Perle

Ceviche

I'm honestly at a loss of words as to how I can describe Perle. I'll make a run at it anyhow. Perle is trendy champagne night club - meets Jersey Shore -  meets fifty-something fuck-scene. The bar was loaded with older gentlemen escorted by much younger ladies, and everyone was dressed for prom. But not the prom you went to, prom from a movie where Usher, Justin Beiber and Lindsay Lohan are still in high school in their mid fifties. The in look for men was muscles, tinted sunglasses and graphic tee shirts. As for the ladies, plastic surgery is a must and dresses should be short enough to partially expose your lady parts.We just happened in on a night where there was a lingerie calendar signing, so maybe Perle isn't always so intense.

Regarding the food, I don't have a single complaint. I tried the ceviche, the bruschetta, Cuban sandwiches, shrimp salad and crepes. (There were lots of free samples out for everyone to enjoy.) All were top notch. From the ceviche, pictured above, it is evident that Perle is owned by the same individuals who run the restaurant Seviche in the cultural district. A wonderful array of flavors, well presented and delicately balanced - very similar to what you would get down the street at Seviche.The real specialty of Perle (other than debauchery and plastic surgery) seems to be the crepes. The menu has about ten different varieties and the banana dessert crepe pictured below was fantastic. We actually fought over the last few bites.

Here is my overall take on the bar. Good food, interesting decor and a great kitchen staff. For a place that claims to be a champagne bar, it seems unreasonable that their champagne taps don't work. If you are looking for a casual happy hour, this is not your place. If you are a regular at Diesel and the Southside, and you are starting to feel too old to go to Diesel, this is your place.

Gandy Dancer - Grand Concourse

PUT THEM IN MY FACE

I really enjoy oysters. So much in fact that I have a short list of restaurants where I will eat oysters in this fine city. That list includes Wholey's, Eleven, NOLA and Roland's. Today I'm happy to say that I have another restaurant to add to that list.

The Gandy Dancer is a strange little bar that is situated in the far end of the Grand Concourse. I had no idea that the Grand Concourse had a bar, let alone a bar with one of the best happy hours in the city. One dollar PEI oysters, two dollar drafts, three dollar well drinks, five dollar mussels and a variety of other discounted food items under five dollars.(Sashimi tuna, sliders, cheese sticks, etc.) Like I said, one of the best deals in the city.

The oysters were fresh and huge! I prefer a spicy vinaigrette such as vinaigrette served by Eleven to the cocktail sauce I was given at the Gandy Dancer - but for a dollar per oyster I can't even complain. Six different people from our group ordered oysters and I didn't hear a single complaint.... that is, about the oysters. The Gandy Dancer must not be used to seeing large crowds. Although the bar can comfortably seat upwards of seventy-five people, the staff seemed astonishingly overwhelmed by our group. It was nearly impossible to get a drink, food orders were mixed up or lost all together and general pandemonium ensued. Overall they were very good sports about the entire matter, but some happy hour guests (angry Ben) felt so slighted by the poor service that they actually huffed out of the bar in a rage.

Angry Ben is angry.

In case you were wondering, a gandy dancer is a slang term used for early railroad workers who laid and maintained railroad tracks in the years before the work was done by machines. If you stop by the Gandy Dancer, do not wear your railroad clothes. Everyone else will be in a suit or an elegant prom dress.

Pro tips: go for the three dollar portabella mushroom fries and the chicken tandoori flat bread sandwich and make sure to get your picture taken in front of the grand staircase. Avoid showing up in a large crowd unless you've been given assurances the bar will be adequately staffed!
 
 

Papa J's Centro

I HEART PIZZA

Legend has it that Papa J's downtown location, situated in one of Pittsburgh's oldest standing buildings, is haunted. I guess it used to be a brothel, they've been in business at their downtown location for over fifteen years! 

I'm not sure if I believe in ghosts. My rational mind says no. If ghosts are real, where's the proof? Certainly someone would be able to accurately document and capture some type of paranormal experience in a clear and convincing manner, right? I think I believe in ghosts in so much as other people believe in ghosts. Their belief that ghosts exist creates a reality in which ghosts exist. Objectivity is passe.

I've visited Papa J's twice in the last week. I was hoping to scare myself, and I was successful. The chicken marsala was so bad -  it literally scared me. A thin watery sauce and chicken that tasted at least a day old with a rubbery texture and awful flavor. The chicken on my pizza, pictured above, wasn't any better. However, I shouldn't run my mouth about the pizza (lest the ghosts get me).

The pizza at Papa J's was good. In particular I thought the cheese and toppings, other than the chicken, were very flavorful and well presented. I had the chicken pesto pizza with fresh tomato, red onion and toasted pine nuts. The crust was well prepared and I believe they said it was made in house. I was actually amazed by the amount of pine nuts on the pizza. Pine nuts are expensive! I would wager that the pine nuts on this pizza cost more than all of the other ingredients combined. It is always nice to see a place that doesn't skimp on toppings to try and save a buck.

Overall, I really liked this bar. The bar itself is a very unique place with a lot of personality. (Dark wood interior with intricate fixtures and many smaller intimate rooms separated by a central bar.) Other than the chicken, I felt no feelings of discomfort or paranormal activity while visiting Papa J's. The bartenders are a lot of fun and the patrons can get a little rowdy, they were basically falling out of their chairs on my first visit. I have to say that I would go back to this bar over other bars with better specials and better food. I would prefer to sit at Papa J's over Easy Street any day of the week. Personality goes a long way. 

If you visit Papa J's, skip the entrees, try the pizza and stay for the potential ghost sightings. If you don't manage to scare yourself with the cuisine, just be patient and the patrons will take care of the rest.

