Restaurant Recommendations

Postby **FreeCandy44** » Mon Apr 06, 2015 11:18 pm

20pc nugs at chez le macD is the tops. Get there early though.

Postby **blackjack68** » Tue Apr 07, 2015 9:54 am

20pc nugs at chez le macD is the tops. Get there early though.

I love mine with a tomato, vinegar and sodium chloride reduction ala Heinz.

Postby **meecrofilm** » Wed Apr 08, 2015 11:36 am

Coming into town in a couple weeks. We were just there a couple weekends ago and visited Butcher and the Rye. It's incredible. It was St. Patty's day weekend, so most of the places were packed with people in green shirts. We went to Proper Brick Oven and Taproom for a few drinks. They were pricey, but good. We were full from dinner, but we asked to look at the menu... it looked REALLY good. We're thinking about heading there for our upcoming weekend for dinner one night. Anyone been?

I've only eaten at Proper a couple times, but I remember the food being good. The candied bacon is an excellent app. I may have gotten different pizzas both times, but I'd imagine the rest of the menu is pretty solid too. Haven't heard any complaints from people who've been there, and it seems to always be jumping on the weekends.

Postby **count2infinity** » Sun Apr 12, 2015 2:16 pm

Bar Marco was okay... Personally nothing blew me away that I couldn't get for a better price/bigger portions. We got 5 dishes between the 2 of us. We weren't full to the point of being stuffed. The drink was really good that the bartender made for each of us. Really made some delicious cocktails, but again, pretty pricey for what it was.

Postby **LITT** » Thu Apr 16, 2015 7:08 am

has anyone been to trapuzzano on walnut? its where max and ermas elbow room used to be

Postby **LITT** » Sun Apr 19, 2015 9:09 pm

Went to smoke Friday. Was tasty but I'm partial to round corner cantina due to their chips and guac and salsa. The "chips" at smoke are overwhelming

also hit up the pgh taco truck today. Solid. Had a general tso taco and Thai chicken peanut. Both were tasty

Postby **LITT** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 8:39 am

went to la palapa on carson street saturday night. BYOB. had a few quesadillas. very tasty. the chorizo and potato was very good. reasonably priced as well

Postby **LITT** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 12:41 pm

tako (of rick deshantz fame) opened 2 days ago. reservations already booked for 2 week. damn you pittsburgh

Postby **MrKennethTKangaroo** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 8:04 pm

Wait the elbow room is gone ?

Postby **LITT** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 8:20 pm

Ya for a few months meow

Postby **columbia** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 9:19 pm

That feels kind of sad. There was nothing noteworthy about it, but served the neighborhood well.

Postby **Pavel Bure** » Thu Apr 30, 2015 9:32 pm

Mac N Gold truck yum

Postby **dodint** » Tue May 26, 2015 8:17 pm

I presume the Cooking and Dining thread was supposed to cover both cooking at home and eateries, but it consists mostly of folks making recipes and taking pictures of their food like millennials do. The other version of this thread was really helpful for me so I thought I'd revive it.

I took the wife to Butcher and the Rye based on @count2infinity 's recommendation and it fully delivered. We went last Friday night as the Pirates game was letting out so it was nice we had the sense to book reservations. We sat in those deep chairs on the second floor that overlooked the lower bar. The noise (sound system and packed house) was a little high but not bad enough to dampen the experience. The Pig Candy (pork belly / apple kim chi / miso caramel / cilantro) appetizer was so tender, kind of wish we would've ordered one each since the portion was fairly small. For the main course we both had the Dirty Pasta (ground duck / strozzapretti / sage / brandy / pecorino romano) and they knocked it out of the park. Of all the things in that dish the sage really made it. Strange for sage to rise to the top of that list but it had a really prominent taste without overpowering the dish. The strozzapretti was done perfectly as well, thick enough to hold its own without being limp and lifeless. Exceptional. It's also nice to find duck on a menu somewhere west of I-95, even if it's ground.

http://butcherandtherye.com/

Before our 9:45 reservation we had about 45 minutes to kill. We jumped into Six Penn Kitchen since we saw through the front window that there were two open seats at the bar. Decent enough beer selection, a lot of IPAs (not my thing), but the bar itself was pretty small so I consider ourselves lucky to get a spot. Watched the game end and as our reservation grew closer we jumped into the crowd coming off the bridge and rode it back to Butcher and the Rye. The menu at Six Penn looked interesting enough to go back next time we're in the area.

http://www.sixpennkitchen.com/

I'm heading to the Heinz History Center on Thursday afternoon. Anything in particular I should check out within walking distance?

