In addition to Primanti Brothers, Pittsburgh’s other claim to food fame is Pamela’s Diner, a spot that POTUS himself makes sure to hit up every time he’s in the steel city. Breaking away from the diner norm, Pamela’s specializes in a little something called Crepe Hotcakes and they are supposed to be the cat’s meow.
Perched in the top of a building on top of Mount Washington and featuring a bar design that hasn’t been updated since the seventies or was intentionally painted to look that way is Monterey Bay Fish Grotto. Monterey Bay features one of the best views of Pittsburgh’s three rivers and downtown. It also features fish in a menu that even made me believe seafood could be a viable food source.
I am a man of strong principles and one of these is that beans have no place in chili. Sorry, that’s not how we did it where I’m from and I intend to keep it that way. To see how this would fly, I started looking for food ideas at ThorsFork.com which helped me put together a chili recipe to participate in a chili cookoff and took home the grand prize. So here it is, the Award Winning Unvegan Original No Beans About It Chili Recipe.
Loyal readers may know that this food blog adheres to an almost exception-free policy of not re-reviewing restaurants. First impressions are the most important impressions and that is why this unwritten policy is in place. However, when a restaurant innovates or completely reworks a menu, they could be considered for another feature on the Unvegan. Typically, this has been relegated to Taco Bell, but another faux-Mexican restaurant called Mad Mex is continuing that trend. Namely, this innovation is called The Gobblerito and it means Thanksgiving in a tortilla.
Where Philly has cheesesteaks, Pittsburgh has Primanti Brothers, which is both a restaurant and a term for the sandwich style that represents the city. Rather than just throwing cheese and steak into a hoagie bun and calling it a day like on the other side of the state (I mean seriously, cheesesteak is delicious but hardly revolutionary), Primanti Brothers sandwiches are rich with blue collar history and innovation.
Point Breeze basically has two restaurants. One is Point Brugge, which was eloquently reviewed recently on this site, and the other is Pino’s, a classy Italian joint basically across the street. In truth, I knew nothing about Pino’s before walking in, but by the time I left I was looking forward to more. You see, when it comes to pasta, I kind of have a thing where I feel like a jar of Classico and some dry pasta is just as good as many restaurants. Pino’s, however, was not one of these restaurants.
With a name like Bites and Brews, you kind of know what to expect when walking into the place. And let me tell you right here: the place does not disappoint. If all you are seeking is something to eat and something to drink, Bites and Brews has you covered. With a beer menu including about 30 brews starting at $3 and a food menu ranging from bar staples to hoagies, the name of the place is certainly apt.
As a city with only 2.3% of its population claiming Hispanic or Latino as its ancestry, Pittsburgh isn’t exactly a hub of south-of-the-border cuisine. Yet, I had heard rumors of a delicious upscale Mexican restaurant called Verde in an area of town called Garfield and headed there one night when my momma took me out to dinner. After all, upscale as a student is typically only in the lexicon when parents are around.
You know that whole “tastes like chicken” thing that was popular back when The Matrix came out? Yeah, I thought it was annoying too. However, when it came to eating guinea fowl (also known as bush chicken), I was eager to put that old adage to the test. My opportunity to dine on this fowl came in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and perhaps the best part of eating guinea fowl for dinner was the fact that I saw flocks of wild guinea fowl wandering the grounds of the restaurant earlier in the day.
Pittsburgh is quite a unique place. So unique, in fact, that when I arrived I was given a crash course in how to speak Pittsburghese. I’ll spare the details, aside from the fact that Pittsburgh has its own version of “y’all.” That word is “yinz” and people who speak in Pittsburghese are referred to as “Yinzers.” With that in mind, you can now rest easy knowing that the BBQ you are about to read about is a play on “yinz” and not some obscure Civil War battle. And now, onto the BBQ.