In all that time I lived in Pittsburgh, it became apparent that hot dogs are super important. And it’s not just about the classic Dirty O or D’s Six Pax & Dogz, which is one of the hot dog spots ever. It’s about all the liquor stores that are allowed to sell booze because they also sell hot dogs because of stupid Pennsylvania alcohol laws. Yet, there’s no real signature hot dog. Enter: Wimpy’s Paradise in Chandler, Arizona.

Yes, Arizona, which seems to be the center of the Pittsburgh Diaspora. Wimpy’s Paradise is totally unrelated to Wimpy’s in Rochester, New York and was started by a guy named Randy and was inspired by the fact that his dad had started a place by the same name in Pittsburgh back in the day. Despite living in Arizona for decades, Randy is a Pittsburgher through and through and couldn’t have been more excited about the case of Yuengling someone had just brought him back from Pittsburgh. Thus, it is no surprise that he created a hot dog called The Pittsburgher.

The Pittsburgher begins as a 1/2 pound all beef dog, which is then topped with chipped ham that is cooked with butter and cheddar cheese. Before I go further, I should say that I somehow managed to never hear of chipped ham, which is like a war ration version of ham that is somehow super popular in Western Pennsylvania outside of the Carnegie Mellon bubble that I existed in. At Randy’s suggestion, I also topped my Pittsburgher with bacon.

And while that sounds like an overwhelming hot dog, it was actually just right. The toppings didn’t overflow and played really well with each other. The hot dog itself was plump, snappy and juicy, while the chipped ham was different from your typical ham, being sliced super thin and cooked all buttery-like.

For ordering something that I thought would put me into a food coma, I left Wimpy’s Paradise feeling perfectly full, but most importantly energized by finding a little taste of Pittsburgh in the desert.

EDIT: As always, Conflict Kitchen continues update the menu for different countries. Rumor has it it’s currently Iranian, but likely won’t be for long.

With the advent of improved relations between the US and Cuba, Conflict Kitchen (which I wrote about back here) decided to switch from Palestinian food over to food representing that land mass 90 miles from Florida. They had done this once before, but they probably figured they wouldn’t have the opportunity again.

I opted for the Lechon Asado, which is a slow roasted pork marinated in mojo sauce. Unbeknownst to me it also came with some sort of terrible Cuban salad concoction. This wasn’t pleasing, but at least the Lechon Asado tasted delicious. Well, I should say it was delicious from where I was in Pittsburgh, a long way from Cuba. This is compared to Florida, where I had such flavorful Cuban food that I may be spoiled forever.

I also had some tostones which are smashed, fried savory plantains. They came with some mojo sauce for dipping, which was really tasty garlic sauce. For dessert I had myself a guava and cheese empanada. I only did this to see if it could come close to the guava and cheese strudel served up at Porto’s in LA. Sadly, it was covered in sugar, which totally masked what is typically a delicious mixture of already sweet guava and cheese.

So, while Conflict Kitchen didn’t fail me on its Cuban rendition, it also didn’t impress me as much as its Palestinian cuisine. But as relations normalize between our two countries, I can only hope Pittsburgh gets an influx of Cuban immigrants looking to provide some amazing food.

Off to the side of Shayside’s Walnut Street is an Italian cafe that goes by the name of Girasole. From the looks of it, you’d expect it to be a little bit dingy and perhaps a little bit pretentious. It turns out it is neither of these things, being both airy and friendly. Yet, I wasn’t looking to make friends, I was looking for some grub.

And grub is what I found – more specifically the gnocchi variety of grub. Their gnocchi was plain and classic, being served with a marinara sauce with mozzarella. But before I could get to that, it came with a choice of soup or salad and I chose the Escarole and Beans soup. Essentially it was marinara sauce with beans so I liked it.

As for the gnocchi, I was also pretty pleased with the dish. The dumplings were nice and soft while the marinara sauce and mozzarella met them with a good balance. In fact, there was enough mozzarella so that every bite had a hit of the good stuff.

Girasole may not stack up to the likes of Piccolo Forno, but it is undoubtedly a solid spot that doesn’t seem capable of disappointing.

Just when I thought I knew everything about old school Pittsburgh food pots, Monterey Pub in the North Side was thrust in my face by multiple sources. As an Irish Pub, the place is famed for its Guinness Shredded Beef, which it manages to drop into dishes at every level – nachos, burgers, shepherd’s pie and whatnot. I like Guinness and I like beef, so I was hoping Monterey Pub would satisfy my hunger.

We started out with chips, salsa and guac, which was a huge mistake. After all, despite being in the Mexican War Streets, this was not a Mexican place and I’m pretty sure all three things came from Costco. Nonetheless, my main course more than made up for that.

