Great little neighborhood place. Great happy hour and big beer selection. Bartenders can make any drink under the sun. And the menu, despite being limited, has a lot of well prepared tasty food. read more

The biggest problem here is the lighting. It's simply too bright and it kills the vibe. When I first walked in, I was struck by the barren/sterile feeling of both the bar and seating area in the back. At one point it inexplicably got even BRIGHTER, as some additional green lights behind the bar came on. At first I thought it was last call or something, but it was only 10:30pm on a Saturday night. Beer list is solid but not mind-blowing. Taps included a rotating Great Lakes, Dark Horse Crooked Tree, Rogue Dead Guy, Big Hop and SA Chocolate Bock plus Guinness and a few macros. Bottle selection is much larger and a board behind the bar tells you what's newest. Prices are about where they should be but maybe a tad high: two Rogue drafts, a Nugget Nectar bottle, and a bag of chips was $18. The owners were tending bar on a fairly busy Saturday night, but honestly they had trouble keeping up. When asked which Dark Horse was on tap, Irene didn't know. You could tell both she and Dean were working hard, but it was a struggle. It was a little hard to watch since Dean is so friendly. It's great to see a revamped place like this in the neighborhood (don't be scared away by the outside), but there are better hang-out spots nearby. read more

This place is great!! Ask for amazing Amanda behind the bar! She is a perfect angel and will make you cry tear drops of pure joy!

I liked this place. I went a while back, had happy hour drinks and after a few hours had some Mediterranean food, which was killer. I would come back here again. I think the owner was bartending and he was super nice. You can tell that they put care and craft into what they are doing here. They have such a cool sign and mid century facade. I hope that part never changes. Also I remember the inside seeming kind of bright inside for a bar, but not bothersome. read more

Larger (mostly bottled) beer selection, include lots of selections from local/nearby brews including Great Lakes, Church Brew, Full Pint Penn lagers and ales, a couple offerings by PA standouts, Troegs, Weyerbacher and Victory and some farther afoot quality selections such as Dark Horse, Terrapin, DFH and Green Flash. Tasty but typical barfood. SUPER friendly owners. As posted above, apparently the place burned down in 2009 and reoppend in spring 2010. I went there as a Caps fan on New Year's Day just before the winter classic and they made us feel right at home while giving us some choice anecdotes about the city. read more

I LOVE the Modern Cafe. Everyone is just the nicest, and their happy hour is second to none. Granted, I might be a little biased because I work around the corner and am here all the time, but this is one of my favorite bars in Pittsburgh. read more

One of the best local gyro spots in Pittsburgh. Solid beer selection, as well. Can't go wrong here. Recommend for a couple's night out if you like local greatness. read more

I called to ask about the happy hour specials. The staff member only gave one word answers until the staff rudely said 'I'm busy at lunch right now- you ordering food or what?' I clearly will not be ordering food from there ever again. Disappointing since I've dined there before with no issues. read more

Stopped for lunch on my way back to work and got the feature buffalo chicken salad. It was a large iceberg salad with carrot ribbons,tomato a few cucumber slices and black olives. Decent size for the price and the buffalo sauce was tasty. Disappointed that they seem to use grilled chicken strips from a bag and the ranch dressing was from a jar. Fresh salad dressing really takes things up a notch in my book. The service is great though. read more

Thinking of places in the North Side to meet my friend at last night, I remembered the Modern Cafe on Western Avenue. I had a rather negative experience the last time I was here, which was probably at least six months ago, however, last night more than made up for the first time here! My friend and I arrived around 7:30 (just after happy hour ended-boo haha) and took the last two seats at the full bar, closest to the door. They also have a lot of tables beyond the bar, however, none of these were occupied. I never caught the bartender's name, but she was awesome, very friendly and patient, particularly considering my friend and I chose to catch up for quite sometime before ordering any food. They have a good amount of craft beers on draft so I went with the Green Flash Soul Style IPA after the bartender had given me a taster of it. Green flash in general is one of my favorite breweries and this totally hit the spot! My friend went for his usual Yuengling. After scanning the menu, we decided to split the Mediterranean layer dip (Hummus, diced tomatoes, kalamata olives, cucumbers and topped with feta cheese. Served with warm pita chips) and the Spartan sandwich (Steak, Gyro meat, Provolone & Feta cheese, onions, tomato slices with our special steak seasoning & dressing topped with tzatziki sauce on a 6" hoagie). The dip came out first and it was a HUGE portion for $8.99! It was really good and filled with all the good stuff, namely feta and olives-YUM! The pita also was grilled and warm when it was served. The sandwich, which was split for us back in the kitchen (without having to ask which was nice), was ginormous and both of us agreed we would not have been able to go it alone and actually finish it. My half had a lot of sauce on it, which is exactly how I prefer my gyros, and you could taste all the flavoring of the feta too. The meat was slightly dry but when paired with the sauce, it tasted pretty good. Since I live relatively close, I'm always going to keep Modern Cafe in mind when I'm looking for something quick, particularly a good craft beer since the bartender said they rotate frequent;y. read more

