Big Jim's Restaurant & Bar

I was told by one of my poor friends that this place was an overlooked gem in Pittsburgh. I found it under a bridge (literally) and was scared to get out of my car. Blacks were everywhere. Anyhow I get in there and all the people look like dirty zombies. I ordered a hamburger but left before it came out because the place smelled so bad. I called the waitress a twat on the way out. Never again more

I've read some derogitory reviews posted here. I always suggest to people to try a place at least twice before slamming a restaurant. \r \r With that being said, my opinion of BJ's is that it is awesome! My family has been eating there since it opened in '77. I've had siblings that work there throughout the years too. Cool thing is they have never changed the menu after all of these years. Recommend the veal parm dinner, The Two Bill sandwich, the wedding soup, and the best Rueben in the 'Burgh. \r \r Named Big Jim's cuz the original owner Jim Bocchiccio was over 300lbs and the portions are huge! more

We always get a great meal...lots of food (enough for lunch the next day :-) more

Yeah, you get a lot of food for your money. Do you want to eat it? The place is filthy. Not to mention, we had to wait 45 minutes for our food. (There were only two other tables.) more

We went to the restaurant while on vacation due to the Diners Drive Ins and Dives show. We were first told they did not have a tab. A nice helper came out and told us they had a table. The service was bad. We waited for 1 hour 15 minutes for the food. Huge portions but the food was not good. Taste like it was frozen for days they heated in the microwave. Not all the order was brought. Burger was terrible, the ""homemade veal"" was terrible. Veal that was tough! We had a hard time leaving since our feet were stuck to the floor. Yeah that dirty. more

You'll never leave BJ's hungry. Try a calzone or the sicilian pizza Pros: Huge portions, reasonable prices Cons: Poor beer selection more

It should never take an hour to make three hoagies...... EVER. .. and when they finally get there, one is the wrong hoagie and you have asked for a fresh drink and ice three timesand you still have the watered down Pepsi that you started with. I don't care if the sandwich is the size of your head,if the service is that bad,it's not worth it, you can get a good sandwich at alot of places in the Burg. We didn't have time to address the issues there caus' we were running late as it was. There are plenty of locals to keep you busy, but I don' think it will be a preffered travel destination for long unless you addresss some issues. Pros: Food and price were OK Cons: Service-service service more

food is excellent - BIG portions (lunch the next day!). Service was great...and we were wearing Steeler gear! Pros: lots of food & great service Cons: lots of fans! sometimes crowded! more

I went there first time on Sat evening, dinner before the funny bone. \r We were seated pretty fast, but it took awhile to get our order taken. We ordered the wedding soup, yum yum, but we each had 1 meatball only (yes we counted) My friend and I ordered sodas, me no ice & lemon-I got ice no lemon- (honest mistake it happens) The eggplant was supposed to be an appertizer-it came (not hot out of the oven) with the main meal, the eggplant parm was a BIG portion with a glob of sauce (tasted like tomato paste kinda) & cheese that was already cold down. On the pizza we ordered mushrooms & sausage and recieved mushrooms & pepperoni, (honest mistake it happens) first I had to go get silverware (I noticed other people either had silverware or it was brought with thier food) honest mistake it happens. The pizza seemed almost burnt & as if it was sitting for a minute. The cheese wasn't bubbly hot or even lukewarm. I told Dan that wasn't what we ordered, no apologies he snatched the pan & said 5 min, we gave 15 then decided we would take it with us, eat it on the way. \r Went to Dan to tell him it's to go & he yelled for someone to take it off our bill. The woman who rang us up, we tried to tell her we still want the pizza but all she said was I'm sorry. A $14 (& change) bill plus tip & still hungrary we paid & left. I hope it wasn't because we were wearing Steeler jerseys that we were treated so bad, I'm hoping that, Dan our server, maybe, was just having a really bad night. And sometimes, when the ball starts rolling it doesn't seem to stop. Although some of the people he knew by name it seemed as if they were given better service. \r The pizza I seen on other tables looked mouth watering good, thou, I may never know .\r Everything we overlooked until Dan wouldn't let us pay for our pizza and take it to go. We left there hungrary, disappointed and confused-why couldn't we get the pizza to go?-again we may never know.\r Unless your a regular, don't go Pros: lots of seats, Cons: don't wear Steelers Stuff. No pizza to go?? Have to ask for silverware more

Not only are the portions excellent, but so are the cooks. Everything my family and I have tried was delicious. Even friends and family we referred to Big Jim's have no favorite because everything has the tendency to be a favorite. Been going there for at least 15 to 20 years. Get there early because I have seen many times a line waiting to be seated and every seat is filled. Pros: Great value, great food Cons: Bathroom and restaurant is now non smoking more

The food here is great. Especially the wedding soup and baked pastas. And the portions are no less than enormous. The ONLY thing that kept me from going there was the SMOKING and lots of it. As of TODAY (9/11/08) Big Jim's is NON-SMOKING .... Yeah! Pros: They FINALLY made it NON-SMOKING !!! Cons: It used to be very smokey, so the Lord only knows what carcinogens are embedded in the walls & furniture. more

Good food (especially the eggplant parm sandwich), very friendly service (and they remember you once you have been there a few times), but WAYYYYYYY too smokey if you have kids. We used to go there all the time and always sat in the bar area (it is a little nicer, although you don't go there for the decor). Once we had a baby, we went there (as usual) assuming the seperate room was non-smoking. We were wrong - the seperate dining room is just as smokey, if not more than the bar. So the food is good & the service is good, but if you are sensitive to smoke or just don't like to eat surrounded by smoke, just get the take out. Pros: Good food & good service Cons: VERY smokey & no nonsmoking area more

Why does everyone have finding it as a con. Its not hard to find people. Either Take 2nd ave from town to Saline St. and take a left at the light, or come down Greenfield Ave to the bottom of the hill at the light and take a right onto Saline St. Drive a few hundred yards and it'll be right in front of you! Pretttyyy simple.\r \r Anyway, yeah, great food, great location, definitely one of those cool little neighborhood places that is a gem. Highly recommended...if you can find it...HA just kidding, its easy to find!!! Enjoy! Pros: Great food, service, portions, atmosphere, location more

One pound of fish is the hallmark of this restaurant. Bring the family, no one goes home hungry! Pros: Large portions, Great selection Cons: Bathrooms more

I've been to Big Jim's dozens of times. The portion size is almost miraculous. The price is great, and the atmosphere is very comfortable. I recomend the sausage parmesean. Pros: Great Prices, huge portions, delicious food Cons: , carry-out quality more

I have spent the last twenty years eating at big jim's. my friends and family and I have spent countless hours with the bochiccio's-especially with young marc watching him grow up and playing the poker machine. may be the best cheesesteaks in the world, and incredible fish snadwiches. you always get your money's worth! Pros: price, quantity, quality Cons: finding it more

Great food, but don't try to eat light. One day I wanted to eat light so I tried a steak salad. You can't eat the whole thing! PS when you see my rating below, remember I never rate anything the highest. Some day I might see some place that walks on water! Pros: Never waited, good prices, great food Cons: restrooms, non-smoking area more

Big food and good beverages. It is an out of the way treat in Pittsburgh. Pros: Big food Cons: Finding it more