Per my waitress’s suggestion, I ordered the Guinness Shredded Beef Boxty. This delight was composed of potato pancakes in Big Mac formation layered with the shredded beef, English Double Gloucester Cheese and something called signature pub sauce. Little did I know that this would be served in a ring of lettuce, which was a poor choice, but what I ordered certainly was not. Despite looking like a sandwich, this required a fork and knife and each bite was better than the next. The shredded beef had a touch of sweetness from the Guinness malts, yet was plenty savory. The cheese was just strong enough and the special sauce was reminiscent of a certain mixture of ketchup and mayo, but better. Finally, the potato pancakes were nothing like the Jewish variety and added a great hit of crispy texture and flavor to the mix.

Monterey Pub is definitely worth a visit for anyone looking for awesome Irish Pub food. The Guinness Shredded Beef Boxty is one of the most uniquely delicious meals I have had in a long time, and that’s a pretty strong statement for an Irish Pub. Just make sure to stick with the Irish food as opposed to random menu offerings like chips and salsa.

Peppi’s Subs, which has a few locations around Pittsburgh, has a little (big) sandwich called The Roethlisburger (or #7 depending on who you ask). I’m not sure how the sub shop attracted clientele between 1983 and 2004 when Big Ben arrived in Pittsburgh, but I was in no mood to find out when I paid Peppi’s in the Strip District a visit.

Weirdly enough, The Roethlisburger isn’t a burger at all, which makes me wonder why the spelling was changed to seem like a burger. Rather, it is a sub filled with sausage, burger meat (okay I guess that might be how it got its name), egg and American cheese. It can also come with a slew of veggies and mayo by request, but I can’t imagine why anyone would request such a thing. As I awaited my sub, I couldn’t help but notice that Peppi’s is perhaps the most yinzer place in existence in terms of the decor and the people the frequent the place. Nonetheless, I was eager for my sub.

As it turns out, sometimes American cheese is a good thing. At least that was the case with The Roethlisburger, whose ingredients were literally and figuratively held together by the cheese. It helped to maintain a sense of balance within the sub and physically kept the ingredients close to each other to ensure maximum flavor in each bite. On the outside, the roll was actually pretty perfect. Inside, the sub seemed to personify Pittsburgh even more than it personified Ben Roethlisberger because the colors that stood out were black char and yellow cheese.

Sure, the eggs could have been runnier and the burger a bit more rare, but this was a divey sub in a divey sub shop named after a gropey quarterback. In short, I was pleased and would happily eat a #7 anytime.

Down at the bottom of Squirrel Hill is Chinese spot called Chengdu Gourmet. I heard rumors that it could produce some real Chinese food, so I went down with a wife and a friend to see just how true this was. It turned out the place has both a traditional Chinese menu and an American Chinese menu, so we ignored the latter.

We began with an order of Dan Dan Noodles (pictured above), which were pretty stellar. They had a ton of flavor with a fair amount of minced pork to go with them. They didn’t have peanuts, which is something I usually like, but they weren’t missed here.

Next we had the Shredded Beef, which was essentially thin strips of beef with even thinner strips of green peppers. There was a slight kick to this that I enjoyed and the beef was tender and damn flavorful.

Then we had the Diced Chicken with Dried Pepper Chengdu Style. This was definitely the type of dish I had seen in Sichuan, coming topped with loads of dried chilis, but only to give it a nice flavor assuming you don’t actually eat one of the peppers. The chicken was also pretty tender, boneless and not crisped up like you might often see in such a dish (but that just means it’s Chongqing style instead of Chengdu).

Finally, we had the Chicken with Basil, which was recommended after my wife asked for a chicken dish with veggies that wasn’t spicy. It turned out that this dish only had veggies if you count basil leaves as veggies. So basically it was perfect for me. The chicken came in a clay pot and had a great sweet flavor to it that wasn’t overpowering and was a good way to balance out the spicier dishes.

I left my meal as a big fan of Chengdu Gourmet; through the three dishes and dan dan noodles I definitely felt like I had eaten something pretty authentic. It’s been a while since I lived in China, but the traditional Chinese food was undoubtedly good and I see no reason to try out the American style. Just make sure you’re careful what you wish for when it comes to veggies.

Growing up near Detroit and then living in LA, I must admit I have been spoiled by good delis. Thus, when I moved to Pittsburgh I was shocked to learn that apparently the deli scene was pretty terrible. Because of this, it took me nearly two years to get to Smallman Street Deli – the biggest Jewish Deli in town.

They make their own pastrami and corned beef and whatnot, so I ordered their Signature Sandwich with pastrami. It also came with mustard, on specialty rye. Instead of mustard I ordered Russian dressing and also asked for a slice of Swiss cheese on the sandwich. It was served warm and with a stupid pickle that I promptly removed (in defense of Smallman’s, it was listed on the menu and I forgot to order without). As for the pastrami, it was pretty different from the Jewish pastrami I’m used to, which is typically similar to corned beef with an extra spiced rind.

