The Unvegan

Recent Posts

10 Years of Unvegan
A Quick Bite at Burrito Express
Serendipity at Northern Waters Smokehaus
Twerks and Burritos at Casa Amigos

‘Bar Food’

6/23/2014 Buffalo

Originating at Anchor Bar

It's always gloomy in Buffalo.
It’s always gloomy in Buffalo.

What came first, the chicken or the egg? When it comes to chicken wings, the question is much easier because the answer is always Anchor Bar. No, not this Anchor Bar, this Anchor Bar in Buffalo, which somehow stumbled into one of the greatest culinary inventions of ever. Yet despite being the original, I haven’t met a person in Western New York that actually thinks Anchor Bar has the best wings. That distinction belongs elsewhere, but armed with this knowledge I still knew I had to get to Anchor Bar at least once in my summer of Buffalo and there was no better time than the present.

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6/16/2014 East Aurora

Chicken Wings at Bar Bill Tavern

So many wings. So little time.
So many wings. So little time.

As you may or may not know, buffalo wings originated in Buffalo, New York. And living right down the road from Buffalo, I’m now qualified to know a few things about the area. One of those things is that there is no such thing as Buffalo wings up here. Here they’re just called chicken wings because otherwise it would be redundant. You know, like calling French fries just fries in France. And one place famous for chicken wings is Bar Bill Tavern in East Aurora.

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5/16/2014 Pittsburgh

Booking it at The Library

Another burger in the books.
Another burger in the books.

By night, Pittsburgh’s South Side is a drunken disaster. But by day, I heard there was good food to be found at a place called The Library or some variation thereof. Every town seems to have a bar called The Library these days, because who doesn’t want to say they are heading to the library when they are thirsty for some booze? When our table was ready, we headed upstairs, as The Library was much bigger than it looked on the outside. The walls had assorted bookshelves and the menu items all seemed to be named for some books.

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5/9/2014 Pittsburgh

Carnivorous Eating at Hough’s

Ugh pink stuff.
Ugh pink stuff.

Hough’s in Greenfield (pronounced huff’s for all yinz amateurs) is a pretty special place. In addition to having an awesome beer selection, they have a backroom that can be used to brew your own beer. Because, you know, hundreds of beers just aren’t enough. Yet, as much as I love beer, this is a meaty food blog, so let’s get down to the meat of the matter. Hough’s food menu is pretty short, mostly filled with burgers and sandwiches, and this is just fine by me. My group of friends gave me mixed reviews of their Smoked Reuben, so I took the burger route.

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4/14/2014 Pittsburgh

Atypical Italian at Tessaro’s

Breakfast.
Breakfast.

With a name like Tessaro’s, you’d kind of expect a place to be Italian. In Bloomfield, Pittsburgh, that is simply not the case. Here, Tessaro’s is an old-fashioned bar with some old-fashioned American food to join with the drinks. The place is pretty well-known for the their burger, but just for a moment I was tempted to order some ribs because it turned out Thursday night was rib night. I quickly came to my senses and narrowed down my burger order.

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4/4/2014 Indianapolis

Indy Irish at O’Reilly’s

Down in Indy Town
Down in Indy Town.

Why would anyone go to Indianapolis? Well, outside of sports, I never saw any reason to until last weekend when I went for sports of the Michigan variety. But before said sporting could occur, I needed some food and headed to O’Reilly’s downtown, which was playing host to all of my fellow Wolverines. O’Reilly’s is pretty much an Irish Pub, but of reasonable size and we managed to find some comfy couch seats to get our eating going.

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3/20/2014 Pittsburgh

Taking a Dive at William Penn

Original buffalo
Original buffalo.

William Penn Tavern in Shadyside is the quintessential college bar. Drink specials line the walls and an outdoor tented area makes you feel both beautiful and dirty at the same time. And they have a food menu to go with that, filled with all the usual bar food suspects. You know, the things that take up just enough stomach space and soak up enough alcohol to keep you drinking all night.

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3/13/2014 Latrobe

Sweet and Not Really Hot at Dino’s

More sweet than hot.
More sweet than hot.

Recently I was enlightened to the existence of the greatest wings in Pennsylvania. Surely, this is quite the claim, but Dino’s in Latrobe has no issue with making the claim on their site. Plus, a buddy of mine gave them a glowing review, having grown up in Latrobe. Their specialty isn’t actually buffalo wings, but something called Sweet and Hot.

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3/10/2014 Pittsburgh

The Mac Daddy at Kelly’s

Drool.
Drool.

I’m not sure a soul in the world exists that doesn’t like Mac and Cheese. Sure, some might not be able to eat it for lactose, gluten or (shudder) vegan reasons, but I am sure those people all still wish they could eat it. After all, it is quite possibly the ultimate comfort food. So when Pop City called out Kelly’s Bar & Lounge as Pittsburgh’s best mac and cheese (apparently a very poorly-kept secret), I made my way there as quickly as possible.

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2/20/2014 Pittsburgh

Down with D’s Six Pax & Dogz

You my dog.
You my dog.

Pennsylvania has some crazy alcohol laws. One of these is that places that sell six packs of beer also have to sell immediately consumable food. You know, like a restaurant. Clever, enterprising humans in Pittsburgh have realized that the easiest and cheapest way to do this is through selling hot dogs, so Pittsburgh is full of crappy little hot dog spots with overpriced beer. Despite the name, D’s Six Pax & Dogz is not one of these places.

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