Winghart's Burger & Whiskey Bar

Hamburgers and whiskey! Possibly two of my favorite hobbies in the whole world. Winghart's Burger and Whiskey bar has been open in Market Square for about six months. Although, the whiskey part was an addition that took a little longer.

Every time I've gone for lunch the place has been packed and it is very difficult to get a seat at the bar. Happy hour this week was no exception, we crammed about twenty individuals into their tiny location. Winghart's has a very specific charm - no plates, huge burgers, interesting burger toppings, house-ground meat, a growing whiskey collection, flat-bread pizzas and a very accommodating staff. (As you can see from the picture above they will even feed your burger to you if you are courteous!)

I can't even begin to explain how much I enjoyed my burger. Before this visit my favorite Pittsburgh burger was easily the Kaya burger in the Stript District. (Note I have not yet been to BrGr or Burgatory.) However, my shipwreck burger really blew me away. Just adding photos to this blog post has caused some deadly stomach rumblings and salivations. The shipwreck comes adorned with brie, caramelized onions, bacon, arugula and white truffle aioli oil. While these toppings might sound overwhelming, they mix together in the most harmonious way imaginable. I honestly enjoyed this burger more than my Ray's Hell burger from Washington D.C. - take that Obama! The bread was better, the meat was more moist and the toppings were much better. (To be fair I think I blew it choosing my own toppings at Ray's Hell Burger.)

Part of the appeal to Winghart's is that the owners are right there behind the bar making sure that everything is properly prepared. Winghart and Shipwreck are two lively characters who really did a fantastic job of accommodating our group. If you have not been to Winghart's, I have to honestly recommend that you make the trip. Personally, I can't wait for their new location to open in the South Side.

Las Velas

Las Velas was a total disappointment. I can't say that I was surprised as I already knew that it was owned by the proprietors of Azul in Leetsdale. (Another Mexican restaurant I don't like.) I would describe the food as boring, uninspired, bland and completely lacking in any type of original or authentic inspiration. I did not pick this location, and I personally won't be going back. What I can say is that no one else from happy hour complained about their food and the margaritas must have been strong because everybody in the club was getting tipsy.

Here were my impressions on what others ordered. The nachos supreme seemed OK.(Pictured above.) The salsa we had brought to the table (for an extra fee) wasn't terrible. The chips were mostly little chip pieces, I looked around the restaurant and everyone seemed to have a basket of little chip pieces. Perhaps this is some awesome new fad I'm not hip to? The guacamole was awful. Entirely too salty and a little too mashed down for my taste. The chorizo quesadilla I tried was exactly what it purported to be, chorizo in a tortilla. It was extremely greasy and it could have used some other ingredients in order to make it more interesting. After sampling food from the others I decided not to order anything.

Instead of playing Russian roulette with the Las Velas menu, I walked across the street to NOLA and ordered the Croque Monsieur. It was fantastic, I really enjoyed the ham and gruyere, and I enjoyed dipping the sandwich in apple butter even more! Do yourself a favor and go to Mexico City if you want Mexican in downtown Pittsburgh. Las Velas does not even come close.

Crystal on Penn

Crystal has been on my radar ever since they were featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network. Crystal is the latter, so of course the selection of a dive bar meant I was the one that got to choose the location of happy hour this week. Dive bars are the best. They aren't pretentious, you are more likely to get free drinks, the owners are always interesting and willing to chat you up, no one talks about austerity measures or corporate governance, everything is cheap as hell, you can do whatever you want and no one bothers you, and finally, they always have damn good music on the juke-box.

I've been going to Crystal for a few years now, it was actually the first place I went after taking the bar exam back in 2009. They always have a way of making you feel right at home. Don't be surprised to see the owner of the bar, Crystal, behind the counter serving drinks and mixing it up with the locals. Crystal features a fairly standard bar menu, save for the selection of specialty Lebanese foods.

I grew up with Lebanese food, so I'm no slouch when it comes to spotting quality. Crystal easily offers the best grape leaves I've ever had in any restaurant, ever. Usually when I get a grape leave it tastes like it was prepared several days in advance, the texture is awful and there is way too much lemon. Crystal offers the perfect grape leave, a well proportioned mixture of meat and rice served fresh and warm. Although I've never had a garlic style yogurt sauce served with Lebanese food, I love that this little concoction comes with anything you order at Crystal. When I asked what was in it they said that they could not tell me unless I was terminal.

 I order the same thing everytime I go, combo-platter with tabbouleh and a lamb skewer on the side.(Pictured above)  I honestly enjoy it so much that I've never bothered to order anything else from the establishment and I never will. Can you say that about anywhere you eat at?

Braddock's American Brasserie

Braddock's is another one of those hotel bars that has a lot to boast for a hotel bar. Don't get me wrong, I love drinking in slummy Holiday Inn bars, as a matter of fact I took one of my ex-girlfriends on a date to a Holiday Inn Bar (I always wonder why my relationships don't work out?!)

Braddock's is very sheik and the food is well crafted with a European flare. They have an excellent whiskey collection, I have to say that no bar we've visited comes remotely close in terms of selection.  Pictured above was my delicious charcuterie plate. I shared with some of my happy hour friends, but promptly consumed the majority of the delicious meats. The pate was my favorite, but I have to give an honorable mention to the prosciutto. I love prosciutto, if prosciutto was a woman I would kiss her on her pink meaty lips.

