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.

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.

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.

Called the Shady Burger, it was topped with American cheese, bacon and a sunny side up egg. It also came with lettuce, tomato, onions and pickles, which I promptly asked to not be included. I ordered it medium-rare and upgraded my fries to waffle fries because that is pretty much a requirement when it’s an option.

This turned out to be a great choice. The egg was runny, the meat was cooked perfectly and the bacon was crispy. Even the American cheese seemed to work despite that given the choice I would almost always choose any other cheese. It wasn’t the most creative burger ever, but it was definitely executed well. In fact, my only complaint was that there wasn’t enough of it. I’m used to big burgers, but this one was more portion-controlled, which meant I didn’t feel completely full until about 20 minutes after eating.

The waffle fries, meanwhile, were amazing. This should go without saying, but sometimes it has to be said. Even better, one of my eating companions had a side of garlic aioli that I snagged and dipped the fries in. I definitely recommend that.

And I recommend Shady Grove. It’s not just for wine, plus on Mondays the burgers are half off, which makes the goods even gooder.

EDIT: Stack’d II quickly became The Ave which quickly became the Tipsy Cow. Gone are the sandwiches, but you can read about the Tipsy Cow here.

While the list of great sequels is quite short, a few stand out. And joining the ranks of X-Men 2 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze is Stack’d II (hopefully someday they’ll update their site to include this). As you may recall, I once paid a visit to Stack’d in Shadyside, a build-your-own burger concept that found success on sales of beer, keeping their burgers cheap and not by the quality of burgers being pumped out. In fact, this was so successful that they made a sequel that swapped burgers for cheesesteaks.

I must admit I was skeptical at first. After all, a burger seems easier to make than a cheesesteak. But all the toppings from the original Stack’d were there, along with new toppings you’d be likely to find on a cheesesteak like cheese wiz, mushrooms and peppers. As an added bonus, Stack’d II cuts their sandwich prices in half on Wednesdays after 9pm so a base cheesesteak is only $3.

I went with the classic, just with steak and wiz, with Cajun fries on the side. It turned out that this was the best $4 cheesesteak I had ever had (cheese costs a buck, which seems somewhat ironic). The wiz was a little nacho cheese-esque, but the meat was pretty good and nicely seasoned. Clearly, making cheesesteak meat en masse is better than making burgers the same way and it showed. The roll was somewhat soft and although I would have liked a little more crunch to it, it did its job. I also felt like the fries were an upgrade from Stack’d, in that the seasoning was way more powerful.

As opposed to my first visit to the original, I am somewhat excited about a return to Stack’d II to see what kind of interesting cheesesteak concoction I can craft. It may not stack up to a more authentic spot, but for the value it’s hard to beat.

Noodlehead is a funny name for a restaurant. But then, Deadhead is a weird name for people who follow a band called the Grateful Dead. I know you’re thinking apples and oranges, but hey, if you like noodles, why not be a Noodlehead? In this case, though, the noodles are limited to the Thai variety, but Noodlehead has plenty to offer.

Over the course of a couple visits to Noodlehead, I have found some pretty delicious things on their menu. For example, even before getting into the noodles, Noodlehead’s “Snacks” include Pork Belly Steamed Buns and something called Sweet and Spicy Pig Wings. The pork belly buns are served with a bit of sauce and thinly-sliced cucumber/pickle monsters. I put up with the pickles since I was eating with other, but just beware when ordering and know that they are much better without.

The pig wings are an interesting little dish, playing off of buffalo wings and served up to look like little drumsticks. But instead of chicken, these are piggy riblets with Thai barbecue sauce and freaking awesome. You know, except for the weird pickle cucumber things that accompany them on the plate. Fortunately, they don’t come into contact with each other.

For the main courses, Noodlehead serves up all of its noodle dishes for a flat rate of 9 bucks. There’s a good variety, but so far my favorite is their Chiang Mai Curry, which is egg noodles, chicken, pickled mustard greens and crispy shallots in a yellow curry coconut milk sauce. As you’d expect, I order without the greens for a pure meal. As with any good spicy restaurant, you are given a spice level and this one ranged from 1-5, with 5 being crazy hot and 4 being “Thai Hot.” As a whitey, so far I haven’t gone beyond level 3, which has a great balance of heat and flavor, but next time I think I’ll see if I can brave the Thai heat.

Noodlehead is a good, safe bet for Thai food with unique options for anyone to enjoy. Just don’t tell the people who work there, you don’t want it going to their head.

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.

