I had occasion to dine at McCormick & Schmick's during a trip to South Side Works. Their location is convenient to SSW foot traffic and the combination of seemly tasty (though pricey) offerings displayed on the menus mounted outdoors along with the \"OMG - something new and modern here in the 'Burgh!\" factor was the initial draw of our small party.\n\nOnce inside we were hustled through a mosh pit style crowd surrounding the bar (I guess we're all desperate for something new in Pittsburgh) to a tiny bar table as the only available seating. After our first round of drinks we were advised the actual wait for a table in the dining area would be considerably longer than initially expected. Despite our cramped seating and jostling of the fuddled crowd we ordered another round and forged ahead dining were we sat. Between the ambient chatter of the crowd and loud music we could barely hear ourselves think let alone comfortably speak with one another . My sisters new fiance (eager to make a good impression on his future mother-in-law), made it clear to the waitress upfront that he would be taking care of our bill for the evening, but in true Rodney 'No Respect' Dangerfield style was consistently ignored throughout the evening, we were served incorrect drinks several times, the appetizers ordered were never brought out (yet were included on the bill), his dinner order was presented incorrectly twice... I could go on.\n\nOn some level it was comical how many things were going wrong and all we could do was laugh - as the saying goes 'doody happens'. Admittedly, the wait staff was pleasant and appropriately apologetic. The restaurant was beautiful inside (though not particularly unique) with lots of warm wood, white linens, soft lighting, and golden accents. The mark up on a glass of wine was ridiculous (you could buy a bottle for what they charge you for a glass in some cases), but the food was good.\n\nI'll give them the benefit of the doubt on the service - perhaps they were just getting off to a rough start. I'm sure we'd have had a different experience on the dining side of the restaurant had we waited for a table or made reservations, but I haven't felt inclined to return. Our group consensus was that the price paid in money and aggravation wasn't worth that two hours of our lives.
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