‘Hamburgers’
Downtown Buffalo hosts all sorts of fun events during the summer and so far none more fun than Thursdays at Canalside. But right by Canalside is place called Pearl Street Grill & Brewery, which is supposed to have some good things to eat and drink. As a man who loves brewery food, I was excited at the prospect of Pearl Street and after ordering one of their seasonal beers I took a gander at their menu.
Just as with the band MGMT, I am never quite sure whether to pronounce BRGR as “B-R-G-R” or as “Burger.” Such is the conundrum of a word without vowels, but in truth pronunciation matters little in such a situation compared to how good the burgers are. To many people, there is a debate as to the merits of BRGR versus Burgatory. Having truly, madly and deeply enjoyed Burgatory, BRGR certainly had its work cut out for it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Shady Grove is probably best known for it’s messy Wednesday night wine night when they drop their bottle prices by half. But like most other places in Shadyside known for drinks, Shady Grove also sports a sizable food menu and it’s not just bar food. Of course, I still made my way to the menu that was more like bar food and found myself a pretty-looking burger.
A long, long time ago, in a lifetime far, far away, a friend once told me about a place called Roam Artisan Burgers in San Francisco. At the time, I was riding the wave of Umami Burger and all the other delicious burgers being pumped out of LA, so I didn’t pay too much attention to burgers happening up north. Yet, when the opportunity came to make my way to Roam, I pulled it off and even convinced a few people to join me.
The custom burger popularized by The Counter seems to be present nearly everywhere these days, and Pittsburgh has not escaped the trend. Burgatory is one of those places, which I was introduced to my first night in Pittsburgh, and another is Stack’d in Shadyside. The options aren’t quite as extensive as Burgatory, but the burgers are priced a bit friendlier.
Legend has it that once upon a time in the town of Aspinwall there was a dive bar and grill creatively named The Aspinwall. Folks from all over the local suburbs flocked to The Aspinwall for the food, drinks and atmosphere. Slowly, though, the place fell into decline. The service slacked, the food became less appealing and the atmosphere was no longer enough to keep people coming back. Recently, the place has been revamped as Sam’s Tavern in the Wall, maintaining that same atmosphere and attempting to bring back everything else that made The Aspinwall great.