But in this case, different was good. It had some really solid flavor that went well with the bread, cheese and dressing. A thicker cut would have improved the sandwich by adding some nice texture to the meat, but overall I couldn’t argue with the flavor.

In general, it wasn’t the most impressive deli because at the end of the day I want some pastrami that leaves me thinking about it days later, but it’s also not bad in a pinch.

The bar and restaurant once known as Stack’d II quickly became The Ave and has in turn finally become the Tipsy Cow – still in Shadyside of course. And while Stack’d II and The Ave slung cheesesteaks instead of burgers, the Tipsy Cow has taken the original Stack’d’s custom burger concept and upgraded it to make burgers that actually taste like something you want to eat.

Yet, when it came to my order for my review of the Tipsy Cow, I went with a pre-set burger called the Tipsy Pig. This burger was made with a 50/50 bacon and beef patty, then topped with strips of bacon, Canadian bacon, bacon mayo and finally some cheddar. I also ordered some fries to go with it.

Sadly, the cheese turned out not to be the only non-bacon topping, as my burger arrived with a tomato and lettuce. I removed these promptly and was at least glad the lettuce wasn’t shredded. And it turned out the Tipsy Pig was actually pretty great, despite the fact that all the bacon made it pretty dry. I have experienced the bacon threshold before and this burger did not appear to reach that point, despite being quite the bacon challenge. Perhaps it was the Bell’s Two Hearted that neutralized the effect, but whatever the case I was a happy man. Plus, the fries were at least not fried in bacon or anything like that.

Despite dropping the cheesesteaks, the Tipsy Cow has put up a good effort in Pittsburgh’s slightly classier bar food scene. Plus, you can’t go wrong with bacon, bacon and more bacon.

Perched above Pamela’s in Shadyside is a Peruvian store and restaurant going by the name of La Feria. It claims to be a sister restaurant to Pamela’s, which is strange considering the utter lack of Peruvian in Pamela’s menu, but there it is. And despite the lack of guinea pig and alpaca on the menu, I was eager to see how Pittsburgh would do Peru.

The menu wasn’t too big, but I decided to go with the combo platter and picked Ropa Vieja (shredded beef) and Latin Flag (more ropa vieja, garlic rice and black beans in stripes like a flag). The dish came with salad or sweet potato chips, plus a couple pieces of bread and I obviously chose the chips. By mistake, the dish came out with a salad, but they did bring me my chips and the salad didn’t get in the way of the meal.

As for the meal itself, I was a fan of the ropa vieja, but didn’t find it as flavorful as I may have liked. The black beans were pretty tasty and the rice was, well, rice. The same goes for the sweet potato chips.

I really enjoyed the meal, but I couldn’t help but think La Feria needed more items to bolster the menu. They did seem to have a nice rotation of specials, but I’d need a bit more to make it a regular spot.

As the various neighborhoods of Pittsburgh become more and more gentrified, it’s only inevitable that the hipster vibe that inhabits Lawrenceville will make its way to other parts of the city. One of these areas is Bloomfield, where Bread and Salt Bakery has taken up business in what seems to be a back alley. Replete with a man in cutoff shorts and pizza that is charged by the pound (because obviously everyone knows how much a pound of pizza looks like), the place has become popular for its bread. Which is good, because up until recently that was about all they had to offer on their menu.

The pizza did look good, but what looked even better were a couple of other dishes. To begin with, the wife and I split some toast topped with olive oil, chocolate and salt. As a man with no real love for chocolate, I must admit that this toast was amazing. The toast simply finds the perfect balance of sweet, salty, savory and sour (from the sourdough bread). And this bread, by the way, is nothing like your typical sourdough bread. The crust is crazy hard, while the interior is soft and delicate, making the bread stand out on its own even without any toppings.

On top of the toast, I ordered one of their grilled cheeses. There were only two options, so I chose the one that had something called Nduja in it. The hipster man explained to me that this was like a spicy spreadable sausage, so I obviously wanted it. It took a shockingly long time to make the grilled cheese, but when it was done I have to admit it was a bit disappointing. There didn’t seem to be too much cheese in it and the cheese it did have was pretty flavorless. The nduja was pretty good, but lackadaisically placed in the sandwich so that not nearly every bite had a taste of the stuff.

Of course, the saving grace was the delicious bread, and I can understand how Bread and Salt didn’t want to overwhelm the bread with too strong of flavors in the sandwich. Nonetheless, I have had some amazing sandwiches with insides that complement their breads and I am sure that it is only a matter of time until Bread and Salt finds its mix. Until then I will happily return for toast, bread and perhaps a taste of the pizza by the pound.