You see, The Gobblerito is an item that only appears on the Mad Mex menu around the Thanksgiving season and then it goes away, leaving a hole the size of a Thanksgiving turkey inside those fortunate enough to have tried it. It comes packed with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and corn, then is topped with gravy and served with a side of cranberry sauce. Essentially it is what an x-ray of my stomach after Thanksgiving dinner would reveal. As you may recall, the Mad Mex burritos come in strange cubic form and The Gobblerito is no different.

In just a few bites, I was thrown back to a time when I first tried The Bobby at Capriotti’s and realized there was true good in this world. The Gobblerito is absolutely at the level of The Bobby and this status is only bolstered by the brevity of its existence every year. The only downside was the weird “garnish” of lettuce strewn in one small area of the plate just large enough to interact with some of the gravy. Fortunately for Mad Mex and The Gobblerito, it was easy to avoid.

So what are you waiting for? Thanksgiving is fast approaching and you do not want to miss your chance to taste the burrito of tryptophan-induced dreams.

I know what I’ll be thankful for come Thursday.

While Walnut Street in Shadyside is the typical haunt of my fellow students, Highland is another street in Shadyside that has a lot to offer. One of those offerings is Buffalo Blues, a sports bar with a fair amount of food options that you might expect at such a place. Wings dominate the menu, but there are also burgers, sandwiches and a few other things for those not so inclined towards the wings.

I, however, am a man who often inclines towards wings and this meal was no different. The food was a little expensive when compared to the beer prices, but still nothing to complain about. I ordered ten wings and chose two sauces. The first was Spicy Garlic and the other was Wet Cajun (their regular Red Hot sauce with a Cajun rub). Neither one disappointed. The wings were reasonably meaty and both went well in the blue cheese dressing. As usual, they came with celery, which I often fail to order without, but went untouched. Fortunately, celery is one of those veggies that doesn’t affect the outcome of the meal, but is still an annoyance.

I also have to put a plug in here for the Buffalo Blue Fries, which I had here on a later visit. These fries are topped with an incredible spicy blue cheese dip and pulled chicken and hit the spot no matter what mood I’m in. They eat like a meal, but they are also acceptable as an appetizer to split with a bunch of people. They will likely be the end of me.

So yeah, the wings were good enough to bring me back, but that dip is the real winner at Buffalo Blues. As a bonus, the place is slowly being converted into a Michigan bar.

Steel Cactus in Shadyside is a place more typically known for drinks than food, yet, I found myself there hungry and waiting for drinks. The cactus thing in their name is somehow connected to the fact that they serve Mexican food and I was skeptical not only because it was primarily a drinking place, but also because Pittsburgh isn’t quite known as a bastion of Mexican food.

I decided on the queso asada burrito, which came with beef, rice and pico de gallo, then was topped with a queso sauce. I love me some queso sauce, so I had high hopes for this and ordered with chipotle salsa instead of the pico de gallo. It arrived looking pretty good. Well at least the burrito itself. On the plate was a bunch of lettuce that was not only unmentioned, but unwelcome as well because some of the lettuce stuck to the queso and killed those little bits of sauce.

When I dug in, there was also drama, as the burrito was loaded with big chunks of tomato. Tomato completely blended into a salsa is acceptable, but this was no such thing and made it difficult to eat the burrito. I must admit that I did like the non-vegetable parts. But the food was a bit pricey and not exactly something I would seek out again unless I was in a bind.

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.

I grabbed a checklist and started choosing away, picking the half pound patty, pretzel bun, pepper jack cheese, Blazin’ BBQ sauce, Fritos (yes, Fritos!) and Cajun fries (which I was told came on the side and not on the burger itself). Funny enough, nowhere on the extensive list of options was a choice of how to prepare the beef, so I penciled in “Medium-Rare” next to the patty I chose and hoped it would be heeded.

When my burger arrived, it was looking pretty. The Fritos in place of anything resembling a vegetable made it even prettier, although a stray piece of lettuce was sitting on my bun and had to be forcibly removed. When I dug in, I couldn’t have been happier with the ingredients. The sauce had a nice kick to it to complement the cheese and I can’t say enough about Fritos as a topping. The pretzel bun was a nice touch, but definitely not the best pretzel bun I’ve had. Yet, with all these things going right, only one thing could ruin this burger and that was the patty itself. The burger actually featured two patties (each a quarter pound), and each were dry, brown and lifeless. Such a thing can ruin a burger and these patties really did. Subsequent visits have taught me I wasn’t just there on an off night.

But there was hope. The fries were pretty stellar and Stack’d cuts its prices to $3 a burger on Tuesday nights after 9:00. This price is perfect for these burgers and it is unlikely that I will ever go back to full price again.