Pittsburgh: Diamond Market Bar and Grille (September 2016)

My spouse and I and two friends enjoyed happy hour at Diamond Market Bar and Grille on a Friday evening in early September 2016. Diamond Market is open for lunch and dinner daily. The Market Square space previously housed a restaurant called Bayona; however, in 2011, across-the-square-neighbor Primanti Brothers reopened the space as Diamond Market Bar and Grille. This restaurant is associated with Johnny Brown’s in Delray Beach, Florida.

The restaurant’s history dates back to the early 1900s. When city planners laid out the downtown area, they created an open public space called “The Diamond” in the present Market Square, with roads leading from it called Diamond Alley and Diamond Street. (The word “diamond” is a Scots-Irish idiom for a town square.) Now this historical location houses Diamond Market Bar and Grille.

Diamond Market offers al fresco tables on a covered outdoor sidewalk patio (with heaters and fans to make the patio usable nearly year-round). Inside, the comfortable main dining room is located on the left side, with mostly tables and a few booths. A half-wall separates the dining room from the bar area, which offers high-top tables (that are not self-seating) and stools at the bar in view of several TVs. An open kitchen is located at the rear of the restaurant. Old black-and-white photographs decorate the walls. Restrooms are located both in the rear of the dining room as well as in the basement.

The Diamond Market menu offers American comfort food including appetizers, salads, sandwiches, burgers, sliders, and sides. Tweaks and combinations of ingredients are nice surprises to the traditional pub menu. For example, burgers have toppings like caramelized onions and a house-made white bean spread.

Diamond Market Bar and Grille offers good casual dining and drinking.