‘South Side’
Remember a time when Benihana-esque teppanyaki places were just the coolest damn things ever? Yes, it seems like a long time ago, but that time was very real. Well, the excitement has certainly passed, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to get a group together to hit up a teppanyaki place every few years. Well, we did just that in Pittsburgh’s South Side at spot called Nakama (which weirdly translates to “fellow”).
Legend had told me of Birmingham Bridge Tavern‘s 50 cent wing night on Mondays, but for some reason it took me far too long to get there. I arrived with some friends for dinner and found the place surprisingly empty, but on the other hand it was the South Side and school wasn’t in session, so the emptiness could at least be explained.
Oh Hofbrauhaus, how you manage to put items on a menu like “Kartoffelpfannkuchen” amazes me considering the size of your beer steins. I can’t pronounce things like that without beer in me, and it doesn’t get much better afterwards. Nonetheless, at least in Pittsburgh (as opposed to Germany) I can get a good explanation of what each dish is.
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.
While LA may not have a signature food (the closest it gets is either Asian fusion or burgers), it has a hell of a lot of options for immigrants who miss the signature food of their homeland, be it Chicago Pizza or Detroit Coney Dogs. The Philly Cheese Steak is no exception, with plenty of places offering their “authentic” version. I don’t claim to be an expert on the cheese steak (only been to Philly once, during a massive blizzard), but the sandwich has always been a dear friend of mine. After all, what can go wrong when meat and cheese mix? Don’t answer that if you’re one of them Kosher people. South Street in Burbank has been bringing Philly toLA for a few years, so I thought I would see how they measure up.