For a neighborhood bar, it's hard to find a better option. Friendly service, affordable prices, strong section of sandwiches and occasional karaoke. The appetizers are great! Especially the one with grape leaves. Don't look past Modern if you need a quick meal and a drink while on the north side. read more

This is a cool little neighborhood bar on Western on the North Side. With a 50s diner decor, this place (as others have said) is much bigger on the inside than I thought it would be. It's a large open area, and I would even argue it's too open and not very intimate. However, this seems to be a nice place for locals to stop in for a drink after a long day at work to chat with others in the neighborhood. Many people at the bar seem to know the bartenders and other patrons well, which can be good or not-so-good when visiting as an outsider. I only had a plate of fries, but the menu seemed pretty impressive and I'd like to go back sometime for a meal. The draft list was decent in addition to a nice bottle selection. read more

Different place, with an old school feel. Always wanted to stop in and see what the decor was like. Decent selection of beers, although they were out of two. Someone was smoking in the back, which was a bit unnerving. Otherwise, a decent stop to make for a beer, or gin and tonic. Go for happy hour for the best beer deals. read more

Great neighborhood bar, and Dean is always so friendly. They have a great selection of craft beers which are HALF PRICE during happy hour. You cannot beat paying $2.50 for a good beer. For food, the Spartan is always a good choice, or I'll opt for a chicken salad sandwich with soup. read more

The food is so good I almost don't want to tell anyone and I'm a picky a@@ b$tc$. The bar tender is nice and the food is so good!!! Love it here. read more

NEVER GO ON A TUESDAY - possibly the WORST service I've ever had. Some creepy old guy refusing to serve anyone who wants their tab closed - so I have to leave a tab open all night for all your sketchball friends to use? Um no - sorry, not about to get SCAMMED at this gross bar. Avoid at all costs. read more

Really like the Modern Cafe, dont judge it by the outside decor (a bit dated it seems, but what do i know) Inside is very nice, tons of beer selection. Bartenders are good, can be a bit slow sometimes but cant we all. Food is off the heezy! Had a few different things over numerous trips but the greek cheesesteak is where its at! 4 stars for the Modern read more

A quaint little neighborhood bar. Delicious sandwiches. Super nice northsiders. What more can you really ask for?

We are new to the Northside, but loved the Modern Café the first few times we went there. The female bartenders and wait staff were wonderful, friendly, and competent. We brought our friends there because we wanted to rave about how friendly this bar was and how good the food was. Imagine our disappointment when we met the male bartender (who we hope is NOT the owner) on a Saturday evening. He basically ignored us after throwing the menus on our table and walking away. We tried to catch his eye to order a drink and got no response. After waiting for about 15 minutes (all the while watching this person wash glasses and do everything possible to avoid us), we left. Too bad. We thought we had found our neighborhood pub until we realized we hadn't...The female staff was great, this guy, not so much. read more

stop by and say hi to mandy! i've been to the burgh a few times now and she is our favorite part of the north shore! best pub style bar by far in these parts read more

Looking for a quick bite and stopped in. Bartender was fantastic. Friendly and greeted me immediately. Wasn't drinking because I was on work lunch break, but the beer selection is awesome. Opted for the Reuben and a bowl of the broccoli soup. Both were excellent. Great food, great service and a comfortable setting. Awesome combination to say the least. Prices were good as well. read more

Avoid this place. I had a $5 shot of vodka put on my bill that I neither ordered nor consumed. When I went back to complain, I was met with hostility and it took a while to get my money back. Service was slow, food was just ok. If you do go, I'd recommend you check your bill carefully. read more