Kelly's Bar & Lounge - East Liberty

Kelly's is a bar for hanging out with your trendy late twenty-something friends. The bar is always packed, they feature very fancy drink specials such as the Pimm's Cup and everyone just looks so hansom in their flannel, skinny jeans, sun dress, leather jacket or other alternative fashion look. I like Kelly's for the company and the drinks. Their cocktails are easily some of my favorite in the city, right up there with Mardi Gras and Lefty's. They have an extensive cocktail list and I've never been steered wrong by any of the drink specials, which change daily.

Now, about the food. People rave about the food at Kelly's, especially the macaroni and cheese. I think this is because they are so loose from consuming the libations. The food at Kelly's is bar food. It is just fine, but it is nothing special. I ordered the cajun meatloaf, they were out. So I ordered the poutine tater tots, they were out. I finally settled on the jerk chicken sandwich, it was just awful. The chicken looked like it had been cooked in a sarlacc pit, it was rubber tire black with very little flavor. I had to cover the whole thing in hot sauce and ketchup just to wolf it down.

I really like Kelly's, the bar itself has some fantastic 1950's charm and I think it is just wonderful that they serve food. However, I would make a reservation to eat somewhere down the street like Spoon or Paris 66 and stop by Kelly's just to get loose. Speaking of Paris 66, has anyone been there? My brother raves about it and I've never been.

Toast - Pittsburgh

DO NOT GO TO TOAST FOR HAPPY HOUR. I repeat, do not go to Toast for happy hour. They do not have a happy hour special. Their bar is prohibitively small. If you show up with a large group of people for happy hour, you will be given the stink eye by management. As a matter of fact, when I ordered my charcuterie plate at the bar the server came out and gave me this little spiel about how he, "had no idea where to put my food." I explained to him that he could just put it on the bar and everything would be fine.

I would like to have ordered more food as I found the charcuterie excellent, but the atmosphere was simply not conducive to dining due to the size of our group. In particular, the duck pate was a real stand up act. It was probably one of the creamiest pates I've ever had with a rich sweetness that lent itself well to being spread on fresh bread. Here are my Toast pro-tips: make a reservation, do not attempt to sit at the bar, don't expect a warm welcome from the management and keep in mind that if you want to sample a wine you will be charged. Some restaurants have such good food that they don't need to worry about charming the clientele, this seems to be such an establishment - I just wish I could have tried some of the other dishes.

Alchemy and Ale

THIS PHOTO IS NOT STAGED

Alchemy and Ale has received a lot of negative feedback from Pittsburgh diners. As a result, I approached the restaurant/bar with skepticism. I was most pleasantly surprised by the $3 happy hour special - any draft beer for only $3! I thought the food was actually pretty good as well. In particular, I liked the pork belly quesadillas with the spicy cucumber topping. I found the shepard's pie to be somewhat bland and in general I found most of the selections to be overpriced.

For example, take my cheese plate pictured below. The cheese and toast were just fine, but the portions were too small to warrant the price tag. I find this to be one commonality between most places that call themselves gastropubs. Small portions and large price tags. I suppose I should not be surprised, this is the very nature of the gastropub. A bastardized version of both a pub and a fine restaurant lacking the portion size of pub food and the elegance of fine dining. Do you have a favorite Pittsburgh gastropub? Tell me about it and maybe I'll stop by.

The cheese almost stands alone.

Rolands

I was surprisingly charmed by Roland's in the Strip District. The online reviews are very negative so I wasn't sure what to expect, but the sixty cent wing, clam, shrimp and oyster special was spectacular. The special runs every weekday from 3-6 and it is a really good deal. Additionally, just look at that pour on my whiskey on the rocks! I can only name a handful of bars in Pittsburgh that pour drinks like that: Lefty's, Marios and the Mardi Gras in Shadyside.

 I was late for the sixty cent happy hour special, but the manager had agreed to extend it for our group. I was very sad that they were out of oysters - as a result they gave me extra shrimp, at no charge, after some lighthearted pouting on my part.

The shrimp were fresh and delicious and the cocktail sauce had a nice kick to it. In addition to the shrimp I tried the pizza and thought it was quite good as well, especially for a seafood restaurant. The only item that disappointed me were the chicken wings. My most common complaint about wings is that they are not crispy enough or the sauce is lousy. These wings were perfectly crisp and the sauce was actually very good.They had a dry rub on them that was very salty. It was just too much flavor when coupled with the sauce. Despite the wings, I highly recommend Roland's happy hour - the snacks are cheap and the drinks flow like wine, quite literally.

They looked so good and then made me so sad.....