Unlike my cheese plate at Six Penn, everything on the Braddock's charcuterie plate was very well proportioned. (Don't you just hate it when you end up with too much bread or too little meat?) Happy hour enthusiast, Ben Feldman, even consumed the small salad garnish after I ravished the gherkins. 

This was easily one of the most fun happy hours we've had in a few weeks. Nick Mross and JK Means showed up to film part of their new web series, "Florida Nights." While we were doing some filming in front of the bar people started snapping photos with their cell phones, I guess they figured they were on the set of Batman. Nice try you looky-lous, we are super hansom and beautiful, but not Batman hansom and beautiful.

Also, we added a little strange to our happy hour by partaking in shots. Usually we try to keep our cool, but everyone was really excited this week and we enjoyed each others company a little more than usual with the aid of some liquid remedy. Braddock's has some poor reviews online but I like everything I've ever tried at the bar. The staff was even kind enough to allow us to film in the bar, so no complaints on this end.

Who are you calling a dip? The Turtleman's French dip sandwich.

Seviche

Seviche is one of those Pittsburgh institutions which has somehow acquired a cult-like following. Personally, I've always considered the place a chick-flick, and I promptly informed all of my happy hour friends of my strong feelings. (Please note that a chick-click generally refers to a movie created especifically for women, in this instance it refers to a restaurant catering to women through small portions, vibrant decor, high prices and the illusion that they ARE Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.)

I tried to ignore my bad attitude as I do love seafood and in particular I enjoy ceviche.(I'm accustomed to the dish being spelled with a "C" as opposed to the restaurant which is spelled with an "S".) I haven't been all that upbeat lately so I decided to treat myself to the seven-course chef's tasting menu. It was worth it. For $40 I received three courses of ceviche, an appetizer course with a tuna-chorizo spring roll, three oysters with a chimichurri sauce, a filet along with potatoes and broccoli rabe and a tres dolces cake.

The ceviche course was my favorite. I really liked the presentation and the play of flavors, the one incorporating cilantro and corn was my favorite. The oysters were decent and the tuna-chorizo spring roll was quite good, but didn't make much sense to me. Chorizo is so powerful that the tuna only seemed to add some texture to the dish. I'm honestly at a loss as to how chorizo and tuna can be comfortably incorporated into a spring roll.

The filet and potatoes were fine, but the broccoli rabe was awful, stringy and bitter! (I know that broccoli rabe is supposed to be bitter, but it was like a sour rubber tire.) Finally, the tres dolces cake was so good that everyone at the table decided to try it. I'd recommend the chef's tasting to anyone who is feeling hungry and adventurous. Word to the wise though, all of those different animals did not play nice in my stomach post chef's tasting!

Six Penn Kitchen

Tots!

Last week our little happy hour group ventured to Six Penn for some roof top action. If you recall we attempted making a reservation to come to Six Penn a few weeks ago and we were simply told that they, "weren't available." Rather than make a reservation we just showed up. I expected the place to be packed as they, "weren't available" only a few weeks prior, but I was surprised to find only two patrons sitting at the bar upon my arrival. I promptly retreated to the roof deck to find the jolly group of people who make the Pittsburgh Happy Hour so great.

Six Penn has a fantastic roof deck with a full service bar. They even let us order food from the roof (it was a bit slow.) I have been to Six Penn once in the past and I loved my medium rare duck breast. I'm not used to being served medium rare poultry and I really enjoyed it. On this venture I opted for this cheese plate.

 

As far as cheese plates go, it was underwhelming. The blueberries were kind of sad and I wasn't even sure what I was supposed to do with all the mustard (I'm guessing they just needed to put something there to round it out.) The cheese was about the same quality of cheese you'd expect to get from a prepared, store bought cheese plate. As one of our happy hour goers mentioned, "they are owned by Eat-n-Park, what did you expect?" If you ever head to Six Penn, I'd recommend going with the mussels of the day or possibly the smoked chicken wings. Also, everyone likes pizza!

PIZZA TIME

Ray's Hell-Burger, Arlington, VA

So occasionally, the Pittsburgh Happy Hour goes on hiatus and we take trips to eat at the most popular restaurants around the country. While we were visiting our good friend Sam in Arlington, Virginia we decided to stop by Ray's Hell Burger. 

I had heard that Ray's was good enough for president Obama, which kind of surprised me as the establishment is a simple, strip mall, cash only kind of juke joint. I'm not saying the president is beyond eating at simple restaurants, but if I was president, and wanted a burger I would just have the five different white house chefs cook burgers and eat my favorite one.

Rays is very charming and the menu in particular is rather original. There are about fifteen different cheeses to choose from and ten different non traditional burger toppings such as charred jalapenos and cognac and sherry sauteed mushrooms. I went with the diablo style with roasted garlic and muenster cheese. It was not the best flavor combination, but I honestly have no room to complain about my poor decisions.

The burger was very good, but not the best I've ever had. The meat didn't have the crunchy outside char I so adore, but was otherwise cooked exactly right. If you are craving a burger in the Pittsburgh area, I'd honestly say that the Kaya burger in the stript district or Wingharts in market square are on the same level as Rays, minus the creative menu. As a side note, Ray's Hell Burger had the best onion rings I think I've ever had, and I don't even like onion rings.