 

TRUTH

Duck Sliders

The truth is that I was pleasently surprised by Truth in the Southside. I had no idea to expect from a fancy looking bar just off of Carson Street that is very close in proximity to the lively but slummy Jack's Rose Bar.

The $5 manhattans were strong, the sliders were incredible and the ambiance was quite charming. (Exposed brick, high ceilings, waitresses you would bring home to your mother.) Some old folks enjoying their dinner in the separated dining room even went out of their way to recommend the restaurant to patrons passing by on the street - this does not happen often in my experience.

The duck confit sliders, pictured above, were truthfully delicious. The duck had a wonderful flavor and texture and the roquefort cheese was a very pleasant addition. I actually enjoyed the beef tenderloin slider I tried even more. It was easily some of the most tender beef I've been served anywhere in Pittsburgh. The slider fillings were top notch, but I believe there is some room for improvement on the choice of bread. Hawaiian rolls just aren't appropriate for all occasions.

Scallops

No one would share their scallops with me, as you can tell the portions are a bit small. I heard they were very good though, and worth the long wait. (The kitchen must have been backed up because some of our orders took upwards of forty minutes.) If I was visiting Truth again for the first time I would avoid the Italian meat and cheese plates. Although the portion size was respectable, I found the selections to be rather boring and mediocre. If I go back I will be sure to try to house specialty fried cheese - the presentation, smell and appearance were just fantastic. Think flaming cheese delivered to the bar and then extinguished with lemon juice. (Sort of like the flaming Dr. Peppers they serve at Jack's across the street but for people over the age of 19.)

Industry Public House

House Nachos

These were my nachos from Industry Public House, I actually thought they were pretty good, but the waitress thought they were even better. She proudly exclaimed that all nacho ingredients were prepared fresh in-house. As far as I can tell, this just means that they made the guacamole and sliced their own jalapenos. They certainly didn't prepare the olives and I highly doubt that they made their own cheese or sour cream. I have to give Industry bonus points as the nachos at the bottom of the pile weren't a soggy pile of trash like nachos from TGI Fridays.

I suppose I'm being overly critical, the nachos were very tasty, I just get annoyed when waitresses make nonsensical claims..... we get it lady, the jalapenos aren't pickled. I believe the employee mentality of Industry is best described by Industry's own plug on Urbanspoon, "IPH is the best thing that happen to Laweranceville." LIES I SAY! Everyone knows that the best thing to happen to Lawrenceville (also they misspelled Lawrenceville) is skinny jeans, thick rimmed glasses and tattoo parlors.

Industry is a very strange place. My friend from Unlock Pittsburgh described it as, "a Pittsburgh bar trying really hard to be a Brooklyn bar." The location is a giant square shaped bar surrounded by several dining tables. The house beer was actually very decent and appropriately priced for happy hour at $3. However, the trendy albeit misguided people of Lawrenceville have decided that this is the best possible bar to bring their babies. And I'm not talking about some babies having a casual dinner, I'm talking about babies showing up to watch an 8:30 Thursday night football game in a loud bar.

I don't go to bars to drink with babies. This may seem insensitive, but I don't care. If I wanted to drink with babies I'd go visit Chris Clark or Andrew Coleman, at least their babies are not adorned in Greenbay Packers gear. Also, one of the babies clearly had way too much to drink as he had to be carried out of the bar by his grandpa!

Bucket of Gross

The Thursday happy hour food list consisted of sliders, pizza and the nachos. I regret not trying the sliders as I heard they were very good. However, this chorizo pizza was terrible. The chorizo was heaped on in a haphazard manner and the goat cheese did a poor job of complimenting. I don't think I'd try another pizza from Industry, but I'd go back for the sliders. Also, leave the leather chaps and mid-riff dresses at home. We need to set a good example for the babies of Lawrenceville. 

Heinz Field - What is your favorite stadium food?

GO STEELERS

When I was a young child with the tastes of a young child, I simply adored stadium food. There was something about the variety, fat content and excitement of the big game that just made the entire process invigorating. I thought that stadium food was the best food in the world and that everything I had while watching a sporting match was the utmost pinnacle of modern culinary skill - I think I also felt this way about McDonald's.

Somewhere along the way, the dream died. Rather than look forward to stadium food I became nervous about what I should eat before going to any type of event so I could avoid paying $16 for cardboard nachos and a smelly cheeseburger. I think this phenomenon was best described by Graham Linehan who said, "Every time you have McDonalds as a kid, it's a victory. Every time you have it as an adult, it's a defeat."

I might have liked these stadium tacos as a child. As an adult, they tasted as bland as a discount frozen burrito and extremely rubbery. Somehow, even the normally pungent cilantro was totally lacking in flavor. I'm pretty sure the chicken was the kind that comes in a liquid solution so that it can simply be slopped into a lousy tortilla shell on game day.

My point isn't that all offerings at Heinz Field are terrible, it is just that they are all worse than their real world counterparts. The Quaker Steak and Lube wings we tried had clearly been sitting out all night. They were worse than the wings you'd get from a normal Quaker Steak and Lube. The terrible cheeseburgers were worse than the terrible cheeseburgers at a fast food restaurant and more expensive. Cheap domestic beer costs upwards of $8. Etc, etc, etc.

Please let me know: is there any food at Heinz Field you actually like? Is there any food available at the stadium that you'd go out of your way to get somewhere else that is just as good at the stadium? I NEED TO KNOW, for science. 

Unlock Pittsburgh

Check out this great interview in Unlock Pittsburgh. A special thanks to Mark Turic and Grace Miller for not making fun of my obsession with white wine and shrimp.

Unlock Pittsburgh Interview

Also, you've got to love this great Pittsburgh food special chart they put together! Cheap Eats!