Tavern 245 - Reprise

Such a Sad Pizza

This is easily one of the saddest pizzas in all the neighborhoods of Pittsburgh. Last time we visited Tavern 245 in 2011 I was really impressed by the quality of the food. I still think they offer some pretty decent selections, but I think they missed the mark with the pizza pictured above. Some of the dishes I've enjoyed in the past include the Italian egg rolls, the chicken wings and the trio of sliders. I cannot say the same about the pizza of the day.

This "pizza" is what would happen if you took a piece of bread, some mediocre cheese, an unripe tomato and some unseasoned chicken and put it in your toaster oven. Yes, this concoction might sustain you, but it is hardly worth sacrificing several bud lights for in a bar setting. In theory I think this dish could have been fine. However, the execution was poor at best.

Despite this sad pizza I still highly recommend visiting Tavern 245 for their awesome roof top deck, reasonable drink prices and other acceptable food selections.

CHEESE

Fried cheese is one of those dishes I almost never comment on as I feel that I am served generic Sysco brand frozen cheese sticks about ninety-five percent of the time. Tavern 245 is part of the five percent exception! These hand breaded cheese sticks were fantastic.They were further bolstered with a nice serving of vodka sauce. I love vodka sauce and I'm honestly sad that it isn't served more often.

When I was studying for the bar exam some nice lady on a video tape named Paula Franzese claimed her father was the dude who invented vodka sauce while working at a restaurant in New York. However, according to www.thekitchn.com, many food historians credit chef James Doty with the invention of the sauce. In the end it really doesn't matter who invented vodka sauce as long as I start seeing it appear more regularly on my dinner plate.

Tavern 245

We had a great time at Tavern 245 last week, about thirty people showed up including the infamous Pittsburgh blogger Johnny Jakes from, "JK in the City." I've always been drawn to Tavern 245 for the great open space on the second floor, our group found it very accommodating (no one even said anything when we shuffled 10 tables around for our comfort). We enjoyed the quesadillas, guacamole, nachos and "two grill cheese," but "the farm," pictured above, is our favorite. The farm comes with three different sliders, chicken, pulled pork and a mini fillet. The pulled pork and mini fillet deserve more respect than the chicken, but no one respects a chicken.

The menu is interesting and the drinks are cheap enough to make you want to go back. They also have a small smoking room on the first floor, probably one of the only bars you can smoke in in downtown Pittsburgh now that Bar 110 has gone non-smoking. We are headed to 110 tonight, check back for updates.

Post a comment if you know of any other downtown bars that accommodate smokers, some of our members need their fix and are tired of going outside during happy hour.