and drinking establishment that serves shareable plates. We ordered several
starter plates including the pork belly skewers (two skewers of four
chunks each, an incredibly generous portion, served with a hoisin glaze), the
“breakfast of champions” (bacon-wrapped quail eggs), and the steamed pork dumplings
(presented in a bamboo steamer basket). Next, we ordered bi bim bap (steak,
bean sprouts, carrots, spinach, soft-cooked egg, rice), and the short-rib yaki
noodles as our more substantial “entrees”. For dessert, we shared the “bubble
tea” (coconut panna cotta with fresh fruit on top and black tapioca pearls on
the bottom). A neighboring table ordered the giant fortune cookie, which offers
real “wow” factor.
Social House Seven offers a full bar, including handcrafted
cocktails, sakes, beer, and wine.
We
enjoyed our dinner at Social House Seven. Its Asian-inspired menu offers some
interesting menu options that not available elsewhere in the city.
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