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Published by Jeremy. Last Updated on March 27, 2026.
Disclaimer: We were hosted for this experience. Our site uses demographic data, email opt-ins, display advertising, and affiliate links. Please check out our Terms and Conditions. Pricing, operating hours, or menus may have changed since our initial visit and may not be reflected in subsequent updates. Please confirm these directly with any business or attraction prior to visiting.
Cork and Crust is a high-end Italian restaurant inside The Oaklander Hotel in Oakland, featuring shareable dishes, pasta, and flavorful pizzas made by a James Beard-nominated chef, plus a large cocktail and wine program to go along with it.
We were fortunate enough to check this one out as a guest of the restaurant shortly after they opened (partially hosted), and had a pleasant evening out with some delicious pasta and pizza.
But while we enjoyed this one and are particularly glad to see more chef-driven hotel restaurants opening in Pittsburgh, the menu prices gave us pause. This one really is premium dining in Pittsburgh through and through.
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Cork and Crust Makes High-End Italian Dining
We started our meal with a round from the cocktail and Spritz menus, featuring Italian-inspired creations like the Piccante Spritz (with Aperol, pink peppercorn-infused agave, and Prosecco) and the Negroni Sbagliato (with Lo-Fi sweet vermouth, Campari, orange syrup, and Prosecco).
Both of these cocktails were rather simple and straightforward, with a star flavor in each, like mild pink peppercorn notes in the Spritz and a nice orange bitterness for the Negroni- simple but to the point, just like you would want at an Italian bistro. We later had a few more cocktails from the house cocktail menu that also followed this trend of being fairly simple yet easily drinkable, albeit at quite a high price point.
We began with an appetizer order of the Burrata e Ham, which came with rosemary tigelle, buratta, shaved prosciutto, pear butter, and ‘nduja butter, which came out almost a bit like a charcuterie plate with the buratta and butters being a bit like spreads to add to the tigelle.
Big enough for three, this appetizer hit really well with impressive flavors, particularly in the ‘nduja and pear butters to offset the more traditional burrata and prosciutto notes. For a reimagined charcuterie and cheese plate, we quite liked picking and choosing the combinations here.
For a pasta course, we ordered the Drunken Rigatoni based on the recommendation from our foodie friend Karen Hoang. This one came with a vodka tomato sauce, pancetta, parmesan, and blistered basil.
The pasta itself was the winning element here, as it was quite flavorful, perfectly al dente, and had pronounced grooves that really soaked up the sauce. Admittedly, the pancetta here was fairly small bites and hid a bit in the background, but the pieces still added a nice richness to the pasta overall.
Our favorite part of the meal was, naturally, the pizza. Although the recommended pizzas had some rather unique flavor combinations, on this visit, we were in the mood for a build-your-own 12″ with Italian sausage, wild mushrooms, pickled onions, and honey jalapenos.
The pizza here came out with a fairly thin, crisp crust and a loaded spread of toppings that we thought worked really nicely together. We had ordered a 12″, but both Angie and I independently thought that we felt the pizza seemed bigger once it was delivered, which we fully appreciated for its price. (That said, we did not measure- just a gut feel there.)
Alongside the pizza came accoutrements like chili crumble and sea salt, which really helped elevate the meal. We particularly enjoyed the chili on top, so do not skip the toppings that are brought out!
Finally, we ended the meal with a beautiful lemon tiramisu made of limoncello-soaked lady fingers, lemon-scented mascarpone, candied lemon, and powdered sugar, which was certainly a lighter and more refreshing take on the dish.
But for how much we enjoyed our meal (the pizza in particular, plus some truly excellent service), we do have one main concern about Cork and Crust- the price.
The Price is a Bit Troubling – Particularly at the Bar
Despite this restaurant being located in a nice hotel and featuring a multi-time James Beard-nominated chef at a former restaurant (which we’ll be the first to acknowledge that both can command premium pricing), we are concerned that this one is far too expensive for current dining standards in Pittsburgh.
At the time of opening in 2026, we thought many of the items, particularly the cocktails, pasta, and entrees, were perhaps about $5 too expensive per item, which, for a multi-course meal and a couple of rounds of drinks, adds up fast.
The cocktails were perhaps the most concerning to us, as the house cocktails (using somewhat run-of-the-mill spirits) ran about $20 plus tax and tip during our 2026 visit, and a fairly straightforward Spritz and Negroni clocked in at $16. Had these been about $15 and $11, respectively, we would’ve had no issue with the value proposition. But conversely, when you can head to Spirits & Tales on the top floor of the hotel and get (in our opinion) more inventive drinks for a slightly lower price, it makes us scratch our heads a little bit.
Ironically, the pizzas, while still a premium, were perhaps the most reasonable for what you got. So in future visits, we see grabbing drinks at Spirits & Tales and heading downstairs to share a pizza over another full meal. Without a corporate expense account, the value proposition becomes just a bit too much for our liking otherwise.
Cork and Crust is located on the first floor of The Oaklander Hotel at 5130 Bigelow Boulevard in Oakland. We were partially hosted by the restaurant during our visit. As always, all opinions are our own.
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