Postby **mac5155** » Tue May 26, 2015 10:30 pm

Is gaucho parilla still closed? That comes to mind but I think it was temporarily closed.

Postby **Silentom** » Wed May 27, 2015 8:29 am

Spaghetti Warehouse.
/end thread

In all seriousness, Lidia's is a stones throw away, but I've never had the chance to eat there.

Postby **LITT** » Wed May 27, 2015 8:33 am

eleven >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> lidias

kaya is down there, also pretty tasty.

bar marco also in the strip which i enjoy

Postby **LITT** » Wed May 27, 2015 8:34 am

also

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=133

Postby **dodint** » Wed May 27, 2015 10:10 am

Ah. I searched every instance of the word "restaurant" and came up with nothing relevant. Feel free to lock/delete/merge.

Postby **count2infinity** » Wed May 27, 2015 10:11 am

Postby **Miami Vice** » Wed May 27, 2015 10:38 am

I was downtown on Monday and we were looking for some time to kill out of the sunlight, so we walked up to Bills Bar and Burger. Not wanting to eat a ton of food we just got their Fat Cat (the famous one) and a side of jalapeno bacon mac and cheese.

The burger was tasty but it was a total mess to eat. An english muffin is just too small for all the toppings and it completely fell apart. The mac and cheese might have been the best I've ever had.

Beer by the pitcher was 18-24 depending on which draft you picked. 16oz drafts started at $6 I think. Cans of Iron City were the cheapest can/bottle beer at $3, but most were pretty esoteric imports around $10+

I would go back, but it was a fairly pricey place to drink. Same issue I have with Proper (a pizza and beer place I liked).

Postby **LITT** » Wed May 27, 2015 10:46 am

also if you are up for a little walk, tako (next to butcher and the rye; same restaurateur) is tops

Postby **PFiDC** » Fri May 29, 2015 10:36 pm

The Patio has fantastic food but crap service. The clientele seemed to be rather snobby as well. I had a horrendous experience today that included, among other things, our table being bussed while I took my son to the bathroom. I understand the table was empty but there was an entire freaking pizza on the table. Maybe wait 5 minutes to see if that family is coming back.

Postby **Reveutopique** » Tue Jun 02, 2015 8:04 am

There's this burger place in Seattle close to where Kaiser's sister and her family live called Katsu burger.

It's pretty good. It's Japanese. The burgers are ginormous and messy. They take chicken, pork, beef or tofu, coat it in bread crumbs and then deep fry it until it is warm and crispy. They also have different fries, some have nori flecks on them, some curry, some plain or salty and dipping sauces for the fries and burger though neither need anything extra imho.

The place is small but cute. It has art work from movies by Hayao Miyazaki, a map in which people put pins to represent where they've traveled from to get to Katsu Burger (everywhere except maybe Alaska), and some local penny saver type publications, some tourist guides, all in Japanese.

They also have Japanese drinks and candy stored in a fridge off to the side and beneath the counter respectively.

They make their own milk shakes. I've only ever had green tea and Kaiser's chocolate one. But I saw that they also have a tofu one and a bean one which we haven't had.

Sometimes there is a weird greasyness to the burger but overall I like it.
I always feel like I'm in something like Darker than Black when I go there, especially if it's raining outside. It's cozy inside. And we always take it home to eat it. And that's cozy too

Postby **mac5155** » Tue Jun 02, 2015 9:51 am

I'll be in Philly this weekend for a wedding. My wife's coworker says go to Jim's for Cheesesteaks. This is blasphemy right? Genos or Pats only I thought?

Postby **cheesesteakwithegg** » Tue Jun 02, 2015 10:01 am

I'll be in Philly this weekend for a wedding. My wife's coworker says go to Jim's for Cheesesteaks. This is blasphemy right? Genos or Pats only I thought?

I used to work with a lot of people from and travel to Philly when I was at a previous job. The few times I got cheesesteaks there, it was at Jim's (seems to be the place that all of the locals recommend). From what I remember, the first few bites were really good, and then it never tasted much better than Uncle Sam's to me.