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

‘Bars’

Fish Fried at Swannie House

That almost looks like fish.
That almost looks like fish.

Western New York appears to be obsessed with fish fries on Fridays. This, of course, is when places fry up some fish and serve it, and presumably is related to a historically Catholic population and some holiday called Lent. As for me, I usually don’t like fish that hasn’t been fried, so this works out nicely for me. As a newbie to the area, I reached out to Buffalo Eats for recommendations and they pointed me to Swannie House in South Buffalo. Before I even entered, I was a happy man, because the the combination of smells from the Cheerios factory across the way and the frying going on inside made it smell like elephant ears. But let’s move on to the fish fry.

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.

Sweet Baby James Street Tavern

Not-So Hot Buffalo.
Not-So Hot Buffalo.

I don’t always go to Pittsburgh’s North Side, but when I do, it is for BOGO (buy one get one free) wings. And these wings were at James Street Tavern, a sort of gastropub with a jazzy theme and some actual live jazz music if you show up at the right time. I, of course, did not, but I did show up on Thursday night when the place has those 2-for-1 wings. And we went all-out with the wings, beginning with some Classic Hot Buffalo over there on the left.

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.

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.

Burgher Time at Industry Public House

Oh I get it.
Oh I get it.

Industry Public House is pretty much the first gastropub I have come across in Pittsburgh. This is shocking, because I have been here for more than 9 months and I couldn’t go more than 9 blocks in the last city I lived in without coming across one. And, as much as I tired of every new gastropub’s attempt to find unique craft beers and craft burgers, I must say I was happy to find both at Industry Public House.

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.

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.

Extra Fancy at Butterjoint

No sidekick here.
No sidekick here.

Like a sidekick to Legume in Oakland, Butterjoint hangs out next to the former restaurant serving up cocktails and a menu only available to those in the area while still serving the full Legume menu. Come to think of it, if it weren’t for the relatively small size of Butterjoint it would be the Batman to Legume’s Robin. Nonetheless, size or not, I was here for one thing: a burger.

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.