Do you know any other Pittsburgh bars that pour drinks like champions? Let me know.

Nakama - Pittsburgh

Nakama is a staple of the Pittsburgh sushi/fancy drink community. John K. Means, Jr. describes the bar as, "that place where really trashy Pittsburgh women wearing a ton of makeup attempt to meet sleazy fifty-something men." The food is generally good, the crowd is always jumping and the atmosphere is loud and boisterous. This was the second happy hour where we ran into mayor Luke Ravenstall. I think the mayor is secretly following our Facebook group and he is too embarrassed to join - we must be very sheik and intimidating.

Nakama has a fairly good happy hour special, all appetizers are half off. Pictured above is the Mongolian beef. This was the second time I've had the Mongolian beef in less than two weeks, it was very good. The beef was tender and flavorful and not overly salty.

These are the chicken lettuce wraps I sampled following my beef. They were just awful. I had someone next to me give them a taste to make sure I wasn't crazy. They confirmed my suspicions that the chicken tasted like kitty litter. By way of further reinforcement, another happy hour goer also ordered this dish and took one bite before declaring that she thought she was going to be sick. I've heard that this dish is generally pretty good, perhaps Nakama just dropped the ball due to the large Thursday crowd.

The food at Nakama is usually quite palatable. I've always enjoyed the sushi and every dish I've ever had other than the chicken lettuce wraps. It is easy to notice that most patrons aren't in attendance for the cuisine. Nakama is really a see-and-be-seen kind of place. The seating along the front window allows diners to show-off their elite status to other Pittsburghers.  Following my lackluster meal, Gary the dentist introduced me to a girl with the most electric fake tan I had ever seen. One of my friends had no means to describe her other than, "she looks like Simba from the Lion King."

Sushi Kim

Sushi Kim has been one of my family's favorite sushi restaurants in Pittsburgh for years. The establishment is an odd location for happy hour as there is no actual bar, only a sushi bar. I think the staff was a little confused when we gradually took over the entire sushi bar and kept demanding more sake and coors lights rather than ordering food.

Personally, if I'm going out for happy hour, I prefer to have a couple of drinks before I eat. I find the effect of  alcohol is much more pronounced before you pile on the raw fish and beef bulgogi. I started with the spider roll and I found it to be quite good. I love spider rolls because the tempura soft shell crab creates such a wonderful texture along with the rice and the seaweed. (Pro-tip, if you have friends who are afraid of sushi, start them with a spider roll as all of the ingredients are cooked.)

After everyone finished their food, I ordered my beef bulgogi, pictured above. Bulgogi is marinated Korean style barbeque. The Korean barbeque selections are what make Sushi Kim special, it is not particularly common to find a sushi restaurant carrying a large selection of authentic Korean dishes. The bulgogi was excellent, you can tell by how little was left by the time I took the picture. One thing I love about Korean barbeque is all of the side dishes. In addition to your main dish you can expect small bowls of broccoli, daikon radish, kim chi, black beans and other assorted goodies. Due to the atmosphere and limited drink selection I can't recommend Sushi Kim for happy hour, but I highly recommend stopping by for the eats.

Bites and Brews

After visiting 1947 Tavern I knew that I wanted to visit Bites and Brews. The two establishments are actually connected, but the atmosphere of Bites and Brews is much more casual.1947 Tavern is where I might take an elegant debutante out for a pimm's cup or a manhattan.  Bites and Brews is where I would take some girl I met at a video rental store while browsing through the romantic comedy section. (Please note that both of these scenarios are equally impossible as I do not know any debutantes in Pennsylvania nor do I watch romcoms.)

Bites and Brews has a rather limited menu. You can choose from a few modest appetizers, but the real attraction is the design your own pizza worksheet. I've seen these worksheet-style menus at sushi restaurants before, but I've never seen such a technique employed by a pizza shop. I really liked the approach and I think it encourages pizza creativity.

I started with the garlic knots. They weren't bad, but I do not think they were made with fresh garlic. I'm pretty sure they were just seasoned with garlic salt. The garlic knots were tasty, but fresh garlic can do wonders. (And it is good for you!)

For happy hour a small two topping pizza is only $5. This is a great deal and the pizza was pretty good. A nice crispy crust with acceptable sauce and topping proportions. If you've had a lot of pizza around Pittsburgh, I'd compare it to Montecello's or Pizza Roma's in Sewickley. I enjoyed my pizza, but the beer selection was the real crowd pleaser. I'd say that Bites and Brews had at least twenty different beers on tap, including local brews and specialty brews. If you meet that magical lady at the video rental store, make sure to show up before seven in the evening so that you can get a table and a half priced pizza.