OTB Bicycle Cafe at Hastings

We recently held a staff meeting here and the food was delicious. This had been my second trip to the restaurant for such a meeting. I was disappointed to no longer find the DELICIOUS Brussel sprouts on the menu anymore that I delighted in last time but still enjoyed a plate of pulled pork nachos and the egg rolls, which I was able to share the generous portion with a coworker. The Waitress never really came back much to ask us for more beverages BUT in her defense we told her we were having a meeting so I think she was just trying to let us carry on. Definitely would recommend this place!

When house hunting, it's important to check out the local establishments one might frequent should you buy a nearby home. The OTB Bicycle bar is a neat place. Crowded on a Monday night they have a sprawling back lawn filled with kids running around throwing frisbee while parents hang out with their beers and watch from the periphery. Beautiful murals cover the ceiling and everything from the bar to the serving trays are made with old bike parts. We stopped in for a beer after checking out the houses in a nearby neighborhood. I could definitely see making this a regular watering hole. They have a phenomenal selection of beers on rotating taps. I was particularly excited to find one by Peak Organic, a Maine brewery that's hands down my favorite brewer on the east coast. I had to get a flight because there were too many interesting looking beers to just choose one. A new fave is a pale ale called Lustra from Dancing Gnome brewery. If we end up moving nearby, this will definitely become a regular haunt! Next time we'll try the food.

Another visit and this time we had great service but the food quality slipped a bit. Menu also seems to have shrunk. Hmmm . Dec 2022 Update ==> The holiday decorations were up when we stopped by for lunch as you can see in the attached picture. This time we ordered two burgers. The waitress was very eager, but she managed to get our orders mixed up: The one who asked for the medium, got the well done, while the other one came the other way. Oh well. The rest of the food was as good as we remembered it. ==================== When I worked in the North Hills, we would go to the OTB in North Park pretty regularly for lunch. The food was always good and we enjoyed the views of the lake and the atmosphere of the building even though none of us were bikers (the non-motorized versions!). Now that this one opened in the South Hills, I was looking forward to trying it. Especially since I no longer work in the North Hills! The building is set aside from any other building, even though it is named for the nearby Hastings development. It also does not have as nice of a view as the one in North Park, but it does have an expansive outside seating area overlooking some green area and a railroad line. It was too cold the night we came for dinner, so we stayed inside and we did not see anyone sitting outside even though we could see available heaters. The negative part of being inside is that the interior acoustics are HORRIBLE! With the dining rooms full, we had to speak very loudly to hear each other across the table from each other, or the waitress. I wish restaurants would learn this lesson and spend a few bucks on some roofing sound insulation. In the case of this review, that is the ONLY REASON why I am not giving this place a five star rating. Service was excellent. We were seated promptly. The waitress came by almost as soon as we got comfortable to get our drink order and came by frequently throughout the dinner – even though she was working multiple tables! Once we ordered our appetizer (the house cheese dip) it showed up within a few minutes. Our main dishes took a bit longer, but well within acceptable time frames for a place that was as busy as this. About the only glitch was that there was a bit of a problem with the bill and the waitress did not own up to the $1 mistake made. Since it was only $1, I did not pursue it, and let it drop. The food was also excellent. Everything we tried was well seasoned and very tasty. It started with the house cheese dip. It had some spice to it which was nice. You could see and taste the veggie chunks in it. While we did not find any hints of bacon, it was still excellent and was especially good with the house made potato and tortilla chips. We also got their mushroom burger, chicken sandwich and then the cole slaw and daily vegetables as the sides. All of those were also seasoned and cooked well and were delicious. A humorous note: When we saw one of the waiters bringing us the two sandwiches, I thought they got our order wrong! The chicken sandwich looked like one of those huge fish fry sandwiches you get during Lent!!! It was only after biting into it that it became obvious that it truly was a chicken sandwich! It was very tasty and cooked well – as was the burger. We rolled out of the place stuffed to the gills and with leftovers! Creativity abounded in both the naming of the dishes, as well as the use of bicycle parts in the creation of useful items like the coat hangars as well as decorative items like the deer head. See the attached pictures. This is not a place to come to for a fancy dinner. This is gussied up bar food. However, it was very tasty and we will definitely come back both for ourselves and with our vegetarian and gluten-free friends as there are many options that will work for them.

OTB consistently delivers as a low-key dinner/lunch destination. We dine with a toddler; so, noise level and staff/patron tolerance for kids is always a consideration. Kids meals are served on a frisbee - this motivates kids to actually eat then go play in the courtyard. The beer style selection tends to be great - I get tired of the 12 IPAs and 2 other beer type tap lists and this place always has a variety. Oh, and $10 flights !

Awesome place, great food, ambience and location. I had great experience on all criteria. The staff were super friendly as well. Better to book your position on yelp before you go on weekends and Friday eves as it can get super busy. The dinner time, outdoor seating is my fav. Their food was delicious as well, it felt like home prepared food especially their sauces. The burger patty was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, which I how I like it. I will recommend this place to all - 5 🌟.